Estimated six percent loss of genetic variation in wild populations since the industrial revolution

Genetic variation is fundamental to population fitness and adaptation to environmental change. Human activities are driving declines in many wild populations and could have similar effects on genetic variation. Despite the importance of estimating such declines, no global estimate of the magnitude of ongoing genetic variation loss has been conducted across species. By combining studies that quantified recent changes in genetic variation across a mean of 27 generations for 91 species, we conservatively estimate a 5.4-6.5% decline in within-population genetic diversity of wild organisms since the industrial revolution. This loss has been most severe for island species, which show a 30% average decline. We identified taxonomic and geographic gaps in temporal studies that must be urgently addressed. Our results are consistent with single time-point meta-analyses, which indicated that genetic variation is likely declining. However, our results represent the first confirmation of a global dec...遗传变异（Genetic variation）是维持种群适合度、支撑生物应对环境变化的适应性演化的核心基础。人类活动正导致众多野生种群数量下降，且可能对遗传变异产生类似的负面影响。尽管评估此类遗传变异流失的趋势具有重要意义，但目前尚未开展过跨物种的、针对当前遗传变异流失规模的全球性估算。本研究整合了覆盖91个物种、平均覆盖27个世代的遗传变异近期变化量化研究，经保守估算，自工业革命以来，野生生物的种群内遗传多样性已出现5.4%至6.5%的降幅。其中岛屿物种的遗传多样性流失最为严重，平均降幅高达30%。本研究同时发现了时序研究在分类学与地理分布上的空白，此类空白亟待得到紧急填补。我们的研究结果与单时间点元分析（meta-analysis）的结论相符，后者指出遗传变异大概率正处于流失状态。然而，本研究首次证实了全球范围的遗传多样性下降...