Description
The Biodiversity Intactness dataset shows global estimates of how land use pressures have affected biodiversity. Biodiversity intactness is estimated as a combination of two metrics: Abundance (the quantity of individuals) and Compositional Similarity (how similar the composition of species is to an intact baseline). The Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) estimates how the average abundance of native terrestrial species in a region compares with their abundances before pronounced human impacts. These layers contain the area-weighted mean Biodiversity Intactness Index for watershed regions at different HydroBASINS levels.
Technical Description
The Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) measures how terrestrial biodiversity has changed in response to human pressures such as land use change and intensification. It combines two dimensions: Abundance (the number of individuals) and Compositional Similarity (how closely the mix of species resembles an intact baseline). In practice, the BII estimates how the average abundance of native plants, fungi, and animals in a given region compares to pre-impact conditions.
The dataset, developed by Impact Observatory in collaboration with Vizzuality, is derived from the PREDICTS database, which compiles biodiversity observations from more than 32,000 sites across 750 studies worldwide. It provides 100-meter gridded global maps of biodiversity intactness for 2017–2020.
This Collection holds the area-weighted mean BII for watershed regions at different HydroSHEDS HydroBASINS sub-basin watershed levels. Lake watersheds are removed prior to calculation of the weighted averages.