The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.

Antimicrobial resistance and synergy in herbal medicine

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious and growing threat to human health. The development of new antibiotics is limited and slow. The tradition of synergy in herbal medicine is being used as a source of research ideas. A literature review of antimicrobial research and plant synergy published in a five year period was carried out using online databases. The in vitro findings were that most of the research reported synergy both within plants and between plants and antibiotics. Whole plant extracts and combinations of compounds were shown to be more effective antimicrobials than isolated constituents. The discussion highlights that the in vitro herbal research findings are difficult to apply to practice and aren’t progressing to clinical trials. Collaborative, innovative, inter-disciplinary clinical research is recommended.