# Halting predicted vertebrate declines requires tackling multiple drivers of biodiversity loss

## TL;DR

Vertebrate populations decline faster when facing multiple threats like disease and climate change, not just habitat loss or exploitation.

## Contribution

This study provides a global, population-level analysis of how multiple threats interact to drive biodiversity loss.

## Key findings

- Disease, invasive species, pollution, and climate change are linked to faster vertebrate population declines.
- Interactive threats contribute more to population declines than spatial or temporal variation.
- Mitigating multiple threats is essential to halt biodiversity loss and achieve nonnegative population trends.

## Abstract

Conservation policies aiming to halt biodiversity loss often focus on globally prevalent threats like habitat loss and exploitation, yet direct and interactive effects of multiple threats remain poorly quantified. Here, we go beyond prior meta-analyses or species-level studies by providing a global, population-level empirical analysis of threat interactions by examining 3129 vertebrate population time series worldwide with documented exposure to single and multiple threats. Populations affected solely by habitat loss or exploitation do not exhibit the steepest declines; instead, disease, invasive species, pollution, and climate change are associated with faster declines. Interactive threats contribute more to population declines than temporal or spatial variation. Counterfactual analyses reveal that mitigating multiple threats is essential to achieving nonnegative vertebrate population trends and halting biodiversity loss.

Global vertebrate populations decline faster in the presence of multiple threats compared to single threats.