The conversion of terrestrial habitats required to sustain the global agricultural production of food, fiber and fuel is the primary driver of human-induced species loss. Mapping conflicts between agriculture and conservation priorities is needed in order to safeguard biodiversity.
In this study, researchers used GBIF-mediated occurrence data to model the ecological niches of more than 7,000 terrestrial species known to be threatened by agriculture. Employing a "zonation" approach with input from the generated models, the authors calculated a Conservation Priority (CP) index, scoring the entire world at a 0.5-degree resolution.
Using global supply chain databases, the authors then added spatial information about crops and livestock in 197 countries to estimate the land-use of 42 different agricultural commodities and six livestock systems.
Initial exploration of overlaps showed that more than three-quarters of agricultural land-use occurred in sites of medium-high CP, with a third in very high CP. The land-use occurring in low-CP areas represented only a few commodities (barley, sugar beet, sunflower and wheat).
While coffee, cocoa, plantain and oil palm production occurred almost exclusively in very high CP areas, cattle, maize, rice and soybean occupied the most abundant land-use areas and thus posed the greatest threat to biodiversity. In contrast, commodities such as pearl millet, sunflower, cotton, lentils, chickpeas and cowpeas represented the lowest conservation risk.
Providing a quantitative basis for conflicts between humanity and nature and valuable input to inform sustainable agriculture, the findings of the study were also visualized in a web-based GIS tool.