Applying the IUCN threat categories to island endemics: Sardinian butterflies (Italy)

European nature conservation documents, often reflect the charisma of a species rather than its actual degree of threat. The assessment of the threat status of 14 endemic Sardinian butterfly species, underlines that European nature legislation documents are incomplete. Pseudophilotes barbagiae and Lysandra coridon gennargenti (Lycaenidae) are identified as globally Vulnerable and are therefore proposed to be added to the Red Data Book of European butterflies as species of global conservation concern. A threat factor analysis identifies risks towards butterflies in Sardinia arising from increasing human activities. It is shown how the quantitative information used by the IUCN criteria, together with a qualitative assessment of human induced threat factors, could be combined to produce an objective standardised assessment that can be used also when only data on present distribution are available. Threats to Sardinian butterflies are highlighted and conservation measures proposed. The inclusion of Pseudophilotes barbagiae and Lysandra coridon gennargenti in Annex II and IV of the European Habitats Directive, and in Appendix II of the Bern Convention, is strongly recommended.     

An inflated conservation load for European butterflies: increases in rarity and endemism accompany increases in species richness

The addition of species to the European butterfly list since 1983 has resulted in a number of highly significant changes. Most important are the increases in the number and proportion of endemics and of rare species, and a regional excess of species and endemics for southern Europe compared to northern Europe. There is also a surplus of Lycaenidae and Satyridae compared to other families, and an increase in species per genus associated with the reduction in genera. These additions raise two issues. First, the potential conservation load for European butterflies is inflated at species level. This is especially the case for southern Europe, which has disproportionate increases in rare and endemic species, more particularly if rarity and endemism are found to equate with threat of extinction. Second, the inflation in rarity and endemism suggests that there is a trend to promote ever more local populations (races, subspecies) to species. The taxonomic status of species being added to the list, a quarter of which are regarded as doubtful, is increasingly difficult to determine. Consequently, there is a danger that this may call into question the validity and objectivity of taxonomic practices, and of databases dependent on them, used by conservation. Revision of higher and lower butterfly taxa is urgently required.     

Distribution Patterns and Conservation Perspectives of the Endemic Flora of Peloponnese (Greece)

An inventory of the endemic vascular plants of the Peloponnese (395 species and subspecies) has been created based on literature, herbarium and field data. Endemics?? distribution patterns, altitudinal distribution and habitat specificity were investigated. A rarity score for each endemic has been calculated based on its population size, geographic range and habitat specificity. The main mountainous areas of the Peloponnese are largely congruent to the hotspots of endemism. Altitudinal range and niche breadth of the endemics were positively correlated to their range size. The elevational gradient of the endemic species richness showed a hump-shaped pattern, in contrast to the monotonically decreasing pattern of total species richness. Endemic species were found to support boundary theory, while total species richness distribution followed the Rapoport??s elevational rule. The elevational distribution of the average rarity score and the average weighted threat of the endemics resulted in low values for mid-elevation intervals and increased values for low and high altitude areas, indicating that conservation efforts should focus on the two extremes of the elevational gradient. Area prioritization methods were applied using a rarity/complementarity based algorithm with two species weighting schemes. Their results were largely congruent confirming the significance of the main mountainous areas for the conservation of the endemics. Spatial overlap among selected grid cells using the rarity/complementarity analysis and Natura 2000 network was found to be low. Our results revealed the conservation importance of at least one new area located on Kythera Island.     

Integrating the Rabinowitz rarity framework with a National Plant Inventory in South Korea

Increasingly large presence‐only survey datasets are becoming available for use in conservation assessments. Potentially, these records could be used to determine spatial patterns of plant species rarity and endemism. We test the integration of a large South Korean species record database with Rabinowitz rarity classes. Rabinowitz proposed seven classes of species rarity using three variables: geographic range, habitat specificity, and local population size. We estimated the range size and local abundance of 2,215 plant species from species occurrence records and habitat specificity as the number of landcover types each species’ records were found in. We classified each species into a rarity class or as common, compared species composition by class to national lists, and mapped the spatial pattern of species richness for each rarity class. Species were classed to narrow or wide geographic ranges using 315 km, the average from a range size index of all species (D_max), based on maximum distance between observations. There were four classes each within the narrow and wide range groups, sorted using cutoffs of local abundance and habitat specificity. Nationally listed endangered species only appeared in the narrow‐range classes, while nationally listed endemic species appeared in almost all classes. Species richness in most rarity classes was high in northeastern South Korea especially for species with narrow ranges. Policy implications. Large presence‐only surveys may be able to estimate some classes of rarity better than others, but modification to include estimates of local abundance and habitat types, could greatly increase their utility. Application of the Rabinowitz rarity framework to such surveys can extend their utility beyond species distribution models and can identify areas that need further surveys and for conservation priority. Future studies should be aware of the subjectivity of the rarity classification and that regional scale implementations of the framework may differ.     

Towards biodiversity hotspots effective for conserving mammals with small geographic ranges

The main goal of using global biodiversity hotspots for conservation purposes is to protect taxa with small geographic ranges because these are highly vulnerable to extinction. However, the extent to what different hotspots types are effective for meeting this goal remains controversial because hotspots have been previously defined as either the richest or most threatened and richest sites in terms of total, endemic or threatened species. In this regard, the use of species richness to set conservation priorities is widely discussed because strategies focused on this diversity measure tend to miss many of the taxa with small geographic ranges. Here we use data on global terrestrial mammal distributions to show that, hotspots of total species, endemism and threat defined in terms of species richness are effective in including 27%, 29% and 11% respectively, of the taxa with small geographic ranges. Whilst, the same hotspot types defined in terms of a simple diversity index, which is a function of species richness and range-size rarity, include 68%, 44% and 90% respectively, of these taxa. In addition, we demonstrate that index hotspot types are highly efficient because they conserve 79% of mammal species (21% more species than richness hotspot types), with 59% of species shared by three hotspot types (31% more than richness hotspot types). These results suggest that selection of different diversity measures to define hotspots may strongly affect the achievement of conservation goals.     

Threat spots and environmental determinants of red-listed plant,butterfly and bird species in boreal agricultural environments

The aims of this study were (1) to examine the geographic distribution of red-listed species of agricultural environments and identify their national threat spots (areas with high diversity of threatened species) in Finland and (2) to determine the main environmental variables related to the richness and occurrence patterns of red-listed species. Atlas data of 21 plant, 17 butterfly and 11 bird species recorded using 10 km grid squares were employed in the study. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were constructed separately for species richness and occurrence of individual species of the three species groups using climate and land cover predictor variables. The predictive accuracy of models, as measured using correlation between the observed and predicted values and AUC statistics, was generally good. Temperature-related variables were the most important determinants of species richness and occurrence of all three taxa. In addition, land cover variables had a strong effect on the distribution of species. Plants and butterflies were positively related to the cover of grasslands and birds to small-scale agricultural mosaic as well as to arable land. Spatial coincidence of threat spots of plants, butterflies and birds was limited, which emphasizes the importance of considering the potentially contrasting environmental requirements of different taxa in conservation planning. Further, it is obvious that the maintenance of various non-crop habitats and heterogeneous agricultural landscapes has an essential role in the preservation of red-listed species of boreal rural environments.     

Assessing conservation status and trends for the world��s butterflies: the Sampled Red List Index approach

Red List Indices provide a method for assessing global trends in species?? conservation status, and for monitoring progress towards achieving conservation targets (for example, commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity). Red List Indices are based on categorization of taxa in terms of their threat status using information on, for example, current and projected abundances, distributions, and threats. Global assessments have now been undertaken for a suite of well-known vertebrate taxa. However, highly diverse invertebrate taxa are currently very poorly represented in such assessments, and there is a danger that their threats and their utility as biodiversity indicators will be overlooked. Unlike most invertebrates, butterflies are relatively well-known globally. We describe ongoing efforts to incorporate butterflies into the Red List Index process. Because of high species richness (approximately 15,000 Papilionoidea globally) a comprehensive assessment is not feasible. Instead, we apply a ??Sampled Red List Index?? approach which draws on a subset of 1,500 focal taxa. We illustrate the process and the challenges (particularly taxonomic issues and issues of data deficiency) using a variety of case studies. The information provided should be relevant to other researchers seeking to apply the Red List Index approach to invertebrates and other diverse but poorly studied taxa.     

