The IUCN Red List: Assessing Extinction Risk in the Anthropocene

Given the economic and cultural dependence on the marine environment in Oceania and a rapidly expanding human population, many marine species populations are in decline and may be vulnerable to extinction from a number of local and regional threats. IUCN Red List assessments, a widely used system for quantifying threats to species and assessing species extinction risk, have been completed for 1190 marine species in Oceania to date, including all known species of corals, mangroves, seagrasses, sea snakes, marine mammals, sea birds, sea turtles, sharks, and rays present in Oceania, plus all species in five important perciform fish groups. Many of the species in these groups are threatened by the modification or destruction of coastal habitats, overfishing from direct or indirect exploitation, pollution, and other ecological or environmental changes associated with climate change. Spatial analyses of threatened species highlight priority areas for both site- and species-specific conservation action. Although increased knowledge and use of newly available IUCN Red List assessments for marine species can greatly improve conservation priorities for marine species in Oceania, many important fish groups are still in urgent need of assessment.

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Increasing accuracy: The advantage of using open access species occurrence database in the Red List assessment

Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity ◽

10.13057/biodiv/d210831 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (8) ◽

Author(s):

Iyan Robiansyah ◽

Wita Wardani

Keyword(s):

Open Access ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Herbarium Specimens ◽

Species Occurrence ◽

Extent Of Occurrence ◽

Area Of Occupancy

Abstract. Robiansyah I, Wardani W. 2020. Increasing accuracy: The advantage of using open access species occurrence database in the Red List assessment. Biodiversitas 21: 3658-3664. IUCN Red List is the most widely used instrument to assess and advise the extinction risk of a species. One of the criteria used in IUCN Red List is geographical range of the species assessed (criterion B) in the form of extent of occurrence (EOO) and/or area of occupancy (AOO). While this criterion is presumed to be the easiest to be completed as it is based mainly on species occurrence data, there are some assessments that failed to maximize freely available databases. Here, we reassessed the conservation status of Cibotium arachnoideum, a tree fern distributed in Sumatra and Borneo. This species was previously assessed by Praptosuwiryo (2020, Biodiversitas 21 (4): 1379-1384) which classified the species as Endangered (EN) under criteria B2ab(i,ii,iii); C2a(ii). Using additional data from herbarium specimens recorded in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) website and from peer-reviewed scientific papers, in the present paper we show that C. arachnoideum has a larger extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO), more locations and different conservation status compared to those in Praptosuwiryo (2020). Our results are supported by the predicted suitable habitat map of C. arachnoideum produced by MaxEnt modelling method. Based on our assessment, we propose the category of Vulnerable (VU) C2a(i) as the global conservation status for C. arachnoideum. Our study implies the advantage of using open access databases to increase the accuracy of extinction risk assessment under the IUCN Red List criteria in regions like Indonesia, where adequate taxonomical information is not always readily available.

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The dynamics underlying avian extinction trajectories forecast a wave of extinctions

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2019.0633 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. 20190633 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Melanie J. Monroe ◽

Stuart H. M. Butchart ◽

Arne O. Mooers ◽

Folmer Bokma

Keyword(s):

Extinction Risk ◽

Population Decline ◽

Bird Species ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Extinction Rate ◽

Critically Endangered Species ◽

Extinction Rates ◽

Historical Times ◽

Risk Categories

Population decline is a process, yet estimates of current extinction rates often consider just the final step of that process by counting numbers of species lost in historical times. This neglects the increased extinction risk that affects a large proportion of species, and consequently underestimates the effective extinction rate. Here, we model observed trajectories through IUCN Red List extinction risk categories for all bird species globally over 28 years, and estimate an overall effective extinction rate of 2.17 × 10 −4 /species/year. This is six times higher than the rate of outright extinction since 1500, as a consequence of the large number of species whose status is deteriorating. We very conservatively estimate that global conservation efforts have reduced the effective extinction rate by 40%, but mostly through preventing critically endangered species from going extinct rather than by preventing species at low risk from moving into higher-risk categories. Our findings suggest that extinction risk in birds is accumulating much more than previously appreciated, but would be even greater without conservation efforts.

