Global wildlife trade permeates the Tree of Life
Date of Publication
1-1-2023 12:00 AM
Security Theme
Transnational Organized Crime
Keywords
Wildlife trade, flora and fauna, vertebrate, Tree of Life
Description
The wildlife trade, in both legal and illegal contexts, is a multibillion-dollar industry causing species extinction and posing a threat to biodiversity. The study examines the diversity of organisms involved in wildlife trade, revealing a bias towards vertebrates and a small fraction of plant groups. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species showed that vertebrates were the most traded, followed by amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and fish. The Tracheophyta and Basidiomycota groups produced a lower overall species involved in trade. The study also found that timber trade is the most relevant in the flora and fauna portion of wildlife trafficking, with an estimated value of US $190 billion in 2005. The study calls for future work to lessen the bias of species representation and to create more robust categories for non-vertebrates. The study suggests that assembling multiple databases for trait comparison is crucial for understanding the interconnections between wildlife trafficking actors and implementing policy strategies to curb trafficking.
Global wildlife trade permeates the Tree of Life
The wildlife trade, in both legal and illegal contexts, is a multibillion-dollar industry causing species extinction and posing a threat to biodiversity. The study examines the diversity of organisms involved in wildlife trade, revealing a bias towards vertebrates and a small fraction of plant groups. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species showed that vertebrates were the most traded, followed by amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and fish. The Tracheophyta and Basidiomycota groups produced a lower overall species involved in trade. The study also found that timber trade is the most relevant in the flora and fauna portion of wildlife trafficking, with an estimated value of US $190 billion in 2005. The study calls for future work to lessen the bias of species representation and to create more robust categories for non-vertebrates. The study suggests that assembling multiple databases for trait comparison is crucial for understanding the interconnections between wildlife trafficking actors and implementing policy strategies to curb trafficking.
