Work

Anthropocene Biodiversity Change

Year: 2026

Type: review

Abstract: The predominant narrative of biodiversity loss is gradually shifting toward one of accelerated biodiversity change in the scientific literature. This work recognizes that certain genes, functional traits, species, and entire groups of animals and plants are becoming increasingly successful in novel, anthropogenic environments and expanding into new parts of the world, just as others continue to decline or disappear completely under direct and indirect human influence. These planetary changes have been increasing for millennia but vary by region, spatial scale, biodiversity metric, taxonomic group, and environmental driver considered. These past and ongoing changes mean that managing the rates and directions of transformation is often more realistic than articulating biodiversity as a wounded entity in need of restoration. Distinct policies are required to identify and substitute the drivers of biodiversity change globally (mitigation), as well as to accommodate the consequences (adaptation), to enable socially and environmentally desirable trends to outpace undesirable ones.

Source: Annual Review of Environment and Resources

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-112624-014802

Authors: Chris D. Thomas, Jack H. Hatfield, Jonathan D. Gordon, Shuyu Deng, Joshua M. Sammy, Inês S. Martins

Institution: University of York

Language: English

Topic: Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, China Scholarship Council