Using the IUCN Red List to determine effective conservation strategies

Threatened species lists continue to grow while the world’s governments fail to meet biodiversity conservation goals. Clearly, we are failing in our attempts to conserve biodiversity. Yet 37 mammal species genuinely improved in status in the 2009 IUCN Red List, suggesting there are ways to successfully conserve biodiversity. Here, I compare the threats and conservation actions (proposed and implemented) by the expert assessors of the Red List of improving species to a further 144 declining mammal species to determine whether specific threats were more easily remedied, and whether certain conservation actions were more successful than others. Declining species were faced with different threatening processes to mammals improving in status suggesting some threats were easier to treat (e.g. hunting) than others (climate change, invasive species). Declining species had different proposed and implemented conservation actions than improving species suggesting some actions are more successful than others. Threatened species were invariably found in conservation areas, suggesting protected area creation alone is not an overly successful strategy for species at risk of extinction. Conservation actions were more frequently implemented for improving than declining species suggesting active conservation is effective in improving the status of biodiversity. There were significant differences between proposed and implemented conservation actions suggesting some actions are easier to implement than others. Reintroduction, captive breeding and hunting restriction were more effective in conserving mammals than site creation and invasive species control. These findings highlight effective conservation actions for mammals worldwide and allow the rationalisation of threat mitigation measures to ensure economically justifiable biodiversity conservation strategies.     

The value of the IUCN Red List for conservation

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the most comprehensive resource detailing the global conservation status of plants and animals. The 2004 edition represents a milestone in the four-decade long history of the Red List, including the first Global Amphibian Assessment and a near doubling in assessed species since 2000. Moreover, the Red List assessment process itself has developed substantially over the past decade, extending the value of the Red List far beyond the assignation of threat status. We highlight here how the Red List, in conjunction with the comprehensive data compiled to support it and in spite of several important limitations, has become an increasingly powerful tool for conservation planning, management, monitoring and decision making.     

Green Plants in the Red: A Baseline Global Assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants

Plants provide fundamental support systems for life on Earth and are the basis for all terrestrial ecosystems; a decline in plant diversity will be detrimental to all other groups of organisms including humans. Decline in plant diversity has been hard to quantify, due to the huge numbers of known and yet to be discovered species and the lack of an adequate baseline assessment of extinction risk against which to track changes. The biodiversity of many remote parts of the world remains poorly known, and the rate of new assessments of extinction risk for individual plant species approximates the rate at which new plant species are described. Thus the question ‘How threatened are plants?’ is still very difficult to answer accurately. While completing assessments for each species of plant remains a distant prospect, by assessing a randomly selected sample of species the Sampled Red List Index for Plants gives, for the first time, an accurate view of how threatened plants are across the world. It represents the first key phase of ongoing efforts to monitor the status of the world’s plants. More than 20% of plant species assessed are threatened with extinction, and the habitat with the most threatened species is overwhelmingly tropical rain forest, where the greatest threat to plants is anthropogenic habitat conversion, for arable and livestock agriculture, and harvesting of natural resources. Gymnosperms (e.g. conifers and cycads) are the most threatened group, while a third of plant species included in this study have yet to receive an assessment or are so poorly known that we cannot yet ascertain whether they are threatened or not. This study provides a baseline assessment from which trends in the status of plant biodiversity can be measured and periodically reassessed.     

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.     

Applying the IUCN Red List criteria to small-sized plants on oceanic islands: conservation implications for threatened bryophytes in the Canary Islands

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List categories and criteria were applied to small-sized spore-producing plants with high dispersal capacities (bryophytes). The application of some of the IUCN criteria to bryophytes in small and highly environmental diverse islands implies several problems. The criteria applicability increases when the occupancy area is reduced. However, for common species restricted to a single type of vegetation belt, the use of the IUCN criteria is problematic because of inapplicable and/or misleading thresholds. We adapted the IUCN criteria by modifying the occupancy and occurrence area sizes and by specifying the location. This approach allowed us to establish the first Red List for the bryophyte species in the Canaries, which comprises 105 species (67 mosses and 38 liverworts); among them, 7 are critically endangered, 20 are endangered and 78 are vulnerable. Twenty-six species were classified as near-threatened, 245 were considered to be at low risk and 125 were data deficient (DD). Among the DD ones, 19 corresponded to newly reported species (DD-n) and 40 had no records during the last 30?years (DD-va). Our findings show that the freshwater habitats as well as the habitats in the most restricted cloud forests (with Erica platycodon) contain the majority of the threatened species, followed by other types of laurel forests and high mountain habitats.     

关于IUCN红色名录类型和标准的应用

１９９４年底,ＩＵＣＮ（世界保护联盟）正式公布了“红色名录类型”,对物种受威胁的情况作了比较客观的分类,提出了许多具体的数量标准以便进行分析判断。本文概略介绍该分类系统及其划分标准的实际应用,供开展物种受威胁的评估工作参考     

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.     

关于IUCN红色名录类型和标准新的修改

在对1994年的《红色名录类型（版本2．3）》修改补充的基础上,《IUCN红色名录类型和标准（版本3．1）》于2001年由IUCN正式出版。修改的内容主要反映在类型等级系统的变动和等级划分标准的变化上。对于种群缩减不仅重视对过去的分析,而且要求推断或预测今后和任何时候的变化;同时,着重对缩减原因的分析,究竟是可以逆转的、被了解的和停止的或相反。     

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.     

The Sampled Red List Index for Plants,phase II: ground-truthing specimen-based conservation assessments

The IUCN Sampled Red List Index (SRLI) is a policy response by biodiversity scientists to the need to estimate trends in extinction risk of the world''s diminishing biological diversity. Assessments of plant species for the SRLI project rely predominantly on herbarium specimen data from natural history collections, in the overwhelming absence of accurate population data or detailed distribution maps for the vast majority of plant species. This creates difficulties in re-assessing these species so as to measure genuine changes in conservation status, which must be observed under the same Red List criteria in order to be distinguished from an increase in the knowledge available for that species, and thus re-calculate the SRLI. However, the same specimen data identify precise localities where threatened species have previously been collected and can be used to model species ranges and to target fieldwork in order to test specimen-based range estimates and collect population data for SRLI plant species. Here, we outline a strategy for prioritizing fieldwork efforts in order to apply a wider range of IUCN Red List criteria to assessments of plant species, or any taxa with detailed locality or natural history specimen data, to produce a more robust estimation of the SRLI.     

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.     

Biodiversity,biological uncertainty,and setting conservation priorities

In a world of massive extinctions where not all taxa can be saved, how ought biologists to decide their preservation priorities? When biologists make recommendations regarding conservation, should their analyses be based on scientific criteria, on public or lay criteria, on economic or some other criteria? As a first step in answering this question, we examine the issue of whether biologists ought to try to save the endangered Florida panther, a well known “glamour” taxon. To evaluate the merits of panther preservation, we examine three important arguments of biologists who are skeptical about the desirability of panther preservation. These arguments are (1) that conservation dollars ought to be spent in more efficient ways than panther preservation; (2) that biologists and conservationists ought to work to preserve species before subspecies; and (3) that biologists and conservationists ought to work to save habitats before species or subspecies. We conclude that, although all three arguments are persuasive, none of them provides convincing grounds for foregoing panther preservation in favor of other, more scientifically significant conservation efforts. Our conclusion is based, in part, on the argument that biologists ought to employ ethical, as well as scientific, rationality in setting conservation priorities and that ethical rationality may provide persuasive grounds for preserving taxa that often are not viewed by biologists as of great importance.     

Zoos through the Lens of the IUCN Red List: A Global Metapopulation Approach to Support Conservation Breeding Programs

Given current extinction trends, the number of species requiring conservation breeding programs (CBPs) is likely to increase dramatically. To inform CBP policies for threatened terrestrial vertebrates, we evaluated the number and representation of threatened vertebrate species on the IUCN Red List held in the ISIS zoo network and estimated the complexity of their management as metapopulations. Our results show that 695 of the 3,955 (23%) terrestrial vertebrate species in ISIS zoos are threatened. Only two of the 59 taxonomic orders show a higher proportion of threatened species in ISIS zoos than would be expected if species were selected at random. In addition, for most taxa, the management of a zoo metapopulation of more than 250 individuals will require the coordination of a cluster of 11 to 24 ISIS zoos within a radius of 2,000 km. Thus, in the zoo network, the representation of species that may require CBPs is currently low and the spatial distribution of these zoo populations makes management difficult. Although the zoo community may have the will and the logistical potential to contribute to conservation actions, including CBPs, to do so will require greater collaboration between zoos and other institutions, alongside the development of international agreements that facilitate cross-border movement of zoo animals. To maximize the effectiveness of integrated conservation actions that include CBPs, it is fundamental that the non-zoo conservation community acknowledges and integrates the expertise and facilities of zoos where it can be helpful.     