Conservation of butterflies in Japan: status, actions and strategy

There are about 240 butterfly species in Japan of which 15% are endangered. Grassland butterflies are the most threatened and have declined most widely, some with an extremely high rate of decline of over 80% in 40 years. The main cause is the change of ??Satoyama?? ecosystems, a traditional landscape including secondary woodlands, grasslands, paddy field and other habitats. However, most ??Satoyama?? ecosystems have been abandoned or destroyed as the landscape has been industrialized. This process has accelerated in recent years, leading to even greater impacts on butterflies. To halt this decline, the Japan Butterfly Conservation Society (JBCS) was founded in 2004 and is doing various crucial activities. Local groups have been formed and numbers have been growing steadily. Also, public awareness toward conservation of the natural environment has been increasing and conservation groups related to ??Satoyama?? exceed 1000. Government policy on biodiversity has developed since The National Biodiversity Strategy of Japan was published in 1995. JBCS has set targets to prevent threatened butterflies from becoming extinct at national and regional level. However, many difficulties remain and a greater effort is needed to develop a social system to maintain ??Satoyama?? as an industry. Although interest in the conservation of Japanese butterflies began several decades ago, full scale conservation activities have only started recently and future progress is expected.     

Migration in butterflies: a global overview

Insect populations including butterflies are declining worldwide, and they are becoming an urgent conservation priority in many regions. Understanding which butterfly species migrate is critical to planning for their conservation, because management actions for migrants need to be coordinated across time and space. Yet, while migration appears to be widespread among butterflies, its prevalence, as well as its taxonomic and geographic distribution are poorly understood. The study of insect migration is hampered by their small size and the difficulty of tracking individuals over long distances. Here we review the literature on migration in butterflies, one of the best-known insect groups. We find that nearly 600 butterfly species show evidence of migratory movements. Indeed, the rate of ‘discovery’ of migratory movements in butterflies suggests that many more species might in fact be migratory. Butterfly migration occurs across all families, in tropical as well as temperate taxa; Nymphalidae has more migratory species than any other family (275 species), and Pieridae has the highest proportion of migrants (13%; 133 species). Some 13 lines of evidence have been used to ascribe migration status in the literature, but only a single line of evidence is available for 92% of the migratory species identified, with four or more lines of evidence available for only 10 species – all from the Pieridae and Nymphalidae. Migratory butterflies occur worldwide, although the geographic distribution of migration in butterflies is poorly resolved, with most data so far coming from Europe, USA, and Australia. Migration is much more widespread in butterflies than previously realised – extending far beyond the well-known examples of the monarch Danaus plexippus and the painted lady Vanessa cardui – and actions to conserve butterflies and insects in general must account for the spatial dependencies introduced by migratory movements.     

A comparison of point-scoring procedures for species prioritization and allocation of seed collection resources in a mountain region

Setting species priorities is commonly based on the assessment of multiple conservation criteria, and point-scoring methods are broadly used for obtaining ranked species lists. However, the implications of different procedures in the performance and application of resulting lists have been scarcely investigated. In this study, we test the effect of using distinct transformation and summarization of criteria for computing ranked lists for species prioritization and allocation of seed collection resources. The study is focused on the Cantabrian Range (Spain), where 127 vascular plants of conservation concern were scored according to four criteria (threat, protection, endemicity and rarity) related to different geographical scales. Four conservation priority indices (CPI) were computed using a combination of (a) ordinal- versus quantile-weighted transformation and (b) mean versus factorial summarization. Quantile transformation and factorial summarization provided a more quantitative CPI. Although the contribution of criteria to the final indices was different under quantile and ordinal transformations, the four CPI were strongly correlated. However, slight differences between indices reflected divergences in the selection of species priorities when low conservation funds are available, and 14 to 32% of the species composition in priority groups changed. Our results suggest that different point-scoring procedures might have high impact on the application of priority lists for selecting conservation targets, especially when different funding scenarios are compared. We also recommend to (1) avoid ordinal scoring methods, (2) use unequally weighted transformations and (3) apply point-scoring methods based on multi-scale criteria for integrating existing lists in biogeographical areas     

