Journal Article

A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods

Rapacciuolo, Giovanni, Nogueira, Cristiano de C., Santos-Barrera, Georgina, Grant, Tandora D., Sanders, Kate L., de Silva, Anslem, Iskandar, Djoko T., Martins, Marcio, Marin, Julie, Tolley, Krystal A., Els, Johannes, Spawls, Stephen, Allison, Allen, Vidal, Marcela A., Wallace, Bryan P., Roll, Uri, Rhodin, Anders G. J., Brooks, Thomas M., Young, Bruce E., Böhm, Monika, Mitchell, Nicola J., Hedges, S. Blair, Trape, Jean-François, Molur, Sanjay, Ananjeva, Natalia B., Cisneros-Heredia, Diego F., Penner, Johannes, Avila, Luciano Javier, Jenkins, Richard K. B., Hoffmann, Michael, Cogger, Harold G., Chapple, David G., Fernandez, Miguel, Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Tognelli, Marcelo F., Hitchmough, Rodney A., Shea, Glenn M., Ortiz, Juan Carlos, Hilton-Taylor, Craig, Eisemberg, Carla C., Rivas, Gilson A., Bowles, Philip, Cox, Neil, Auliya, Mark, Meiri, Shai, Alexander, Graham J., Stuart, Bryan L., Fong G., Ansel, Xie, Yan, Colli, Guarino R., Kidera, Noriko, Wagner, Philipp

2022

Overview

Comprehensive assessments of species’ extinction risks have documented the extinction crisis 1 and underpinned strategies for reducing those risks 2 . Global assessments reveal that, among tetrapods, 40.7% of amphibians, 25.4% of mammals and 13.6% of birds are threatened with extinction 3 . Because global assessments have been lacking, reptiles have been omitted from conservation-prioritization analyses that encompass other tetrapods 4 – 7 . Reptiles are unusually diverse in arid regions, suggesting that they may have different conservation needs 6 . Here we provide a comprehensive extinction-risk assessment of reptiles and show that at least 1,829 out of 10,196 species (21.1%) are threatened—confirming a previous extrapolation 8 and representing 15.6 billion years of phylogenetic diversity. Reptiles are threatened by the same major factors that threaten other tetrapods—agriculture, logging, urban development and invasive species—although the threat posed by climate change remains uncertain. Reptiles inhabiting forests, where these threats are strongest, are more threatened than those in arid habitats, contrary to our prediction. Birds, mammals and amphibians are unexpectedly good surrogates for the conservation of reptiles, although threatened reptiles with the smallest ranges tend to be isolated from other threatened tetrapods. Although some reptiles—including most species of crocodiles and turtles—require urgent, targeted action to prevent extinctions, efforts to protect other tetrapods, such as habitat preservation and control of trade and invasive species, will probably also benefit many reptiles. An extinction-risk assessment of reptiles shows that at least 21.1% of species are threatened by factors such as agriculture, logging, urban development and invasive species, and that efforts to protect birds, mammals and amphibians probably also benefit many reptiles.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 631/158/672 / 631/601/2721 / Agriculture / Alligators and Crocodiles / Amphibians / Animal biology / Animals / Aquatic reptiles / Arid regions / Arid zones / Biodiversity / Birds / Climate change / Conservation / Conservation of Natural Resources / Crocodiles / Endangered & extinct species / Extinction, Biological / Habitats / Humanities and Social Sciences / Introduced species / Invasive species / Life Sciences / Logging / Mammals / multidisciplinary / Phylogeny / Reptiles / Reptilia / Risk Assessment / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Small mammals / Snakes / Species extinction / Tetrapoda / Threatened species / Turtles / Urban agriculture / Urban development