Future Projections of Biodiversity Under Global Change Need to Include Genetic Diversity

This perspective argues that current methods for predicting biodiversity loss from future land use and climate change models are incomplete without incorporating projections of genetic diversity. Without methods to estimate current and future changes in genetic diversity, we cannot fully anticipate extinction risk, nor can we measure progress toward conservation targets. This oversight threatens to undermine our most ambitious biodiversity goals. We need a vanguard shift in how forecasting is approached, one that integrates genetic data into global biodiversity models.