A functional Red List Index for monitoring trends in functional diversity

Functional diversity supports ecosystem function and resilience but is in decline due to ongoing extinctions. Despite this, no functional diversity metrics are included in the set of indicators adopted by governments to measure progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework. Monitoring changes in functional diversity is essential to understand differences between taxonomic and functional diversity trends. The Red List Index (RLI) is a widely used metric in conservation policy, and tracks trends in aggregate extinction risk across sets of species over time. We present a functional Red List Index (fRLI), which weights species by their morphological uniqueness at either local or global scales, to indicate the risk that future extinctions could pose to functional diversity. We applied the fRLI on birds and found higher aggregate extinction risk for both local and global fRLI compared with the standard RLI. Species with higher local uniqueness were more likely to be at higher risk of extinction while we found no difference for globally unique species. Globally or locally unique species were not more likely to show escalation in extinction risk between 1988 and 2024 than less unique species; however, locally unique birds had a lower proportion of their resident range covered by site-based conservation measures, leaving them vulnerable to future decline. The fRLI provides a tool to monitor the impact of extinction risk on functional diversity and could be applied to other taxonomic groups with comprehensive or representative coverage of Red List assessments and trait data.