Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41756260›Full record

ArticleEcology and evolution2026

Aiming Higher to Test a Bend in the Curve of Biodiversity Loss: The Challenge of Halt-The-Loss Targets.

Mairenn C Attwood, Richard D Gregory, Nick J B Isaac, Fiona Burns

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Ecology and evolution, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Mairenn C AttwoodDepartment of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5386-1291
Richard D GregoryRSPB Centre for Conservation Science The David Attenborough Building Cambridge UK.
Nick J B IsaacUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Wallingford Oxfordshire UK.
Fiona BurnsRSPB Centre for Conservation Science The David Attenborough Building Cambridge UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Efforts to 'bend the curve' of biodiversity loss involve setting targets to halt declines. Here, we propose an empirical test of such targets. This test states the probability that the rate of change in a biodiversity indicator is greater than or equal to zero. We used a combination of real and simulated data to explore factors affecting test performance. We found that while smoothing had a minimal effect, the outcome depends heavily on the variability and number of species in a dataset. This suggests that thresholds for target acceptance should be set on a case-by-case basis. Adding data for subsequent years could retrospectively change the outcome in a target year. Assessments made with data only up until the target year should therefore be regarded as interim, with the assessment of the target only finalised once subsequent data are also included. We recommend that simulations are used a priori to choose smoothing levels and to set thresholds for accepting a target has been met.

Indexed as

biodiversity indicatorsbiodiversity policybiodiversity recoverybiodiversity targetsConvention on Biological DiversityGlobal Biodiversity Framework

Identifiers

PMID41756260
PMCPMC12935463

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.