Global biodiversity is rapidly declining, primarily due to agricultural production driven by both domestic and transboundary consumption. This study addresses the challenges posed by inconsistent spatiotemporal biodiversity data by developing a time series of biodiversity loss footprints based on Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII). Numerous land use, land cover, and auxiliary datasets were integrated to produce a consistent time series of high-resolution harmonized land use (HHLU) maps. These maps were utilized to quantify spatial BII using linear-mixed effect models. Biodiversity intactness loss (BII footprint) was subsequently attributed to specific crops and livestock commodities. This study provides comprehensive global datasets, including HHLU and BII maps, and synthesized BII footprints across 14 biomes, 193 countries and territories, 154 crop items, and 9 livestock categories from 2000 to 2020. These datasets facilitate spatiotemporal analyses to identify trends and patterns in global biodiversity integrity and biodiversity footprints, thereby elucidating the ecological trade-offs embedded in international trade. These insights can encourage appropriate interventions to transform consumption patterns and supply chains toward the effective conservation of global biodiversity.

• MeSH
• Biodiversity * MeSH
• Livestock MeSH
• Conservation of Natural Resources * MeSH
• Crops, Agricultural MeSH
• Agriculture * MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Dataset MeSH

Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species' population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate 'intactness scores': the remaining proportion of an 'intact' reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region's major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.) and intensities (e.g., large-scale vs smallholder cropland). This dataset was co-produced as part of the Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa Project. Additional uses include assessing ecosystem condition; rectifying geographic/taxonomic biases in global biodiversity indicators and maps; and informing the Red List of Ecosystems.

• MeSH
• Biodiversity MeSH
• Ecosystem * MeSH
• Vertebrates MeSH
• Plants MeSH
• Mammals MeSH
• Conservation of Natural Resources * MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Dataset MeSH
• Geographicals
• Africa MeSH

While the regional distribution of non-native species is increasingly well documented for some taxa, global analyses of non-native species in local assemblages are still missing. Here, we use a worldwide collection of assemblages from five taxa - ants, birds, mammals, spiders and vascular plants - to assess whether the incidence, frequency and proportions of naturalised non-native species depend on type and intensity of land use. In plants, assemblages of primary vegetation are least invaded. In the other taxa, primary vegetation is among the least invaded land-use types, but one or several other types have equally low levels of occurrence, frequency and proportions of non-native species. High land use intensity is associated with higher non-native incidence and frequency in primary vegetation, while intensity effects are inconsistent for other land-use types. These findings highlight the potential dual role of unused primary vegetation in preserving native biodiversity and in conferring resistance against biological invasions.

• MeSH
• Biodiversity MeSH
• Ecosystem * MeSH
• Ants * MeSH
• Incidence MeSH
• Mammals MeSH
• Introduced Species MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

Large-scale biodiversity data, for example, on species distribution and richness information, are being mobilized and becoming available at an increasing rate. Interactive web applications like atlases have been developed to visualize available datasets and make them accessible to a wider audience. Web mapping tools are changing rapidly, and different underlying concepts have been developed to visualize datasets at a high cartographic standard.Here, we introduce the Combined Atlas Framework for the development of interactive web atlases for ecological data visualization. We combine two existing approaches: the five stages of the user-centred design approach for web mapping applications and the three U approach for interface success.Subsequently, we illustrate the use of this framework by developing the Atlas of Plant Invasions based on the Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) database. This case study illustrates how the newly developed Combined Atlas Framework with a user-centred design philosophy can generate measurable success through communication with the target user group, iterative prototyping and competitive analysis of other existing web mapping approaches.The framework is useful in creating an atlas that employs user feedback to determine usability and utility features within an interactive atlas system. Finally, this framework will enable a better-informed development process of future visualization and dissemination of biodiversity data through web mapping applications and interactive atlases.

• Keywords
• D3, GloNAF, JavaScript, atlas, cartography, framework development, invasive alien species, web mapping, workflow,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.

• MeSH
• Biodiversity * MeSH
• Biomass MeSH
• Oligochaeta classification   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Dataset MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

Island species and habitats are particularly vulnerable to human disturbances, and anthropogenic changes are increasingly overwriting natural island biogeographic patterns. However, quantitative comparisons of how native and alien assemblages respond to human disturbances are scarce. Using data from 6,242 species of vertebrates, invertebrates and plants, from 7,718 sites on 81 islands, we model how land-use change, human population density and distance to the nearest road affect local assemblages of alien and native species on islands. We found that land-use change reduces both richness and abundance of native species, whereas the number and abundance of alien species are high in plantation forests and agricultural or urban sites. In contrast to the long-established pattern for native species (i.e., decline in species number with island isolation), more isolated islands have more alien species across most land uses than do less isolated islands. We show that alien species play a major role in the turnover of island assemblages: our models show that aliens outnumber natives among the species present at disturbed sites but absent from minimally-disturbed primary vegetation. Finally, we found a homogenization pattern for both native and alien assemblages across sites within most land uses. The declines of native species on islands in the face of human pressures, and the particular proneness to invasions of the more remote islands, highlight the need to reduce the intensity of human pressures on islands and to prevent the introduction and establishment of alien species.

• MeSH
• Invertebrates growth & development   MeSH
• Biodiversity * MeSH
• Ecosystem MeSH
• Forests MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Islands * MeSH
• Plants MeSH
• Introduced Species * MeSH
• Agriculture MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Islands * MeSH