Forum | Sources of confusion in global biodiversity trends
Oikos Forum paper:
Sources of confusion in global biodiversity trends
Maëlys Boënnec, Vasilis Dakos, Vincent Devictor
Sounds counterintuitive: if we want to mitigate global loss of biodiversity, we should take a hard look at research that seems to contradict biodiversity loss. So argues this Forum paper, which takes early steps in untangling the reasons that can lead to some studies showing mixed or increasing trends in biodiversity while most evidence paints a grim picture of decline.
The authors evaluate 91 papers that analyzed changes in global biodiversity over time. While disclaiming their incomplete coverage of this growing body of research, they point out some thought-provoking correlations between the data and methods used and the resulting trends. For example, studies that analyzed global datasets with a single methodology (top-down) were less likely to show biodiversity declines than those that aggregated local studies into meta-analyses (bottom-up).
"Although some of the biases we report here potentially lead to over- or under-estimates of the overall decline in biodiversity, we do not question the magnitude of the biodiversity crisis," they write. Instead, "we call for more attention to overlooked yet informative components of biodiversity changes." By paying more heed to nuances, they say, we can "make sure that conservation actions are making differences."
Oikos Forum is a place where ecological ideas can be kicked around and examined from new angles. Forum papers bring together multiple fields, push boundaries, and offer new ways of interpreting existing data. They strive for conceptual unification and serve as a point of departure for future work rather than simply summarizing previous bodies of theory and data. Through the Forum we seek to challenge current thinking on ecological issues and provide a high level of synthesis in the field of ecology.
Forum artwork and summaries by Abby McBride/Sketch Biologist
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