title: Toward quantification of the impact of 21st-century deforestation on the extinction risk of terrestrial vertebrates.
abstract: Conservation actions need to be prioritized, often taking into account species' extinction risk. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List provides an accepted, objective framework for the assessment of extinction risk. Assessments based on data collected in the field are the best option, but the field data to base these on are often limited. Information collected through remote sensing can be used in place of field data to inform assessments. Forests are perhaps the best-studied land-cover type for use of remote-sensing data. Using an open-access 30-m resolution map of tree cover and its change between 2000 and 2012, we assessed the extent of forest cover and loss within the distributions of 11,186 forest-dependent amphibians, birds, and mammals worldwide. For 16 species, forest loss resulted in an elevated extinction risk under red-list criterion A, owing to inferred rapid population declines. This number increased to 23 when data-deficient species (i.e., those with insufficient information for evaluation) were included. Under red-list criterion B2, 484 species (855 when data-deficient species were included) were considered at elevated extinction risk, owing to restricted areas of occupancy resulting from little forest cover remaining within their ranges. The proportion of species of conservation concern would increase by 32.8% for amphibians, 15.1% for birds, and 24.7% for mammals if our suggested uplistings are accepted. Central America, the Northern Andes, Madagascar, the Eastern Arc forests in Africa, and the islands of Southeast Asia are hotspots for these species. Our results illustrate the utility of satellite imagery for global extinction-risk assessment and measurement of progress toward international environmental agreement targets.
authors.affiliation: Royal Society for the Conservation of Birds, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Edinburgh, EH12 9DH, U.K.|Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Tracewski
authors.affiliation: BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Cambridge, CB30NA, U.K.
authors.forename: Stuart H M
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Butchart
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, 4072, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, University of Queensland, 4072, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Moreno
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Marco
authors.affiliation: Laboratoired'Ecologie Alpine (LECA), Université Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, 38000, France.|LECA, CNRS, Grenoble, 38000, France.
authors.forename: Gentile F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Ficetola
authors.affiliation: Global Mammal Assessment Program, Department of Biology and Biotechnologies, Sapienza Università di Roma, viale dell' Università 32, 00185, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rondinini
authors.affiliation: BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Cambridge, CB30NA, U.K.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Symes
authors.affiliation: BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Cambridge, CB30NA, U.K.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wheatley
authors.affiliation: Royal Society for the Conservation of Birds, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Edinburgh, EH12 9DH, U.K.
authors.forename: Alison E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Beresford
authors.affiliation: Royal Society for the Conservation of Birds, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Edinburgh, EH12 9DH, U.K.. graeme.buchanan@rspb.org.uk.
authors.forename: Graeme M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Buchanan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D002489:Central America; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D065928:Forests; D008270:Madagascar; D014714:Vertebrates
keywords: IUCN Red List; Lista Roja UICN; conservación de especies; conservation prioritization; forest loss; habitat loss; priorización de la conservación; pérdida de bosques; pérdida de hábitat; remote sensing; species conservation; teledetección