Global wildlife trade permeates the Tree of Life

2020/05/19 by Caroline Sayuri Fukushima, Stefano Mammola, Pedro Cardoso · 164 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies #Biodiversity #Biology #Ecology #Economics #Environmental resource management #Extinction (optical mineralogy) #Geography #IUCN Red List #Identification and Quantification in Food #Tree (set theory) #Vertebrate #Wildlife #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Wildlife trade

paper · doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108503

published in Biological Conservation 247, 108503 (Elsevier BV)

openalex publication_date 2020/05/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

Legal and illegal wildlife trade is a multibillion dollar industry that is driving several species toward extinction. Even though wildlife trade permeates the Tree of Life, most analyses to date focused on the trade of a small selection of charismatic vertebrate species. Given that vertebrate taxa represent only 3% of described species, this is a significant bias that prevents the development of comprehensive conservation strategies. In this short contribution, we discuss the significance of global wildlife trade considering the full diversity of organisms for which data are available in the IUCN database. We emphasize the importance of being fast and effective in filling the knowledge gaps about non-vertebrate life forms, in order to achieve an in-depth understanding of global trading patterns across the full canopy of the Tree of Life, and not just its most appealing twig.

Citations

• Unveiling the patterns and trends in 40 years of global trade in CITES-listed wildlife

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