Despite the fact that the most changes in lists of threatened species reflect
changes in knowledge rather than changes in conservation status, the lists
continue to provide social and legal mandates for conservation; they are used
to report on the state of the environment and to guide the allocation of
scarce resources. There is a substantial under-representation of non-vascular
species in threatened plant lists, reflected in an absence of documented
extinctions among fungi and algae. Turnover in the composition of extinct
flora lists in Australia suggests that the lists of threatened species may not
be sufficiently reliable to form the basis for reporting on the state of the
environment. They are of limited use in distinguishing between levels of
threat and may not be a reliable guide for the allocation of scarce
conservation resources among plant species. Systems for listing threatened
species create a feedback loop, responsive to the subjective preferences of
scientists, largely unresponsive to underlying true threats, self-perpetuating
and accentuating bias with each iteration. Other tools, including formal
decision approaches and the acquisition of new kinds of data, are needed to
fill the roles.
Recovery of threatened plant species and their habitats in the biodiversity hotspot of the Southwest Australian Floristic Region
