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We often hear about biodiversity – the variety of species in an ecosystem – but what about how many of each species actually remain? That’s where bioabundance comes in. It’s not just about whether a species exists, but whether its population is thriving, shrinking, or hanging on by a thread.
Bioabundance gives us a clearer picture of ecosystem health and stability, yet it’s rarely talked about. And as global wildlife populations decline, it's time we started paying attention.
In this article, we’ll explore why bioabundance matters, how it’s being lost, and what we can do to protect the ecosystems we all depend on.
Conservation efforts often focus on preventing species extinction and protecting biodiversity, which are vital goals. But this focus can sometimes miss the bigger picture. A species may survive, but if its numbers are too low to play its ecological role, the ecosystem still suffers. Without considering population abundance, we risk underestimating the true scale of ecosystem decline.
To fully understand the health of an ecosystem, scientists will look at the number of individuals within specific species, alongside other key indicators. Together, these measures provide a more complete picture:
By incorporating species abundance into how we assess and protect ecosystems, we gain a more realistic understanding of what’s thriving, what’s at risk, and which aspects of ecosystem health need the most urgent attention.
Today, advances in satellite imaging, remote sensing, and environmental DNA (eDNA) sequencing have made it possible to monitor population abundance on a much larger scale than ever before, even in remote or difficult-to-access areas.
Here are some of the key indicators scientists use to estimate species abundance:
Bioabundance is essential for keeping ecosystems stable and self-sustaining. While we often focus on saving rare species, declining population sizes within once-common species can quietly unravel entire ecosystems. Ecological processes – like seed dispersal and population control – depend on healthy numbers, not just the mere presence of a species.
Small declines can trigger significant consequences. A drop in insect populations, for example, may seem minor at first, until crops go unpollinated, birds lose food sources, and soil quality declines. These knock-on effects can ripple outward, threatening the entire web of life.
Healthy ecosystems can bounce back from stress, but only if key species are present in sufficient numbers. The capacity to recover after fires, floods, or heatwaves often hinges on whether enough individuals survive to keep core functions going.
Take coral reefs. Corals don’t just build the reef structure, they also support marine life, stabilise shorelines, and regulate carbon and nutrient cycles. In reefs with high species abundance, even after a bleaching event, enough coral polyps typically survive to allow slow regeneration.
But in degraded reefs where populations are already low, those same stressors can lead to collapse. Fewer surviving corals means less chance of recovery and the loss of habitat, food chains, and storm protection that coastal communities rely on.
Bioabundance isn’t just an environmental issue – it’s tightly linked to human well-being, from food security to climate stability.
Most threats to bioabundance come down to one thing: human activity. From how we use land to how we consume resources, our actions are pushing many species toward decline, even if they haven’t gone extinct.
As cities expand, farmland grows, and industry spreads, natural habitats are carved up or lost entirely. This reduces the space species need to feed, breed, and shelter, making it harder for populations to recover.
Even species that survive in isolated patches often struggle to reproduce or migrate, leading to slow but steady declines in population.
Pollutants in air, soil, and water can decimate species even in otherwise intact habitats. The impacts are especially severe for smaller or more sensitive organisms.
Global heating is disrupting everything from migration patterns to breeding cycles. Sudden shifts in temperature, rainfall, or seasons can leave species out of sync with food sources or shelter availability.
Overfishing, hunting, and unsustainable logging don’t just reduce the numbers of target species, they also disturb broader ecosystem relationships.
When these pressures combine, the result is often a sharp decline in abundance, contributing to long-term biodiversity loss even if the species technically survives.
When species abundance falls below a certain threshold, ecosystems begin to lose their balance. The loss of individuals may not make headlines like extinctions do, but it quietly undermines the systems we rely on.
As numbers dwindle, the natural world becomes more fragile, less resilient, and less capable of supporting both wildlife and human communities. The effects can unfold slowly or cascade quickly; either way, the consequences are far-reaching.
Here’s a summary of what declining species abundance puts at risk:
Essential services like:
...all depend on stable populations of key species. As population abundance declines, so does nature’s capacity to support life.
When species populations shrink, genetic variety declines too. This makes it harder for species to adapt to environmental change or fight off disease, and can increase the risk of transmission of pathogens through weakened populations, leaving ecosystems more vulnerable to future shocks.
When one species declines, it can trigger a chain reaction that affects other species.
A loss of prey species can starve predators. A missing pollinator can collapse a plant population. These ripple effects can trigger:
Actions that support bioabundance:
Well-managed protected areas, like national parks and nature reserves, are essential for safeguarding species and habitats. They provide critical spaces where nature can thrive with minimal human interference.
To be effective, protected areas must:
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing can support or destroy bioabundance, depending on how they’re managed. Shifting to practices that work with nature rather than against it helps maintain healthy populations and enhance long-term ecosystem resilience.
Sustainable approaches include:
Conservation efforts are far more effective when they include the people who know the land best, and when there is strong communication between communities, scientists, and policymakers. Local communities often hold deep knowledge of their ecosystems and a strong stake in their preservation.
Technology is transforming the way we conserve nature. New tools help scientists and conservationists gather data and respond faster to threats.
Emerging technologies include:
Restoration ecology is gaining ground as a powerful way to rebuild abundance in damaged landscapes. These efforts can bring species back to areas where they've declined or disappeared.
Key strategies include:
Protecting bioabundance and preventing extinction isn’t just a job for conservationists; it needs to be built into the way we run economies and govern societies.
Climate action and biodiversity protection go hand in hand. Efforts to stabilize the climate help ecosystems stay within the thresholds that species depend on.
Key climate actions that support bioabundance:
While these actions are essential, they sit within a broader – and still evolving – global effort to address species abundance through international policy and conservation targets.
While the term bioabundance isn’t always used directly, the concept is central to many international biodiversity frameworks. Species population trends are increasingly recognized as key indicators of ecosystem health, and several global agreements now include targets to restore or maintain abundance.
Adopted in 2022 under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Target 4: Halt human-induced extinctions and restore native species abundance.
Target 2: Restore at least 30% of degraded ecosystems.
SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water) aim to halt biodiversity loss and protect ecosystems. Species abundance trends are used as progress indicators.
Part of the European Green Deal. Includes goals to reverse pollinator decline, restore ecosystems, and increase species abundance across the EU.
Focuses on maintaining viable population levels for migratory species through coordinated conservation and cross-border habitat protection.
The Living Planet Index and Red List Index track changes in species abundance and guide conservation priorities worldwide.
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