Biodiversité

Une équipe de chercheurs de plusieurs établissements, dont l'Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), a développé une nouvelle approche de modélisation pour mieux connaître la répartition en mer des poissons migrateurs amphihalins. La méthode appliquée à ces espèces menacées, comme les aloses ou l’anguille européenne, a permis des avancées importantes pour leur gestion en mer.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is essential for practical and theoretical efforts to protect biodiversity. However, species classified as “Data Deficient” (DD) regularly mislead practitioners due to their uncertain extinction risk. Here we present machine learning-derived probabilities of being threatened by extinction for 7699 DD species, comprising 17% of the entire IUCN spatial datasets. Our predictions suggest that DD species as a group may in fact be more threatened than data-sufficient species. We found that 85% of DD amphibians are likely to be threatened by extinction, as well as more than half of DD species in many other taxonomic groups, such as mammals and reptiles.

Anthropogenic light is ubiquitous in areas where humans are present and is showing a progressive increase worldwide. This has far-reaching consequences for most species and their ecosystems. The effects of anthropogenic light on natural ecosystems are highly variable and complex. Many species suffer from adverse effects and often respond in a highly specific manner. Ostensibly surveyable effects such as attraction and deterrence become complicated because these can depend on the type of behavior and specific locations. Here, we considered how solutions and new technologies could reduce the adverse effects of anthropogenic light.