[BCFSN] The hidden biodiversity impacts of global crop production and trade

[Pamela Zevit Adamah Consultants]

The rise in intensive agriculture, and associated land-use change, is a major driver of biodiversity
loss. This study evaluated these effects via international food trade, calculating estimates of
species loss for 170 crops and 184 countries. The results show that the majority of biodiversity
loss is due to growing crops for domestic consumption but that industrialised countries can 'import'
negative impacts from tropical regions. 

 

In the past 500 years, over 300 vertebrate species have gone extinct, and many more are under threat
of extinction - causing a lamentable decline in the variety of life on the planet. Biodiversity
provides important benefits, from pollination to nutrient cycling, that are vital for human health
and the economy. There is, therefore, an urgent need to address the causes of biodiversity loss.

 

Agriculture is a major driver of biodiversity decline. As the world's economies are become more and
more connected, international flows of crops and their products are increasing and it is important
to understand the environmental effect of these changes.

 

These results could help decision makers across the globe. The researchers say it is still currently
possible to take conservation measures, such as restoration of habitats, to safeguard biodiversity
and reduce the projected numbers of extinctions presented in this study.

 

Source: Chaudhary, A. and Kastner, T. (2016). Land use biodiversity impacts embodied in
international food trade. Download the full paper through Global Environmental Change, 38: 195-204.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378016300346 

Contact: abhishek at ifu.baug.ethz.ch , abhinain2010 at yahoo.com

 

Pamela Zevit, RPBio 
Adamah Consultants 

Coquitlam BC Canada
604-939-0523 

 <mailto:adamah at telus.net> adamah at telus.net 

Re-connecting People & Nature 

Science World - Scientists in the Schools Ambassador

 

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