Revising the British Red Data List for birds: the biological basis of U.K. conservation priorities

The list of British Red Data birds (Batten et al. 1990) includes 117 species, 109 of which qualified on one or more quantitative criteria referring to rarity, localized distribution, population decline and international importance. A wealth of data on bird population levels and trends in the United Kingdom and Europe has recently become available, allowing refinement and improvement of the criteria for qualification. Here we propose that in assigning priorities for conservation action in the U.K. (Britain and Northern Ireland), three biological axes need to be considered: national threat (measured as rarity, localized distribution and population decline in the U.K.), international importance (the proportion of the European population in the U.K.) and international threat (European/global conservation status). Only the first two of these axes were considered by Batten et al. (1990). Each of these axes has been sub-divided into high, medium and low categories using quantitative thresholds, and from this we produce a national 'conservation cube' (three axes, each with three categories and thus 27 cells). Data permitting, every species in the U.K. can be allocated to one of these cells. We suggest that species high on either (or both) of the national or international threat axes be considered as species of high conservation priority (the red list) and that among the remainder those that rank at least medium on one of the axes be considered as of medium conservation priority (the amber list). All other species are of low conservation priority (the green list). We suggest that this three-axis model could be applicable to other taxa and countries.     

Grids versus regional species lists: are broad-scale patterns of species richness robust to the violation of constant grain size?

Where distribution maps do not exist ecologists often use regional species lists to examine geographic patterns of species richness, despite the fact that inconsistent grain sizes across areas may complicate interpretation of the results. We compare patterns of species richness of European butterflies and dragonflies using regional species lists (varying grain size) and regular grids (constant grain size). We asked if species lists give results comparable to the gridded data when used in simple macroecological analysis of environmental correlates of species richness. We generated two equal-area grids (220 × 220 km and 440 × 440 km) to map the richness gradients and model species richness as a function of actual evapotranspiration (AET) and range in elevation. Then we used species checklists of 33 administrative regions of unequal sizes to construct the same environmental models while accounting for differences in area. Analysis of butterfly checklist data produced comparable results to the analysis of gridded data. In contrast, dragonfly checklist data had a distorted spatial pattern and much weaker associations with environmental variables than the gridded data. The robustness of checklist data appears to be variable, even within a single geographical region, and may not generate patterns congruent with those found using equal-area grids.     

Combined Use of Systematic Conservation Planning,Species Distribution Modelling,and Connectivity Analysis Reveals Severe Conservation Gaps in a Megadiverse Country (Peru)

Conservation planning is crucial for megadiverse countries where biodiversity is coupled with incomplete reserve systems and limited resources to invest in conservation. Using Peru as an example of a megadiverse country, we asked whether the national system of protected areas satisfies biodiversity conservation needs. Further, to complement the existing reserve system, we identified and prioritized potential conservation areas using a combination of species distribution modeling, conservation planning and connectivity analysis. Based on a set of 2,869 species, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, butterflies, and plants, we used species distribution models to represent species'' geographic ranges to reduce the effect of biased sampling and partial knowledge about species'' distributions. A site-selection algorithm then searched for efficient and complementary proposals, based on the above distributions, for a more representative system of protection. Finally, we incorporated connectivity among areas in an innovative post-hoc analysis to prioritize those areas maximizing connectivity within the system. Our results highlight severe conservation gaps in the Coastal and Andean regions, and we propose several areas, which are not currently covered by the existing network of protected areas. Our approach helps to find areas that contribute to creating a more representative, connected and efficient network.     

