Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A single apex target for biodiversity would be bad news for both nature and people

  • World View
  • Published:

From Nature Ecology & Evolution

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Conserving biodiversity for its own sake and conserving it to safeguard ecosystem services are distinct goals that cannot both be achieved through a single target analogous to climate’s 1.5 °C, argues Andy Purvis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Butchart, S. H. M. et al. Science 328, 1164–1168 (2010).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Díaz, S. et al. Science 366, eaax3100 (2019).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Zero-Order Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2020); https://go.nature.com/2wuuDYU

  4. Adoption of the Paris Agreement Report No. FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev.1 (UNFCCC, 2015); http://go.nature.com/2mmbWvt

  5. Díaz, S. et al. Science 359, 270–272 (2018).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Grime, J. P. J. Ecol. 86, 902–910 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Cardinale, B. J. et al. Nature 486, 59–67 (2012).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Isbell, F. et al. Nature 546, 65–72 (2017).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Flynn, D. F. B. et al. Ecol. Lett. 12, 22–33 (2009).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Foley, J. A. et al. Science 309, 570–574 (2005).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Mace, G. M. et al. Glob. Environ. Change 28, 289–297 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Ceballos, G. et al. Sci. Adv. 1, e1400253 (2015).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Humphreys, A. M., Govaerts, R., Ficinski, S. Z., Nic Lughada, E. & Vorontsova, M. S. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 3, 1043–1047 (2019).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Myers, N., Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., de Fonseca, G. A. B. & Kent, J. Nature 403, 853–858 (2000).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Phalan, B., Onial, M., Balmford, A. & Green, R. E. Science 333, 1289–1291 (2011).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK

    Andy Purvis

  2. Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK

    Andy Purvis

Authors
  1. Andy Purvis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andy Purvis.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Purvis, A. A single apex target for biodiversity would be bad news for both nature and people. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 768–769 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1181-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1181-y

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation