Dr. David Andrew Keith has made significant contributions to vegetation and ecological research in Australia, studies evaluating the Red List of Ecosystems from a global perspective, and the typification of global ecosystems for environmental conservation.

Since the beginning of his research career, Dr. Keith has dedicated himself to studying Australia’s native flora and vegetation. His authoritative work, Ocean Shores to Desert Dunes: The Native Vegetation of New South Wales and the ACT, which provides a comprehensive account of the vegetation of New South Wales, is widely referenced by both experts and the general public alike. With his research on the impacts of fire on natural ecosystems (fire ecology), he predicted dependence of plants on wildfires using plant functional traits, demonstrating the crucial role that regular wildfires play in maintaining Australia’s unique ecosystems. These findings hold universal significance for our understanding of the relationship between wild vegetation and fires in regions prone to wildfires around the world.

Dr. Keith has also achieved remarkable accomplishments in the field of conservation biology with extensive studies on predicting, detecting, and evaluating the extinction risks of species due to climate change. Notably, he has led a series of joint international studies on the establishment of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List of Ecosystems, a new protocol for assessing the risk of ecosystem collapse, an area that previously lacked clear standards, and has been instrumental in promoting its adoption worldwide.

A globally applicable classification system with clearly defined targets is essential to the effective conservation of the planet’s diverse ecosystems. Dr. Keith has also conducted research on classifying ecosystems for conservation purposes, spearheading international collaborative studies on typification of all ecosystems around the world (natural and artificial, terrestrial, subterranean, freshwater, and marine), with a focus on ecosystem functions. This work resulted in the creation of the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0, a groundbreaking framework that has made it possible to evaluate the risk of ecosystem collapse.

As noted, Dr. Keith’s work has developed from ecological studies on plants native to Australia to research on assessing the risk of ecosystem collapse from a global perspective, and to the classification of ecosystems worldwide. Ecosystems represent the complex web of interactions among all life forms on Earth. Today, with human activity accelerating biodiversity loss, the conservation of ecosystems, which are fundamental components of biodiversity at the highest level, has become a matter of urgent importance. Dr. Keith’s pioneering work on the development of macro-level methods for assessing ecosystems and his research on ecosystem conservation have been recognized as highly deserving of the International Cosmos Prize, which emphasizes holistic, integrated perspectives and universal relevance.