Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Under the recently adopted Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, 196 Parties committed to report the status of genetic diversity for all species. To facilitate reporting, three genetic diversity indicators were developed, two of which focus on processes contributing to genetic diversity conservation: maintaining genetically distinct populations and ensuring populations are large enough to maintain genetic diversity. The major advantage of these indicators is that they can be estimated with or without DNA-based data. However, demonstrating their feasibility requires addressing the methodological challenges of using data gathered from diverse sources, across diverse taxonomic groups, and for countries of varying socioeconomic status and biodiversity levels. Here, we assess the genetic indicators for 919 taxa, representing 5,271 populations across nine countries, including megadiverse countries and developing economies. Eighty-three percent of taxa assessed had data available to calculate at least one indicator. Our results show that although the majority of species maintain most populations, 58% of species have populations too small to maintain genetic diversity. Moreover, genetic indicator values suggest that IUCN Red List status and other initiatives fail to assess genetic status, highlighting the critical importance of genetic indicators. | External Organisations Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia Mexico; South African National Biodiversity Institute; University of Sydney; KU Leuven; Stockholm University; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Honolulu, HI, USA.; Colorado State University; French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment; National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan; Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation; Research Institute for Nature and Forest; Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute; Pontifical Xavierian University; Independent Researcher; The University of Chicago; United States Geological Survey; The Morton Arboretum; Conservatoire d’espaces naturels d’Occitanie; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Australian Antarctic Division; Instituto de Ecologia; Cardiff University; Australian National University; Society for Conservation Biology; Cornell University; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Royal Botanic Garden Sydney; University of Liege | Associated Persons Alicia Mastretta-Yanes (Creator); Jessica M. da Silva (Creator); Catherine E. Grue