Mitigating loss of genetic diversity is a major global biodiversity challenge1-4. To meet recent international commitments to maintain genetic diversity within species5,6, we need to understand relationships between threats, conservation management and genetic diversity change. Here we conduct a global analysis of genetic diversity change via meta-analysis of all available temporal measures of genetic diversity from more than three decades of research. We show that within-population genetic diversity is being lost over timescales likely to have been impacted by human activities, and that some conservation actions may mitigate this loss. Our dataset includes 628 species (animals, plants, fungi and chromists) across all terrestrial and most marine realms on Earth. Threats impacted two-thirds of the populations that we analysed, and less than half of the populations analysed received conservation management. Genetic diversity loss occurs globally and is a realistic prediction for many species, especially birds and mammals, in the face of threats such as land use change, disease, abiotic natural phenomena and harvesting or harassment. Conservation strategies designed to improve environmental conditions, increase population growth rates and introduce new individuals (for example, restoring connectivity or performing translocations) may maintain or even increase genetic diversity. Our findings underscore the urgent need for active, genetically informed conservation interventions to halt genetic diversity loss.

Applied BioSciences Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia

Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia

Biodiversity and Conservation Science Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions Kensington Western Australia Australia

cE3c Center for Ecology Evolution and Environmental Change and CHANGE Global Change and Sustainability Institute Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal

Centre for Conservation Ecology and Genomics University of Canberra Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia

Centre for Genetic Resources The Netherlands Wageningen University Wageningen The Netherlands

CIBIO Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos InBIO BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics Biodiversity and Land Planning University of Porto Porto Portugal

Copenhagen Zoo Frederiksberg Denmark

Department of Animal Science University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture Zagreb Croatia

Department of Biology and Ecology Faculty of Sciences University of Novi Sad Novi Sad Serbia

Department of Biology Faculty of Sciences University of Porto Porto Portugal

Department of Biology University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

Department of Chemistry and Bioscience Aalborg University Aalborg Denmark

Department of Earth Sciences Natural Resources and Sustainable Development Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden

Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden

Department of Evolutionary Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Department of Forest Ecology Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

Department of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding Institute of Forestry Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Kėdainiai Lithuania

Department of Genetics University of the Free State Bloemfontein South Africa

Department of Life Sciences University of Trieste Trieste Italy

Department of Phytology Faculty of Forestry Technical University in Zvolen Zvolen Slovakia

Department of Veterinary Medicine University of Sassari Sassari Italy

Department of Zoology Division of Population Genetics Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden

Division of Ecology and Evolution Research School of Biology The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia

EBM Biological Station of Mértola Mértola Portugal

Ecology Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation KU Leuven Leuven Belgium

Estación Biológica de Doñana Seville Spain

European Cooperation in Science and Technology '

Faculty of Environmental Protection Velenje Slovenia

Faculty of Mathematics Natural Sciences and Information Technologies University of Primorska Koper Slovenia

Forest Ecology and Forest Management Wageningen University Wageningen The Netherlands

Forest Ecology Unit Research and Innovation Centre Fondazione Edmund Mach San Michele all'Adige Italy

Genetic Resource Centre Latvian State Forest Research Institute Silava Salaspils Latvia

Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Sciences Kraków Poland

Institute of Zoology Joint Laboratory for Biocomplexity Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China

International Union for the Conservation of Nature

Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding Faculty of Agriculture Forestry and Natural Environment Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Greece

National Biodiversity Future Center Palermo Italy

Natural History Museum Vienna Vienna Austria

Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Trondheim Norway

Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group Wageningen University Wageningen The Netherlands

Research Institute for Nature and Forest Geraardsbergen Belgium

Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods Charles Darwin University Casuarina Northern Territory Australia

Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems Porano Italy

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Edinburgh UK

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Melbourne Victoria Australia

School of Biological Sciences The University of Western Australia Crawley Western Australia Australia

School of Biosciences Museum Avenue Cardiff University Cardiff UK

School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences Murdoch University Perth Western Australia Australia

School of Life and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia

School of Science Edith Cowan University Joondalup Western Australia Australia

Slovenian Forestry Institute Ljubljana Slovenia

The Center for Tree Science The Morton Arboretum Lisle IL USA

The Royal School of Veterinary Studies and The Roslin Institute The University of Edinburgh Easter Bush Campus Midlothian UK

Wildlife Analysis Unit Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Stockholm Sweden

Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group Wageningen University Wageningen The Netherlands

Wildlife Ecology and Management University Freiburg Freiburg Germany

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