Measuring Terrestrial Area of Habitat (AOH) and Its Utility for the IUCN Red List.
Abstract
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species
includes assessment of extinction risk for 98 512 species, plus documentation of their
range, habitat, elevation, and other factors. These range, habitat and elevation data
can be matched with terrestrial land cover and elevation datasets to map the species'
area of habitat (AOH; also known as extent of suitable habitat; ESH). This differs
from the two spatial metrics used for assessing extinction risk in the IUCN Red List
criteria: extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO). AOH can guide conservation,
for example, through targeting areas for field surveys, assessing proportions of species'
habitat within protected areas, and monitoring habitat loss and fragmentation. We
recommend that IUCN Red List assessments document AOH wherever practical.
Type
Journal articleSubject
IUCN Red Listarea of habitat
area of occupancy
extent of occurrence
extent of suitable habitat
range map
Animals
Conservation of Natural Resources
Ecosystem
Endangered Species
Extinction, Biological
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23520Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.tree.2019.06.009Publication Info
Brooks, Thomas M; Pimm, Stuart L; Akçakaya, H Resit; Buchanan, Graeme M; Butchart,
Stuart HM; Foden, Wendy; ... Rondinini, Carlo (2019). Measuring Terrestrial Area of Habitat (AOH) and Its Utility for the IUCN Red List.
Trends in ecology & evolution, 34(11). pp. 977-986. 10.1016/j.tree.2019.06.009. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23520.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Stuart L. Pimm
Doris Duke Distinguished Professor of Conservation Ecology in the Nicholas School
of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Stuart Pimm is a world leader in the study of present-day extinctions and what can
be done to prevent them. His research covers the reasons why species become extinct,
how fast they do so, the global patterns of habitat loss and species extinction and,
importantly, the management consequences of this research. Pimm received his BSc degree
from Oxford University in 1971 and his Ph.D. from New Mexico State University in 1974.
Pimm is the author of over 350 scientific papers and five books. He i

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