The pitfall-trap of species conservation priority setting |
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Authors: | Berta Martín-López José A González Carlos Montes |
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Institution: | 1.Social-Ecological Systems Laboratory, Department of Ecology, c. Darwin, 2. Edificio Biología,Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,Madrid,Spain;2.Department of Vegetal Biology and Ecology, Ctra. Sacramento s/n La Ca?ada de San Urbano,Universidad de Almería,Almería,Spain |
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Abstract: | To elucidate the factors underlying species conservation priority setting, we analysed the relationships among species’ structural
complexity, scientific attention, threatened species listing, and conservation investments at different organisational levels,
including global, European, national, and sub-national. Although the literature often highlights the need to consider criteria
other than extinction risk status, our results show that an excessive use of Red lists still persists in the setting of conservation
priorities. We found that organismal complexity, available scientific information, and species listing combine together to
create a positive feed-back loop, in which more complex organisms have a larger proportion of threatened species in the Red
lists and legal lists. This bias promotes research that is devoted to understanding conservation problems as well as more
funds invested to solve them. We propose that a sort of pitfall-trap is currently constraining the species conservation priority
setting, in which few species, mainly threatened and better-known species, tend to receive most of the funds and policy attention.
To counteract this pitfall-trap, we highlight the need to increase scientific effort on lower taxa and expand Red lists to
assess lesser-known taxonomic groups as well as the need to use other criteria for species conservation prioritisation. |
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