Living Planet Index

The Living Planet Index (LPI) is an indicator of the state of global biological diversity, based on trends in vertebrate populations of species from around the world. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) manages the index in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) a.k.a. the World Wildlife Federation. As of 2018, the index is statistically created from journal studies, online databases and government reports for 16,704 populations of 4,005 species of mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish, or approximately six percent of the world's vertebrate species. From 1970 to 2000, the population of measured species declined on average by 25%. Between 1970 and 2012 the index fell by 58%. This global trend suggests that natural ecosystems are degrading at a rate unprecedented in human history. As of 2018, the vertebrate populations have declined by 60% over the past 44 years. Since 1970, freshwater species have declined 83%, and tropical populations in South and Central America declined 89%. The authors note that, 'An average trend in population change is not an average of total numbers of animals lost.' As of 2014, the Living Planet Database (LPD) is maintained by ZSL, and contains more than 20,000 population trends for more than 4,200 species of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.