In 2002, world leaders committed, through the Convention on Biological Diversity, to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. We compiled 31 indicators to report on progress toward this target. Most indicators of the state of biodiversity (covering species' population trends, extinction risk, habitat extent and condition, and community composition) showed declines, with no significant recent reductions in rate, whereas indicators of pressures on biodiversity (including resource consumption, invasive alien species, nitrogen pollution, overexploitation, and climate change impacts) showed increases. Despite some local successes and increasing responses (including extent and biodiversity coverage of protected areas, sustainable forest management, policy responses to invasive alien species, and biodiversity-related aid), the rate of biodiversity loss does not appear to be slowing.

BackgroundSaltmarshes are extremely valuable but often overlooked ecosystems, contributing to livelihoods locally and globally through the associated ecosystem services they provide, including fish production, carbon storage and coastal protection. Despite their importance, knowledge of the current spatial distribution (occurrence and extent) of saltmarshes is incomplete. In light of increasing anthropogenic and environmental pressures on coastal ecosystems, global data on the occurrence and extent of saltmarshes are needed to draw attention to these critical ecosystems and to the benefits they generate for people. Such data can support resource management, strengthen decision-making and facilitate tracking of progress towards global conservation targets set by multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets of the United Nations' (UN's) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Ramsar Convention.New informationHere, we present the most complete dataset on saltmarsh occurrence and extent at the global scale. This dataset collates 350,985 individual occurrences of saltmarshes and presents the first global estimate of their known extent.The dataset captures locational and contextual data for saltmarsh in 99 countries worldwide. A total of 5,495,089 hectares of mapped saltmarsh across 43 countries and territories are represented in a Geographic Information Systems polygon shapefile. This estimate is at the relatively low end of previous estimates (2.2-40 Mha), however, we took the conservative approach in the mapping exercise and there are notable areas in Canada, Northern Russia, South America and Africa where saltmarshes are known to occur that require additional spatial data. Nevertheless, the most extensive saltmarsh worldwide are found outside the tropics, notably including the low-lying, ice-free coasts, bays and estuaries of the North Atlantic which are well represented in our global polygon dataset. Therefore, despite the gaps, we believe that, while incomplete, our global polygon data cover many of the important areas in Europe, the USA and Australia.

A survey of pelagic larvae was undertaken between November 1992 and February 1995 at Signy Island, Antarctica (60843' S, 45836' W). A diver-towed net and hand-held plankton pump were used at ¢ve sites of varying depths (6^30 m) and benthic substrata, in a combination of monthly and fortnightly samples. Overall larval ecological diversity was much higher than expected, with 131 morphologically distinct larval forms collected, apparently representing most of the benthic phyla present. The species richness observed is comparable with levels recorded at temperate latitudes, and higher than Arctic data and the implications for Thorson's rule (the inferred cline of reduced pelagic larval diversity towards high latitudes) is discussed. Larval abundances were low (mean 2.6 individuals per m 3 ), which were two to six orders of magnitude lower than peaks in comparable data from temperate and tropical zones. We suggest that the low abundances recorded are a re£ection of both slow developmental rates and a high dilution of larvae, reducing synchrony and spreading larvae over larger distances. Three seasonal periods, during which di¡erent larval types occur, have been identi¢ed. Summer, late summer and winter spawning strategies were discernible, and in some groups larvae occurred throughout the year.

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T i m H . S p a r k s , S t u a r t H . M . B u t c h a r t , A n d r e w B a l m f o r d , L e o n B e n n u n D a m o n S t a n w e l l -S m i t h , M a t t W a l p o l e , N i c h o l a s R . B a t e s B a s t i a n B o m h a r d , G r a e m e M . B u c h a n a n , A n n a M . C h e n e r y , B e n C o l l e n J o r g e C s i r k e , R o b e r t J . D i a z , N i c h o l a s K . D u l v y , C l a i r e F i t z g e r a l d V a l e r i e K a p o s , P h i l i p p e M a y a u x , M e g a n T i e r n e y , M i c h e l l e W a y c o t t L o u i s a W o o d and R h y s E . G r e e n Abstract The target adopted by world leaders of significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 was not met but this stimulated a new suite of biodiversity targets for 2020 adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in October 2010. Indicators will be essential for monitoring progress towards these targets and the CBD will be defining a suite of relevant indicators, building on those developed for the 2010 target. Here we argue that explicitly linked sets of indicators offer a more useful framework than do individual indicators because the former are easier to understand, communicate and interpret to guide policy. A Response-Pressure-State-Benefit framework for structuring and linking indicators facilitates an understanding of the relationships between policy actions, anthropogenic threats, the status of biodiversity and the benefits that people derive from it. Such an approach is appropriate at global, regional, national and local scales but for many systems it is easier to demonstrate causal linkages and use them to aid decision making at national and local scales. We outline examples of linked indicator sets for humid tropical forests and marine fisheries as illustrations of the concept and conclude that much work remains to be done in developing both the indicators and the causal links between them.