Living Planet Index

National, regional and thematic applications

The LPI database contains thousands of vertebrate population time series. These are fed into the LPI to provide a global indicator of biodiversity change but the data can also be divided into useful subsets to focus on a particular region or group of species. The following examples show some current and recent application of the LPI.

Wildlife comeback

We are working with Rewilding Europe to develop a broader understanding of vertebrate abundance trends in Europe over the last 50 years
Protected areas

An international, collaborative audit of the earth’s protected areas providing, for the first time, critical information on the status and trends of vertebrate populations within protected areas.
Uganda

In Uganda, monitoring of a number of species has been undertaken over the last four decades. The index shows a dramatic decline in Uganda's vertebrate species.
Migratory freshwater fish

Freshwater migratory fish require connectivity in their habitats in order to complete their life cycle. Dams and other river infrastructures create barriers to this movement and can impact the survival of populations. This project is a collaboration to develop an LPI for freshwater migratory fish.
Estuaries

Estuaries are under threat from manmade interventions. This report assesses trends in biodiversity and threats to estuarine ecosystems.
Migratory species

Analyses found that migratory species have overall increased in global abundance. Further disaggregation of the data revealed interesting underlying trends.
Antarctic penguins

Developing a 'penguindex' to monitor trends in Anarctic penguins. The Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD) project has created a database of census data for 4 penguin species and is ensuring that the data for these species is updated in the LPI.
Mediterranean wetlands

The Mediterranean basin, a biodiversity hotspot, is subject to anthropogenic pressures. This report aims to aid conservation of Mediterranean wetlands.