Raptors serve critical ecological functions, are particularly extinctionâ€prone and are often used as environmental indicators and flagship species. Yet, there is no global framework to prioritize research and conservation actions on them. We identify for the first time the factors driving extinction risk and scientific attention on raptors and develop a novel research and conservation priority index (RCPI) to identify global research and conservation priorities. We use random forest models based on ecological traits and extrinsic data to identify the drivers of risk and scientific attention in all raptors. We then map global research and conservation priorities. Lastly, we model where priorities fall relative to countryâ€level human social indicators.
Results/Conclusions
Raptors with small geographic ranges, scavengers, forestâ€dependent species and those with slow life histories are particularly extinctionâ€prone. Research is ex†tremely biased towards a small fraction of raptor species: 10 species (1.8% of all rap†tors) account for oneâ€third of all research, while oneâ€fifth of species have no publications. Species with small geographic ranges and those inhabiting less developed countries are greatly understudied. Regions of Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia are identified as particularly high priority for raptor research and conservation. These priorities are highly concentrated in developing countries, indicating a global mismatch between priorities and capacity for research and conservation. A redistribution of scientific attention and conservation efforts to†wards developing tropical countries and the leastâ€studied, extinctionâ€prone species is critical to conserve raptors and their ecological functions worldwide. We identify clear taxonomic and geographic research and conservation priorities for all raptors, and our methodology can be applied across other taxa to prioritize scientific investment.