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Heterogeneity of data and knowledge across the region. Knowledge of biodiversity is not spread evenly across taxa and there is considerable bias in the coverage of different broad-level taxonomic groups both globally and within Europe and Central Asia (see Figure 1.14 and Figure 1.15). Whilst over 1.64 million species have been described on Earth (Catalogue of Life, 2016) out of a global total of about 8 million (Mora et al., 2011), only 82,954 have been assessed by 31 October 2016 on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. At more detailed scales, full assessments have been made of smaller subsets of species within some groups including the following taxonomic groups: amphibians, reef-building corals, chameleons, seasnakes, sharks and rays, tarpons and ladyfishes, parrotfishes and surgeonfishes, groupers, tunas and billfishes, hagfishes, angelfishes, blennies, butterflyfishes, picarels, porgies, pufferfishes, seabreams, sturgeon, wrasses, freshwater caridean shrimps, cone snails, freshwater crabs, freshwater crayfish, lobsters, cacti, conifers, cycads, seagrasses and plant species occurring in mangrove ecosystems (Brooks et al., 2016). However, some groups have far less coverage, for example plants (7.1%), fungi and protists (<0.001%) and invertebrates (1.4%) (IUCN, 2017). Europe and Central Asia supports 2,493 species that have been assessed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Of this group 13% are classified as threatened (Brooks et al., 2016). Of the taxa classified on the global-scale IUCN Red List of Threatened Species the Europe and Central Asia region holds 6.5% (see Figure 1.16). There are fewer data available in Central Asia than in the other three subregions. Although there is background knowledge of the role of many taxa in ecosystem functioning, there is far less known about their individual roles in systems; about what would happen if they were removed from food webs; and about the services they provide as individual species. While there is some literature in this area, most is focused on plant studies, e.g. see Cardinale et al. (2012); Schwartz et al. (2000).