Effectiveness of Protected Areas for Representing Species and Populations of Terrestrial Mammals in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has one of the greatest percentages (26%) of protected land in the world. The National Protected Areas System (NPAS) of Costa Rica was established in 1976 and currently includes >190 protected areas within seven different protection categories. The effectiveness of the NPAS to represent species, populations, and areas with high species richness has not been properly evaluated. Such evaluations are fundamental to understand what is necessary to strengthen the NPAS and better protect biodiversity. We present a novel assessment of NPAS effectiveness in protecting mammal species. We compiled the geographical ranges of all terrestrial Costa Rican mammals then determined species lists for all protected areas and the estimated proportion of each species’ geographic range protected. We also classified mammal species according to their conservation status using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. We found almost complete representation of mammal species (98.5%) in protected areas, but low relative coverage (28.3% on average) of their geographic ranges in Costa Rica and 25% of the species were classified as underprotected according to a priori representation targets. Interestingly, many species-rich areas are not protected, and at least 43% of cells covering the entire country are not included in protected areas. Though protected areas in Costa Rica represent species richness well, strategic planning for future protected areas to improve species complementarity and range protection is necessary. Our results can help to define sites where new protected areas can have a greater impact on mammal conservation, both in terms of species richness and range protection.     

Predicting rarity and decline in animals,plants, and mushrooms based on species attributes and indicator groups

In decisions on nature conservation measures, we depend largely on knowledge of the relationship between threats and environmental factors for a very limited number of species groups, with relevant environmental factors often being deduced from the relationship between threat and species traits. But can relationships between traits and levels of threats be identified across species from completely different taxonomic groups; and how accurately do well-known taxonomic groups indicate levels of threat in other species groups? To answer these questions, we first made a list of 152 species attributes of morphological and demographic traits and habitat requirements. Based on these attributes we then grew random forests of decision trees for 1183 species in the 18 different taxonomic groups for which we had Red Lists available in the Netherlands, using these to classify animals, plants, and mushrooms according to their rarity and decline. Finally, we grew random forests for four species groups often used as indicator groups to study how well the relationship between attribute and decline within these groups reflected that relationship within the larger taxonomic group to which these groups belong. Correct classification of rarity based on all attributes was as high as 88% in animals, 85% in plants, and 94% in mushrooms and correct classification of decline was 78% in animals, 69% in plants, and 70% in mushrooms. Vertebrates indicated decline in all animals well, as did birds for all vertebrates and vascular plants for all plants. However, butterflies poorly indicated decline in all insects. Random forests are a useful tool to relate rarity and decline to species attributes thereby making it possible to generalize rarity and decline to a wider set of species groups. Random forests can be used to estimate the level of threat to complete faunas and floras of countries or regions. In regions like the Netherlands, conservation policy based on attributes known to be relevant for the decline to birds, vertebrates or plants will probably also impact all aboveground terrestrial and freshwater macrofauna or macrophytes.     

A comparative analysis of global, national, and state red lists for threatened amphibians in Brazil

The knowledge about the conservation status of species is an important data for conservation biology. Therefore, threatened species lists are a powerful tool for conservation planning and prioritization. Our objective is to compare the global, the national and state red lists of amphibians in Brazil. Threatened species were categorized according to their listing in one or several of these lists. We analyzed for true inconsistencies across lists in order to evaluate practical consequences of such incongruences on amphibian conservation in Brazil. We recorded a total of 61 threatened amphibian species in Brazil (across all red lists). Only one species, Phrynomedusa fimbriata, was listed as Extinct (both in IUCN, Brazil and S?o Paulo lists). A total of eleven endemic species are listed as threatened by the global red list, but do not appear in Brazil’s national red list, which represent an inconsistence among these lists. Besides that, the threat category of Thoropa lutzi and Thoropa petropolitana, two endemic species, differ among both lists, which also represents a problem between both lists. These mismatches may be due to several reasons such as different interpretation of the criteria; different methodologies used; different data availability on species; differences in the dates of assessments processes; the assessors’ attitudes to uncertainty; outdated red lists. Harmonization among red lists permits a better picture of threatened amphibian diversity across scales and to develop global, national and state plans to complement conservation actions in order to maximize the chance of success of these initiatives.     

