Work

First Nationwide Assessment of Threatened Ecosystems in Bolivia: Status, Threats, and Conservation Priorities

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Bolivia harbors a diversity of natural ecosystems that derive from its tropical location and major environmental gradients of the Andes. In recent decades, a wide variety of natural ecosystems in Bolivia have been depleted, degraded or altered at an alarming rate by human activities. To quantify the current status of Bolivia’s ecosystems, we applied IUCN’s Red List of Ecosystems methodology to 141 ecosystem types in terrestrial (98), freshwater-terrestrial (35) and freshwater (8) environments. Data were available to assess five subcriteria. Rates of change between 1973 and 2023 were estimated to assess subcriterion A1 (reduction in past distribution) and between ca. 1750 and 2023 to evaluate subcriterion A3 (reduction in historical distribution). The extent of occupancy (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) were estimated, respectively, to assess criteria B1 and B2 (restricted geographic distribution), in conjunction with qualitative information about declines and threats. Under subcriterion C1 (environmental degradation), long-term changes in precipitation, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and relative humidity were analyzed. The analyses identified 15 ecosystem types as Critically Endangered (CR), 22 as Endangered (EN), and 39 as Vulnerable (VU). A further 22 ecosystem types were identified as Near Threatened (NT) and 43 as Least Concern (LC). Our results will inform prioritization of conservation investments and efforts (e.g., restoration of critically endangered ecosystems), identify areas where industrial or urban development would have an irreversible impact, and provide a baseline for collaborative monitoring progress toward global targets linked to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, specifically, the headline indicator A.1.

Source: Research Square

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-10562121/v1