The changing fates of the world's mammals

A recent complete assessment of the conservation status of 5487 mammal species demonstrated that at least one-fifth are at risk of extinction in the wild. We retrospectively identified genuine changes in extinction risk for mammals between 1996 and 2008 to calculate changes in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Index (RLI). Species-level trends in the conservation status of mammalian diversity reveal that extinction risk in large-bodied species is increasing, and that the rate of deterioration has been most accelerated in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. Expanding agriculture and hunting have been the main drivers of increased extinction risk in mammals. Site-based protection and management, legislation, and captive-breeding and reintroduction programmes have led to improvements in 24 species. We contextualize these changes, and explain why both deteriorations and improvements may be under-reported. Although this study highlights where conservation actions are leading to improvements, it fails to account for instances where conservation has prevented further deteriorations in the status of the world's mammals. The continued utility of the RLI is dependent on sustained investment to ensure repeated assessments of mammals over time and to facilitate future calculations of the RLI and measurement against global targets.     

A preliminary world list of threatened conifer taxa

Conifers (the fast-growing softwoods of the world) occur as the dominant plants of most temperate rainforest communities. Almost all are tall forest trees, whose high commercial value creates conservation vulnerability for many local species in our increasingly resource-hungry world. Counting species, of an estimated 600 world total 362 would fall into this category and consequently appear on this list. This paper provides a preliminary analytical world census list of 416 conifer taxa (species, subspecies and varieties) considered to be of conservation concern.     

Assessment of Hebei flora against the IUCN Red List Criteria in China

Some plants of Hebei Province in China are under threat from human activities, such as over-herding and over-exploitation of wild medicinal plants and industrial plants, etc. To identify the plants in danger in the province and to inspect the quality of the environment encompassing Beijing and Tianjin, a red list of the threatened flora of Hebei Province was produced by using the IUCN Red List Criteria (version 3.1) and its guidelines (version 6.2). Some 262 species were assessed and the results were as follows: (1) the threatened flora include 211 species, accounting for 7.95% of the total native vascular plants. Among them, 44 are Critically Endangered, 80 Endangered and 87 Vulnerable; (2) the destruction of the habitat caused by human activities and the actual or potential exploitation of the plants themselves were the main threat factors of Hebei flora; (3) most of the threatened plants are located in the western, northern and northeastern mountainous regions, namely the key regions of Hebei plant diversity; the endemic and regionally endemic species are severely threatened. Consequently, the assessment not only presented the threatened status of Hebei flora but also indicated the relatively fragile health status of the environment of Beijing and Tianjin. Thus, it is suggested that the application of the IUCN Red List Criteria at the regional level, as an index, could reflect the health status of the local ecosystem. In addition, more concrete measures are needed to conserve the plant diversity and the natural ecosystem of Hebei Province and even the whole region encompassing Beijing and Tianjin.     

Assessment of Hebei flora against the IUCN Red List Criteria in China

Some plants of Hebei Province in China are under threat from human activities,such as over-herding and over-exploitation of wild medicinal plants and industrial plants,etc.To identify the plants in danger in the province and to inspect the quality of the environment encompassing Beijing and Tianjin,a red list of the threatened flora of Hebei Province was produced by using the IUCN Red List Criteria (version 3.1) and its guidelines (version 6.2).Some 262 species were assessed and the results were as follows:(1) the threatened flora include 211 species,accounting for 7.95% of the total native vascular plants.Among them,44 are Critically Endangered,80 Endangered and 87 Vulnerable;(2) the destruction of the habitat caused by human activities and the actual or potential exploitation of the plants themselves were the main threat factors of Hebei flora;(3) most of the threatened plants are located in the western,northern and northeastern mountainous regions,namely the key regions of Hebei plant diversity;the endemic and regionally endemic species are severely threatened.Consequently,the assessment not only presented the threatened status of Hebei flora but also indicated the relatively fragile health status of the environment of Beijing and Tianjin.Thus,it is suggested that the application of the IUCN Red List Criteria at the regional level,as an index,could reflect the health status of the local ecosystem,In addition,more concrete measures are needed to conserve the plant diversity and the natural ecosystem of Hebei Province and even the whole region encompassing Beijing and Tianjin.     

全球变化情景下的中国木本植物受威胁物种名录

生物多样性正面临快速丧失的风险, 气候和土地利用变化已成为生物多样性的主要威胁之一。受威胁物种名录是区域和全球生物多样性保护的重要基础数据, 也是保护区规划的基础。作为一个生物多样性大国, 中国已开展了高等植物受威胁状况的系统性评估, 建立了受威胁植物名录, 为植物多样性保护规划提供了支撑。但由于数据和方法限制, 现有受威胁植物名录制定时未定量考虑全球变化对植物分布的潜在影响, 因而可能低估物种的受威胁等级及未来生物多样性的丧失风险。本研究基于高精度的木本植物分布数据和物种分布模型, 评估了未来气候和土地利用变化对木本植物分布的潜在影响。基于每个物种适宜分布区大小的变化, 并依据IUCN红色名录评估指标A3c的阈值标准, 更新了木本植物的受威胁等级, 补充了未来中国潜在受威胁木本植物名录。结果显示: 综合不同的气候变化情景(RCP 2.6、RCP 6.0和RCP 8.5)和扩散情景(完全扩散、20 km/10年、不扩散), 约12.9%-40.5%的木本植物被评估为受威胁物种。该名录将为制定木本植物保护优先级、开展保护区规划、提升全球变化情景下的生物多样性保护成效提供基础数据, 也为其他类群制定全面的受威胁物种名录提供参考。     

A practical guide to the application of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems criteria

The newly developed IUCN Red List of Ecosystems is part of a growing toolbox for assessing risks to biodiversity, which addresses ecosystems and their functioning. The Red List of Ecosystems standard allows systematic assessment of all freshwater, marine, terrestrial and subterranean ecosystem types in terms of their global risk of collapse. In addition, the Red List of Ecosystems categories and criteria provide a technical base for assessments of ecosystem status at the regional, national, or subnational level. While the Red List of Ecosystems criteria were designed to be widely applicable by scientists and practitioners, guidelines are needed to ensure they are implemented in a standardized manner to reduce epistemic uncertainties and allow robust comparisons among ecosystems and over time. We review the intended application of the Red List of Ecosystems assessment process, summarize ‘best-practice’ methods for ecosystem assessments and outline approaches to ensure operational rigour of assessments. The Red List of Ecosystems will inform priority setting for ecosystem types worldwide, and strengthen capacity to report on progress towards the Aichi Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. When integrated with other IUCN knowledge products, such as the World Database of Protected Areas/Protected Planet, Key Biodiversity Areas and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Red List of Ecosystems will contribute to providing the most complete global measure of the status of biodiversity yet achieved.