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Cited by 886

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 5 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Wilderness and biodiversity conservation

Open access
Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., Brooks, T. M., Pilgrim, J. D., Konstant, W. R., da Fonseca, G. A. B., Kormos, C.·2003·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Human pressure threatens many species and ecosystems, so conservation efforts necessarily prioritize saving them. However, conservation should clearly be proactive wherever possible. In this article, we assess the biodiversity conservation value, and specifically the irreplaceability in terms of species endemism, of those of the planet's ecosystems that remain intact. We find that 24 wilderness areas, all > 1 million hectares, are > 70% intact and have human densities of less than or equal to five people per km 2 . This wilderness covers 44% of all land but is inhabited by only 3% of people. Given this sparse population, wilderness conservation is cost-effective, especially if ecosystem service value is incorporated. Soberingly, however, most wilderness is not speciose: only 18% of plants and 10% of terrestrial vertebrates are endemic to individual wildernesses, the majority restricted to Amazonia, Congo, New Guinea, the Miombo-Mopane woodlands, and the North American deserts. Global conservation strategy must target these five wildernesses while continuing to prioritize threatened biodiversity hotspots.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1732458100

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Metadata

Authors
Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., Brooks, T. M., Pilgrim, J. D., Konstant, W. R., da Fonseca, G. A. B., & Kormos, C.
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2003-08-20
Volume
100
Issue
18
Pages
10309-10313
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2007483844
Cited by
886
References
5
FWCI
11.76
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Wilderness and biodiversity conservation. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1073/pnas.1732458100
The paper
Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., Brooks, T. M., Pilgrim, J. D., Konstant, W. R., da Fonseca, G. A. B., & Kormos, C. (2003). Wilderness and biodiversity conservation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1732458100

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Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.