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Published on: November 14, 2025
Intact faunal assemblages in the modern era
M Sanjayan1, Leah H Samberg, Timothy Boucher
1The Nature Conservancy, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203, USA.
Summary
Global conservation efforts overlook resilient regions. This study identifies 17 regions with no vertebrate extinctions in 200 years, highlighting overlooked areas for biodiversity conservation.
Area of Science:
- Conservation Biology
- Zoology
- Ecology
Background:
- Global conservation funding is limited, prioritizing areas by species diversity, vulnerability, or pristine ecosystems.
- Regions resilient to extinction have not been systematically prioritized in conservation efforts.
- Existing prioritization metrics may overlook valuable areas for conservation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify global regions where no vertebrate species have gone extinct in the past 200 years.
- To assess the effectiveness of protected areas and human impact on faunal intactness.
- To propose a new approach for identifying conservation priorities based on faunal resilience.
Main Methods:
- Utilized published range maps for 392 vertebrate species to compare historical and current ranges.
- Identified regions with no detectable vertebrate extinctions over the last two centuries.
- Analyzed the human-footprint index and protected-area network coverage in relation to faunal intactness.
Main Results:
- Seventeen regions showed no vertebrate extinctions in the past 200 years.
- Six regions achieved full historic vertebrate complements through species reintroductions.
- Human footprint was not a sole predictor of faunal intactness; 22% of intact land was unprotected, with high-latitude areas being underrepresented.
Conclusions:
- Conservation strategies should consider regions resilient to extinction, not just those with high diversity or vulnerability.
- Human activity can coexist with intact vertebrate communities, challenging assumptions about pristine ecosystems.
- The study introduces a novel method for conservation prioritization, revealing underrepresented regions, particularly in high latitudes.
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