Despite increasing awareness of global biodiversity loss, we lack quantitative data on local extinctions for many species. This is especially true for rare species, which are typically assessed on the basis of expert judgment rather than data. Revisiting previously assessed populations enables estimation of local extinction rates and the identification of species characteristics and habitats with high local extinction risk. Between 2010 and 2016, in a nationwide revisitation study, 420 volunteer botanists revisited 8,024 populations of the 713 rarest and most threatened plant species in Switzerland recorded between 1960 and 2001. Of the revisited 8,024 populations, 27% had gone locally extinct. Among critically endangered species, the local extinctions increased to 40%. Species from ruderal and freshwater habitat types showed the highest proportion of local extinctions. Our results provide compelling evidence for rapid and widespread local extinctions and suggest that current conservation measures are insufficient. Local extinctions precede and provide early warnings for global extinctions. The ongoing loss of populations suggests that we will lose species diversity unless we scale up species‐targeted conservation and restoration measures, especially in anthropogenic landscapes.

中文翻译：

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全国范围的考察揭示了713种受威胁和稀有植物物种范围内的数千种物种灭绝

尽管人们日益意识到全球生物多样性的丧失，但我们仍缺乏许多物种灭绝的定量数据。对于稀有物种尤其如此，这些稀有物种通常是根据专家判断而不是数据进行评估的。再次评估以前评估的种群能够估计局部灭绝的速率，并确定具有高度局部灭绝风险的物种特征和栖息地。在2010年至2016年之间，一项全国性的再造研究中，有420名志愿植物学家重新研究了1960年至2001年间瑞士713种最稀有和最受威胁的植物物种中的8,024种。在重新研究的8,024种种群中，有27％在当地灭绝。在极度濒危物种中，局部灭绝增加到40％。来自鱼和淡水生境类型的物种显示出最高的局部灭绝比例。我们的结果提供了令人信服的证据，证明该物种迅速广泛地灭绝，并表明当前的保护措施还不够。局部灭绝先于全球灭绝，并为全球灭绝提供预警。持续的人口流失表明，除非我们扩大以物种为目标的保护和恢复措施，尤其是在人为景观中，否则我们将失去物种多样性。