The decline of mammal functional and evolutionary diversity worldwide

Significance The ongoing loss of species around the world is reducing the diversity of ecological roles played by organisms in natural communities, as well as the number of evolutionary lineages that live there. We have limited knowledge about which anthropogenic threats have the strongest influence on functional and evolutionary diversity, and about whether declines in these facets of biodiversity are faster or slower than the corresponding declines in species numbers. Here we show that harvest and habitat loss in the most biodiverse parts of the world disproportionately affect mammal species that have unique roles in their ecosystems. Enhanced conservation, focused particularly on harvest sustainability, is critically needed to avoid deterioration of ecosystem function and impoverishment of our biodiversity heritage.