Evrim Yazgin
Cosmos science journalist
The most comprehensive global analysis of genetic diversity has shown that plant, animal and fungi species are losing genetic diversity.
Conservation efforts, however, are helping to safeguard species.
High genetic diversity is crucial for species to adapt to environmental changes and pressures, as well as to avoid inbreeding.
The study, published in Nature, includes data spanning 1985–2019 across 628 species across all of Earth’s terrestrial and most marine biomes. About 85% of the species studied were animals.
Species included in the study were mostly categorised by the IUCN Red List as non-threatened or having unknown threat status. About 1 in 5 of the species are classified as threatened – vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered or extinct.
Of the species analysed, two-thirds experienced genetic diversity loss.
Only about half of the species studied were subject to conservation efforts.
“This kind of comprehensive global study would not have been possible even 10 years ago,” says senior author of the study, Catherine Grueber from Australia’s University of Sydney.
“Advances in genetics and statistics have given us new tools that mean we can continue to learn from studies long after they were carried out – a huge benefit when we are looking at populations and trends on a global scale.”
“There is no getting around the fact that biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates across the globe.
“But there are glimmers of hope.
“The action of conservationists is reversing these losses and helping to create genetically diverse populations that can better meet the challenges of the future.”
Such conservation activities include translocation, habitat restoration, population control and controlling feral or pest species.
They point to success stories like the reintroduction of the golden bandicoot in Western Australia, arctic foxes in Scandinavia, translocation of greater prairie chickens in North America and disease treatment in black-tailed prairie dogs in the US.
“Despite successes, we can’t be complacent,” stresses co-first author Robyn Shaw from the University of Canberra also in Australia. “It’s vital that we learn from what is working so that we can protect species in the long-term.”