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Regional Red List assessment of tree species in upper montane forests of the Tropical Andes

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605315000198 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 49 (3) ◽

pp. 397-409 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Natalia Tejedor Garavito ◽

Adrian C. Newton ◽

Sara Oldfield

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Conservation Strategies ◽

Tropical Andes ◽

Conservation Assessment ◽

Distribution Maps

AbstractThe Tropical Andes are characterized by a high level of endemism and plant species richness but are under pressure from human activities. We present the first regional conservation assessment of upper montane tree species in this region. We identified 3,750 tree species as occurring in this region, of which 917 were excluded because of a lack of data on their distribution. We identified a subset of 129 taxa that were restricted to higher elevations (> 1,500 m) but occurred in more than one country, thus excluding local endemics evaluated in previous national assessments. Distribution maps were created for each of these selected species, and extinction risk was assessed according to the IUCN Red List categories and criteria (version 3.1), drawing on expert knowledge elicited from a regional network of specialists. We assessed one species, Polylepis microphylla, as Critically Endangered, 47 species as Endangered and 28 as Vulnerable. Overall, 60% of the species evaluated were categorized as threatened, or 73% if national endemics are included. It is recommended that extinction risk assessments for tree species be used to inform the development of conservation strategies in the region, to avoid further loss of this important element of biodiversity.

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The changing fates of the world's mammals

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2011.0116 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 366 (1578) ◽

pp. 2598-2610 ◽

Cited By ~ 109

Author(s):

Michael Hoffmann ◽

Jerrold L. Belant ◽

Janice S. Chanson ◽

Neil A. Cox ◽

John Lamoreux ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Captive Breeding ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Mammal Species ◽

International Union ◽

The Status ◽

Conservation Actions ◽

In The Wild

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.

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Evaluating the extinction risk of Ligusticum canbyi (Osha): Using the IUCN Red List

10.1055/s-0038-1644909 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

H Moothoo ◽

DJ Leaman ◽

WL Applequist ◽

PN Brown

Keyword(s):

Extinction Risk ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List

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Evaluating firefly extinction risk: Initial red list assessments for North America

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0259379 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. e0259379

Author(s):

Candace E. Fallon ◽

Anna C. Walker ◽

Sara Lewis ◽

Joseph Cicero ◽

Lynn Faust ◽

...

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

North America ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

The United States ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Future Research ◽

Habitat Specificity ◽

Data Deficient ◽

Systematic Compilation

Fireflies are a family of charismatic beetles known for their bioluminescent signals. Recent anecdotal reports suggest that firefly populations in North America may be in decline. However, prior to this work, no studies have undertaken a systematic compilation of geographic distribution, habitat specificity, and threats facing North American fireflies. To better understand their extinction risks, we conducted baseline assessments according to the categories and criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List for 132 species from the United States and Canada (approximately 79% of described species in the region). We found at least 18 species (14%) are threatened with extinction (e.g. categorized as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable) due to various pressures, including habitat loss, light pollution, and climate change (sea level rise and drought). In addition, more than half of the species (53%) could not be evaluated against the assessment criteria due to insufficient data, highlighting the need for further study. Future research and conservation efforts should prioritize monitoring and protecting populations of at-risk species, preserving and restoring habitat, gathering data on population trends, and filling critical information gaps for data deficient species suspected to be at risk.