Conservation Status of North American Birds in the Face of Future Climate Change

Human-induced climate change is increasingly recognized as a fundamental driver of biological processes and patterns. Historic climate change is known to have caused shifts in the geographic ranges of many taxa and future climate change is expected to result in even greater redistributions of species. As a result, predicting the impact of climate change on future patterns of biodiversity will greatly aid conservation planning. Using the North American Breeding Bird Survey and Audubon Christmas Bird Count, two of the most comprehensive continental datasets of vertebrates in the world, and correlative distribution modeling, we assessed geographic range shifts for 588 North American bird species during both the breeding and non-breeding seasons under a range of future emission scenarios (SRES A2, A1B, B2) through the end of the century. Here we show that 314 species (53%) are projected to lose more than half of their current geographic range across three scenarios of climate change through the end of the century. For 126 species, loss occurs without concomitant range expansion; whereas for 188 species, loss is coupled with potential to colonize new replacement range. We found no strong associations between projected climate sensitivities and existing conservation prioritizations. Moreover, species responses were not clearly associated with habitat affinities, migration strategies, or climate change scenarios. Our results demonstrate the need to include climate sensitivity into current conservation planning and to develop adaptive management strategies that accommodate shrinking and shifting geographic ranges. The persistence of many North American birds will depend on their ability to colonize climatically suitable areas outside of current ranges and management actions that target climate adaptation.     

Threat status in butterflies and its ecological correlates: how far can we generalize?

It would be very useful for conservation biologists to be able to predict threat status from ecological characteristics of species, and past studies have shown promising results. Regarding one important threat indicator taxon, the butterflies, results from a study on Finnish species by Kotiaho et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:1963–1967, 2005), suggested that threatened butterflies on average have narrower niches, more restricted distributions of the larval host plants, poorer dispersal abilities and shorter flight periods. However, this study did not control for phylogenetic relatedness of species. To examine the effects of phylogenetic control, and to see how far it is possible to generalize from specific investigations, we compared the ecological characteristics of threatened and non-threatened butterfly species at two different geographical scales: Sweden and Europe. Our results illustrate the difficulties of generalizing between sites, geographical scales, scoring methods, and phylogenetic versus non-phylogenetic analyses. Controlling for phylogeny is shown to be essential. The most robust result is that threatened species have narrower habitat ranges at the local scale.     

Application of the IUCN Red Listing system to setting species targets for conservation planning purposes

Biodiversity targets, or estimates of the quantities of biodiversity features that should be conserved in a region, are fundamental to systematic conservation planning. We propose that targets for species should be based on the quantitative thresholds developed for the Vulnerable category of the IUCN Red List system, thereby avoiding future listings of species in an IUCN Red List threat category or an increase in the extinction risk, or ultimate extinction, of species already listed as threatened. Examples of this approach are presented for case studies from South Africa, including threatened taxa listed under the IUCN Red List criteria of A to D, a species listed as Near Threatened, a species of conservation concern due to its rarity, and one species in need of recovery. The method gives rise to multiple representation targets, an improvement on the often used single representation targets that are inadequate for long term maintenance of biodiversity or the arbitrary multiple representation and percentage targets that are sometimes adopted. Through the implementation of the resulting conservation plan, these targets will ensure that the conservation status of threatened species do not worsen over time by qualifying for higher categories of threat and may actually improve their conservation status by eliminating the threat of habitat loss and stabilizing population declines. The positive attributes ascribed to the IUCN Red List system, and therefore to the species targets arising from this approach, are important when justifying decisions that limit land uses known to be detrimental to biodiversity.