A database of threat statuses and life-history traits of Red List species in Flanders (northern Belgium)

Red Lists estimate the extinction risk of species at global or regional levels and are important instruments in conservation policies. Global Red List assessments are readily available via the IUCN website (https://www.iucnredlist.org) and are regularly updated by (taxonomic) experts. Regional Red Lists, however, are not always easy to find and often use local criteria to assess the local extinction risk of species. Here, we publish a database with the outcome of 38 Red List assessments in Flanders (northern Belgium) between 1994 and 2018. In total, the database contains 6,224 records of 5,039 unique taxa pertaining to 24 different taxonomic groups. Using a quality control procedure, we evaluated the criteria used, the number of records, the temporal and spatial distribution of the data and the up-to-dateness of the Red Lists. This way, nineteen Red Lists were approved as being of sufficient high quality (i.e. validated) and nineteen others were not. Once validated, Red Lists are approved by the regional Minister of Environment and published in the Belgian Official Gazette acquiring legal status. For the validated Red Lists, we additionally compiled (life-history) traits that are applicable to a wide variety of species groups (taxonomic kingdom, environment, biotope, nutrient level, dispersal capacity, lifespan and cuddliness). The publication of this dataset allows comparison of Red List statuses with other European regions and countries and permits analyses about how certain (life-history) traits can explain the Red List status of species. The dataset will be regularly updated by adding new Red List (re)assessments and/or additional (life-history) traits.

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Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates

Arctic Science ◽

10.1139/as-2018-0006 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 710-721 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Cody J. Dey ◽

David J. Yurkowski ◽

Richard Schuster ◽

David S. Shiffman ◽

Sarah Joy Bittick

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Research Effort ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Biological Information ◽

Research Attention ◽

Arctic Species

Conserving Arctic wildlife will be challenging given the ongoing environmental changes in the region. In addition, there is a lack of fundamental biological information for many Arctic species, including a dearth of knowledge surrounding conservation threats and the risk of extinction. In this study, we gather all available data on research effort and life-history traits to assess the current state of scientific knowledge surrounding 389 Arctic vertebrate species. We also quantify patterns of species evaluation by the IUCN Red List, a global database of conservation risk used to measure success and prioritize resources in many conservation programs. We find that 10% of Arctic vertebrates have been the subject of no peer-reviewed studies during the last 30 years, and that we have little life history knowledge for many species. Arctic marine fishes are especially poorly known with an average of 3.5 (out of six) key life-history traits unknown. In a multivariate analysis, whether an Arctic species had been evaluated by the IUCN Red List was most strongly predicted by research effort and varied among taxonomic groups. In addition, we found that species that have been evaluated by the IUCN Red List continue to receive more research attention than species which have not been evaluated. Protecting all Arctic species may, therefore, require research programs and methods to halt research inertia and shift more attention onto species that are poorly known.

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Biological Correlates of Extinction Risk in Resident Philippine Avifauna

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.664764 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Kyle D. Kittelberger ◽

Montague H. C. Neate-Clegg ◽

J. David Blount ◽

Mary Rose C. Posa ◽

John McLaughlin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Habitat Degradation ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Strong Support ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

The Philippines ◽

Red List ◽

Forest Dependency ◽

Threat Status

The majority of the world’s biodiversity occurs in the tropics, but human actions in these regions have precipitated an extinction crisis due to habitat degradation, overexploitation, and climate change. Understanding which ecological, biogeographical, and life-history traits predict extinction risk is critical for conserving species. The Philippines is a hotspot of biodiversity and endemism, but it is a region that also suffers from an extremely high level of deforestation, habitat degradation, and wildlife exploitation. We investigated the biological correlates of extinction risk based on the IUCN Red List threat status among resident Philippine birds using a broad range of ecological, biogeographical, and life history traits previously identified as correlates of extinction risk in birds. We found strong support across competing models for endemism, narrower elevational ranges, high forest dependency, and larger body size as correlates significantly associated with extinction risk. Additionally, we compared observed threat status with threat status fitted by our model, finding fourteen species that are not currently recognized by the IUCN Red List as threatened that may be more threatened than currently believed and therefore warrant heightened conservation focus, and predicted threat statuses for the four Philippine Data Deficient bird species. We also assessed species described in recent taxonomic splits that are recognized by BirdLife International, finding 12 species that have a fitted threat status more severe than their IUCN-designated ones. Our findings provide a framework for avian conservation efforts to identify birds with specific biological correlates that increase a species’ vulnerability to extinction both in the Philippine Archipelago and elsewhere on other tropical islands.

