Habitat loss due to land use change is a major contributor to species extinction. The growing impact of human-induced land use pressure on terrestrial vertebrate species distribution and loss was gauged by an international team of researchers.

The proportion of species ranges facing intense anthropogenic pressure was quantified across 10,745 birds, Range size frequencies for the entire known geographic range of species (dark grey bars) and range size frequencies of the same species after excluding areas of intense human pressure (red bars) for (A) amphibians, (B) mammals, (C) birds, and (D) threatened species. Source: C. O’Bryan et al.4,592 mammals, 5,000 amphibians, and 192 reptiles, with 4,610 of the total being threatened. The extent of intense human pressure across species range size was determined based on the Human Footprint, a cumulative human pressure assessment that includes data on roads, built environments, human population density, railways and agricultural land.

During the 1993 to 2009 study period, about 85% or 17,517 species had half their ranges exposed to intense human pressure, with 16% or 3,328 species entirely exposed. Threatened terrestrial vertebrates and species with small ranges are disproportionately exposed to intense human pressure, and an additional 2,478 species considered ‘least concern’ have considerable portions of their range overlapping with these pressures, which may indicate a risk of decline.

Results of the research published in Global Ecology and Conservation can be used to prioritize actions against these pressures and to identify high risk areas where conservation efforts are needed to ensure wildlife has enough range to survive and thrive. Scientists from the University of Queensland, CSIRO, Australian National University, the University of Northern British Columbia, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Amsterdam contributed to this study.