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Species conservation profiles of a random sample of world spiders III: Oecobiidae to Salticidae

Biodiversity Data Journal ◽

10.3897/bdj.6.e27004 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sini Seppälä ◽

Sérgio Henriques ◽

Michael Draney ◽

Stefan Foord ◽

Alastair Gibbons ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Random Sample ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Information Source ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Entire Group ◽

Global Database ◽

The Family ◽

The World

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the most widely used information source on the extinction risk of species. One of the uses of the Red List is to evaluate and monitor the state of biodiversity and a possible approach for this purpose is the Red List Index (RLI). For many taxa, mainly hyperdiverse groups, it is not possible within available resources to assess all known species. In such cases, a random sample of species might be selected for assessment and the results derived from it extrapolated for the entire group - the Sampled Red List Index (SRLI). The current contribution is the third in four papers that will constitute the baseline of a future spider SRLI encompassing 200 species distributed across the world.A sample of 200 species of spiders were randomly selected from the World Spider Catalogue, an updated global database containing all recognized species names for the group. The 200 selected species where divided taxonomically at the family level, and the familes were ordered alphabetically. In this publication, we present the conservation profiles of 58 species belonging to the famillies alphabetically arranged between Oecobiidae and Salticidae, which encompassed Oecobiidae, Oonopidae, Orsolobidae, Oxyopidae, Palpimanidae, Philodromidae, Pholcidae, Pisauridae, Prodidomidae and Salticidae.

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IUCN Red List and the value of integrating genetics

Conservation Genetics ◽

10.1007/s10592-020-01301-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (5) ◽

pp. 795-801 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Brittany A. Garner ◽

Sean Hoban ◽

Gordon Luikart

Keyword(s):

Endangered Species ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Species Traits ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Effective Population ◽

Mature Adults ◽

Heterozygosity Loss ◽

Species Lists ◽

Explicit Consideration

Abstract Many species on endangered species lists such as the IUCN Red List (RL) are categorized using demographic factors such as numbers of mature individuals. Genetic factors are not currently used in the RL even though their explicit consideration, including effective population size (Ne) and expected heterozygosity-loss (H-loss), could improve the assessment of extinction risk. Here, we consider the estimation of Ne and H-loss in the context of RL species. First, we investigate the reporting of number of mature individuals for RL Endangered species, which is needed to estimate Ne and H-loss. We found 77% of species assessments studied here did not report methods used to estimate the number of mature adults, and that these assessments rarely report other important determinants of Ne (e.g., sex ratio, variance in family size). We therefore applied common rules of thumb to estimate Ne, and found that Ne was likely < 50 for at least 25% of the 170 RL Endangered species studied here. We also estimated mean expected H-loss for these species over the next 100 years, and found it to be 9–29%. These estimates of high H-loss and low Ne suggest that some species listed as Endangered likely warrant listing as Critically Endangered if genetic considerations were included. We recommend that RL and other assessment frameworks (i) report methods used for estimating the number of mature adults, (ii) include standardized information on species traits that influence Ne to facilitate Ne estimation, and (iii) consider using concepts like Ne and heterozygosity-loss in risk assessments.

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Using Red List Indices to measure progress towards the 2010 target and beyond

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2004.1583 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 360 (1454) ◽

pp. 255-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 156

Author(s):

S.H.M Butchart ◽

A.J Stattersfield ◽

J Baillie ◽

L.A Bennun ◽

S.N Stuart ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Extinction Risk ◽

Relative Rate ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

World Conservation ◽

Threat Status ◽

2010 Target ◽

Stratified Sample ◽

Objective System ◽

Taxonomic Groups

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List is widely recognized as the most authoritative and objective system for classifying species by their risk of extinction. Red List Indices (RLIs) illustrate the relative rate at which a particular set of species change in overall threat status (i.e. projected relative extinction-risk), based on population and range size and trends as quantified by Red List categories. RLIs can be calculated for any representative set of species that has been fully assessed at least twice. They are based on the number of species in each Red List category, and the number changing categories between assessments as a result of genuine improvement or deterioration in status. RLIs show a fairly coarse level of resolution, but for fully assessed taxonomic groups they are highly representative, being based on information from a high proportion of species worldwide. The RLI for the world's birds shows that that their overall threat status has deteriorated steadily during the years 1988–2004 in all biogeographic realms and ecosystems. A preliminary RLI for amphibians for 1980–2004 shows similar rates of decline. RLIs are in development for other groups. In addition, a sampled index is being developed, based on a stratified sample of species from all major taxonomic groups, realms and ecosystems. This will provide extinction-risk trends that are more representative of all biodiversity.

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