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The biodiversity intactness index may underestimate losses

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 3, pages 862–863 (2019)Cite this article

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To the Editor — The biodiversity intactness index (BII) is a high-profile metric of an area’s average abundance of wild species relative to that in pre-modern times1 or in primary vegetation under current climatic conditions2. It has been endorsed by the Group on Earth Observations of the Biodiversity Observation Network, adopted by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services as a ‘core’ indicator of progress toward the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Targets 12 and 14. We strongly support development of spatially explicit indicators such as the BII, which can be used to prioritise areas for conservation interventions. However, it is important that the metric is as robust as possible, and we have noticed several unusual features of the BII that concern us.

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Fig. 1: Global comparison of the BII with BMI and with the HF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Philip A. Martin, Rhys E. Green & Andrew Balmford

  2. RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, The Lodge, Sandy, UK

    Rhys E. Green

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  1. Philip A. Martin
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  2. Rhys E. Green
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  3. Andrew Balmford
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Correspondence to Philip A. Martin.

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Martin, P.A., Green, R.E. & Balmford, A. The biodiversity intactness index may underestimate losses. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 862–863 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0895-1

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