2023-05-04T13:11:58.897363

2025-03-14T16:16:39.281122

1000

1 km × 1 km

Forested Biomes Globally

As new data becomes available

global

Use the following credit when the data is displayed: “Forest Biodiversity Significance”. IUCN, BirdLife International, and UNEP-WCMC Accessed from Global Forest Watch on [date]. [www.globalforestwatch.org](https://www.globalforestwatch.org/) Use the following credit when the data is cited: Hill, S.L.L., A. Arnell, C. Maney, S.H.M. Butchart, C. Hilton-Taylor, C. Ciciarelli, C. Davis, E. Dinerstein, A. Purvis, and N.D. Burgess. 2019. “Measuring Forest Biodiversity Status and Changes Globally.” Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2 (November). [doi:10.3389/ffgc.2019.00070](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/forests-and-global-change/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00070/full). 

Biodiversity Significance

2018, 1 km, global, IUCN/BirdLife International/UNEP-WCMC

Hill, S.L.L., A. Arnell, C. Maney, S.H.M. Butchart, C. Hilton-Taylor, C. Ciciarelli, C. Davis, E. Dinerstein, A. Purvis, and N.D. Burgess. 2019. “Measuring Forest Biodiversity Status and Changes Globally.” Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2 (November). [doi:10.3389/ffgc.2019.00070](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/forests-and-global-change/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00070/full)

Not for commercial use

English

This layer shows the significance of each forest location for biodiversity in terms of the relative contribution of each pixel to the global distributions of all forest-dependent mammals, birds, amphibians and conifers worldwide. To calculate it, species that are coded in the IUCN Red List as forest dependent are selected and their distribution maps are clipped by their known altitudinal ranges (note amphibians’ altitudinal range have not been assessed) using a digital elevation model (DEM) dataset, and overlapped with the layer of forest cover. For each species, the relative “significance” of each forest pixel in their range is calculated as one divided by the total number of pixels of forest in their range. These values are summed for all species occurring within the pixel to give an overall value to the pixel. This metric is also sometimes termed ‘range rarity’.

Displays the relative importance of each pixel in terms of its aggregate contribution to the distribution of forest-dependent species of mammals, birds, amphibians, and conifers.

1. There are many different ways to define biodiversity significance. This layer is based on one particular approach.<br>2. Only Birds, Mammals, Amphibians and Conifers are included in the analysis<br>3. Only forest-dependent species are included. <br>4. The individual species range maps upon which this layer is based show distributional boundaries, not occupancy, and so contain commission errors. However, when >15,000 species ranges are combined into this single layer, such errors become largely irrelevant.<br>5. Historical ranges are excluded. Hence the value of each pixel is related to the global loss of species richness if the pixel is deforested.<br>6. Locations of high species richness do not necessarily have high scores if most of the species in the location have large global distributions <br>7. All species are treated equally, so the evolutionary distinctiveness of different taxa is not considered<br>8. When overlain with maps of forest loss, forest gain is ignored. It is assumed that tree cover gain over the analysis period is unlikely to translate into significant gain in forest-dependent species, given the natural time-lags in regeneration of forest ecosystems.<br>9. The layer provides a broad picture of variation in biodiversity significance of different forests globally. It is not intended to be used in isolation for priority setting or decision making, for which additional information is typically needed (e.g. on threats, costs etc)<br>10. The underlying species maps come from the [IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/spatial-data-download) and [BirdLife International](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/requestdis). Integrated data from the [IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/), [World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas](http://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/home) and [World Database on Protected Areas](https://www.protectedplanet.net/) are available in the [Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool](https://www.ibat-alliance.org/).

Commercial Use Restriction

Conservation, Land Cover

Give further context to forest loss pixels

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00070/full

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