Use and misuse of the IUCN Red List Criteria in projecting climate change impacts on biodiversity

Recent attempts at projecting climate change impacts on biodiversity have used the IUCN Red List Criteria to obtain estimates of extinction rates based on projected range shifts. In these studies, the Criteria are often misapplied, potentially introducing substantial bias and uncertainty. These misapplications include arbitrary changes to temporal and spatial scales; confusion of the spatial variables; and assume a linear relationship between abundance and range area. Using the IUCN Red List Criteria to identify which species are threatened by climate change presents special problems and uncertainties, especially for shorter‐lived species. Responses of most species to future climate change are not understood well enough to estimate extinction risks based solely on climate change scenarios and projections of shifts and/or reductions in range areas. One way to further such understanding would be to analyze the interactions among habitat shifts, landscape structure and demography for a number of species, using a combination of models. Evaluating the patterns in the results might allow the development of guidelines for assigning species to threat categories, based on a combination of life history parameters, characteristics of the landscapes in which they live, and projected range changes.     

Associations of invasive alien species and other threats to IUCN Red List species (Chordata: vertebrates)

Apart from acting synergistically or additively, threats to species may be associated or disassociated. Here we link global data on threatened Chordata species, mainly birds, mammals, and amphibians, with a probabilistic methodology to test whether the impact from invasive alien species co-occurs purely randomly, associated, or disassociated with impact from nine other major threats to biodiversity listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List database. Impacts from several of the other threats, in particular from natural disasters, are associated with the impact from invasive alien species. Three of the threats of anthropogenic origin, namely habitat loss, harvesting, and human disturbance, co-occur randomly with impact from invaders, and we suggest several explanations to this unexpected relationship, such as ambiguous evidence for associations between them and human-induced disturbances. Impact from invasive alien predators has a strong association with impact from native predators, indicating that similarity in autecology affects co-occurrences between threats. The threat from invasive predators is disassociated from intrinsic factors on islands, probably because species suffering from for instance inbreeding problems have low densities and rarely encounter invasive alien predators. The analysis of co-occurrence of impact from invasive alien species and other threats is a first step to understand and mitigate vulnerability of a community to the simultaneous exposure to invasive alien species and other threats. Association or disassociation between threats may depend on correlations between exposures and sensitivity to the threats or on the presence of one threat increasing or decreasing the sensitivity to another.     

Application of IUCN criteria and Red List categories to species of five Anacardiaceae genera in Madagascar

The conservation status of five genera of Anacardiaceae in Madagascarwas determined by applying IUCN risk assessment criteria to recent taxonomicrevisions and available specimen data. A major problem in establishing protocolsfor efficiently protecting and conserving Madagascar's biodiversity is the lackof essential biological information. In light of this, primary occurrence dataappears to be an invaluable tool for assessing both current and historic speciesdistributions. GIS technology was used to create species distribution maps forhistoric vs. recent occurrence data to analyze the change in conservationstatus, extent of occurrence, and area of occupancy for each of the targetspecies. A GAP analysis reveals that 14 (100%) of the target species for whichdata were available are considered threatened by IUCN standards. Furthermore, 11(79%) species showed a decrease both in the number of subpopulations and theirextent of occurrence when compared to historic distributions. This studyhighlights the importance of two factors necessary to address modernconservation questions. Sound conclusions regarding the conservation status ofindividual species requires a strong taxonomic framework and good collectiondata for a species distribution. However, because specimen data are very oftenincomplete and biased both geographically and taxonomically, reaching soundconclusions requires field knowledge of individual species to compensate forthese limitations.     

Separating risks from values in setting priorities for plant community conservation

Berg and colleagues, in this issue, describe a framework for assessing risks to biodiversity and setting conservation priorities in northeast Germany. Their method explicitly separates community endangerment from conservation value, and derives its plant communities from a sound regional classification. It could be improved by incorporating ecological processes into risk assessment, and socio‐political constraints, economic costs and the likelihood of success into priority setting.