Change in Biosphere Integrity
Boundary Breached
The decline in the diversity, extent, and health of living organisms and ecosystems, threatens the biosphere’s ability to co-regulate the state of the planet by impacting the energy balance and chemical cycles on Earth. Both the loss of genetic diversity, and the decline in the functional integrity of the biosphere, have exceeded their safe levels.
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Importance
The biosphere consists of all living organisms on Earth. Climate change, habitat loss, industrial agriculture and pollution have resulted in a huge loss of biodiversity. Healthy, biodiverse ecosystems are at the core of the functioning of our living Planet. They support our food systems, and take up carbon from the atmosphere, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Impacts
The impacts of losing the integrity and functioning of the biosphere are hard to overstate.
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The biosphere co-regulates the overall state of the Earth on many levels, as it is closely tied into our planet’s chemical cycles and energy balances. The loss of vital services provided by ecosystems also has the potential to deprive our societies of irreplaceable sources of food and feed, energy, materials and medicines, while destabilizing the entire Earth system.
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Examples are the loss of pollinators, which are needed for more than 75% of food crops, and the loss of CO2 uptake sequestration capacity, which could significantly accelerate climate change
Control Variables
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Genetic Diversity: E/MSY
Extinctions per million species years (E/MSY) is a measure of the rate at which species go extinct. High rates of extinction indicate a loss of genetic diversity, which is critical for maintaining ecosystem resilience and functionality. The significant and steadily increasing loss of global biodiversity raises concerns that Earth’s biosphere is losing resilience, adaptability and hence its ability to buffer against the different Planetary Boundary processes.
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Functional Integrity: HANPP
HANPP stands for "Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (NPP).” NPP is the rate at which plants and other photosynthetic organisms produce organic matter (biomass) in an ecosystem, after accounting for the organic matter they use for respiration. It indicates the amount of energy available for consumption by herbivores and other organisms in the ecosystem.
Change in Land Plant Energy Used by Humanity
HANPP changes were historically driven by land-use expansion and intensification. HANPP increased globally, except in parts of Eurasia where HANPP values were already very high and have recently shown a slight decrease.
Global Risk Map of the Change in Biosphere Integrity Boundary Transgression – HANPP
Most boundary transgressions occur in large, continuous regions with high land-use intensity. In contrast, areas in regions without transgressions, such as the Amazon, the Congo Basin, and boreal forests, are primarily natural or semi-natural. Areas in Zones of Increasing Risk are not yet stable and are likely to soon exceed the PB due to ongoing land-use expansion, underscoring humanity's current inability to manage land use within safe limits.
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Key Drivers
The primary drivers of genetic diversity loss include rapid expansions in agricultural and livestock farming lands, as well as direct exploitation through activities such as fishing and logging. Climate change, pollution, and the introduction of invasive species further exacerbate these pressures. These stressors often interact in complex ways, introducing dangerous uncertainty into predictions of future biodiversity loss.
Connected Tipping Points
If the status of this Planetary Boundary continues to deteriorate, it will push many tipping elements toward tipping, including:
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The death of warm-water coral reefs
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Dieback of the Amazon and Congo rainforests
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Collapse of fisheries
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Die-off of kelp forests, seagrass and mangroves
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Southern dieback of boreal forests
Read more about other Boundaries
Planetary Boundary process inside Earth's safe operating space
Planetary Boundary process outside Earth's safe operating space
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