Indicators using the Living Planet Index database

The LPI database contains thousands of population time series for birds, mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians, which are gathered from a variety of sources such as journals, online databases and government reports. Using a method developed by ZSL and WWF, these species population trends are aggregated to produce indices of the state of biodiversity. The rest of our work focusses on expanding the coverage of LPI data to more broadly represent vertebrate biodiversity from all around the globe and disaggregating the index to measure trends in different thematic areas. This includes assessing the changes in different taxonomic groups, looking at species trends at a national or regional level, identifying how different threats affect populations and providing an insight into how conservation intervention can promote species recoveries. Some of these indicators could be used in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework or for monitoring progress towards targets for other Conventions. These are indicators that we have developed or jointly developed.

Living Planet Index

The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a measure of the state of global biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from around the world. It does this in much the same way that a stock market index tracks the value of a set of shares or a retail price index tracks the cost of a basket of consumer goods.
Migratory freshwater fish LPI

Connectivity in freshwater ecosystems is vital for the lifecycles of many freshwater fish as they move between breeding and feeding areas. The LPI for migratory freshwater fish was developed to monitor trends in this group of species which are often impacted by habitat fragmentation and overexploitation.Image credit: Rebecca Short
Forest Specialists Index

Forest specialists comprise species which live only in forest habitats. The Forest Specialist Index was developed by applying the Living Planet Index (LPI) methodology to forest specialists alone, as a key group of species to monitor alongside forest area-based indicators. The trends in forest vertebrate populations can reflect impacts of drivers other than habitat degradation, such that wildlife harvesting, and disease.
Canadian Species Index (CSI)

The Canadian species index shows whether monitored vertebrate species have increasing or decreasing population size trends over time. This, in turn, provides an integrated measure of the condition of the environment.
Growth in LPD Data

The growth in number of records and species in the Living Planet Index database demonstrates the adequacy of abundance data available for vertebrate species. The LPI database is directly relevant to Target 20 of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework as it is a source of 'relevant knowledge'.
LPI for utilised populations

Sustainable use of natural resources is central to biodiversity conservation. Using more than 11,000 vertebrate population time series, we developed a global indicator of utilised populations and propose its use in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

Arctic Species Trend Index (ASTI)

The Arctic Species Trend Index (ASTI) is an index that tracks trends in over 300 Arctic vertebrate species and comprises the Arctic component of the Living Planet Index.