Safeguarding global terrestrial vertebrate species from future sea level rise

Sea level rise (SLR) threatens terrestrial biodiversity, yet its spatiotemporal and species-specific impacts remain unclear. Integrating relative SLR projections across five shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) with area of habitat (AOH) maps for 34,120 terrestrial vertebrate species, we project that species exposed to SLR will increase from up to 13,680 in 2050 to 15,324 by 2100, including 57 to 63% of birds, 47 to 52% of mammals, 28 to 36% of reptiles, and 20 to 24% of amphibians. In Southeast Asia, inland inundation areas support high richness. Under SSP5-8.5, species facing >10% habitat inundation surge from 18 in 2050 to 109 by 2100, with reptiles and already threatened species overrepresented. Safeguarding SLR refugia—the noninundated habitats for exposed species—is critical, yet more than 96% lie outside protected areas, which means that early international action is required.