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Heads you win, tails you lose: Life-history traits predict invasion and extinction risk of the world's freshwater fishes

Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems ◽

10.1002/aqc.2740 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 773-779 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Chunlong Liu ◽

Lise Comte ◽

Julian D. Olden

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Freshwater Fishes

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Life-history traits and habitat availability shape genomic diversity in birds: implications for conservation

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2021.1441 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 288 (1961) ◽

Author(s):

Anna Brüniche-Olsen ◽

Kenneth F. Kellner ◽

Jerrold L. Belant ◽

J. Andrew DeWoody

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Management Practices ◽

Sequence Data ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Genomic Variation ◽

Genomic Diversity ◽

Whole Genome Sequence ◽

Habitat Availability

More than 25% of species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are threatened with extinction. Understanding how environmental and biological processes have shaped genomic diversity may inform management practices. Using 68 extant avian species, we parsed the effects of habitat availability and life-history traits on genomic diversity over time to provide a baseline for conservation efforts. We used published whole-genome sequence data to estimate overall genomic diversity as indicated by historical long-term effective population sizes ( N e ) and current genomic variability ( H ), then used environmental niche modelling to estimate Pleistocene habitat dynamics for each species. We found that N e and H were positively correlated with habitat availability and related to key life-history traits (body mass and diet), suggesting the latter contribute to the overall genomic variation. We found that H decreased with increasing species extinction risk, suggesting that H may serve as a leading indicator of demographic trends related to formal IUCN conservation status in birds. Our analyses illustrate that genome-wide summary statistics estimated from sequence data reflect meaningful ecological attributes relevant to species conservation.

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Conservation of terrestrial invertebrates: a review of IUCN and regional Red Lists for Myriapoda

ZooKeys ◽

10.3897/zookeys.930.48943 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 930 ◽

pp. 221-229

Author(s):

Manoela Karam-Gemael ◽

Peter Decker ◽

Pavel Stoev ◽

Marinez I. Marques ◽

Amazonas Chagas Jr

Keyword(s):

Threatened Species ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Current Conservation ◽

Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽

Red Lists ◽

Limit Protection ◽

Regional Red Lists

Red Listing of Threatened species is recognized as the most objective approach for evaluating extinction risk of living organisms which can be applied at global or national scales. Invertebrates account for nearly 97% of all animals on the planet but are insufficiently represented in the IUCN Red Lists at both scales. To analyze the occurrence of species present in regional Red Lists, accounts of 48 different countries and regions all over the world were consulted and all data about myriapods (Myriapoda) ever assessed in Red Lists at any level assembled. Myriapod species assessments were found in eleven regional Red Lists; however, no overlap between the species included in the global IUCN Red List and the regional ones was established. This means that myriapod species considered threatened at regional level may not be eligible for international funding specific for protection of native threatened species (more than US$ 25 million were available in the last decade) as most financial instruments tend to support only threatened species included in the IUCN Red List. As the lack of financial resources may limit protection for species in risk of extinction, it is urgent to increase the possibilities of getting financial support for implementation of measures for their protection. A Red List of all Myriapoda species recorded in Red Lists at national or local (596) and global (210) scales totaling 806 species is presented. This list shows for the first time an overview of the current conservation status of Myriapoda species. Here, the urgent need of establishing a Myriapoda Specialist Group in the Species Survival Commission of IUCN is also stressed.

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Genetic effects on life-history traits in the Glanville fritillary butterfly

10.7287/peerj.preprints.2944v1 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Anne Duplouy ◽

Swee C Wong ◽

Jukka Corander ◽

Rainer Lehtonen ◽

Ilkka Hanski

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Habitat Fragmentation ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Snp Markers ◽

Butterfly Species ◽

Dispersal Capacity ◽

Multiple Test ◽

Glanville Fritillary Butterfly ◽

Trait Associations

Background. Adaptation to local habitat conditions may lead to the natural divergence of populations in life-history traits such as body size, time of reproduction, mate signaling or dispersal capacity. Given enough time and strong enough selection pressures, populations may experience local genetic differentiation. The genetic basis of many life-history traits, and their evolution according to different environmental conditions remain however poorly understood. Methods. We conducted an association study on the Glanville fritillary butterfly, using material from five populations along a latitudinal gradient within the Baltic Sea region, which show different degrees of habitat fragmentation. We investigated variation in ten principal components, cofounding in total 21 life-history traits, according to two environmental types, and 33 genetic SNP markers from 15 candidate genes. Results. We found that nine SNPs from five genes showed strong trend for trait associations (p-values under 0.001 before correction). These associations, yet non-significant after multiple test corrections, with a total number of 1086 tests, were consistent across the study populations. Additionally, these nine genes also showed an allele frequency difference between the populations from the northern fragmented versus the southern continuous landscape. Discussion. Our study provides further support for previously described trait associations within the Glanville fritillary butterfly species across different spatial scales. Although our results alone are inconclusive, they are concordant with previous studies that identified these associations to be related to climatic changes or habitat fragmentation within the Åland population.

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Life history traits and reproductive ecology of North American chorus frogs of the genus Pseudacris (Hylidae)

Frontiers in Zoology ◽

10.1186/s12983-021-00425-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jeffrey P. Ethier ◽

Aurore Fayard ◽

Peter Soroye ◽

Daeun Choi ◽

Marc J. Mazerolle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

North America ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Reproductive Ecology ◽

Wide Distribution ◽

Chorus Frogs ◽

The Usa ◽

Chorus Frog

AbstractAmphibian biodiversity is declining globally, with over 40% of species being considered threatened to become extinct. Crucial to the success of conservation initiatives are a comprehensive understanding of life history and reproductive ecology of target species. Here we provide an overview of the Pseudacris genus, including breeding behaviour, reproduction, development, survival and longevity. We present an updated distribution map of the 18 species found throughout North America. We also summarize the conservation status at the national and subnational (state, provincial, and territorial) levels, in Canada, USA, and Mexico, to evaluate the relationship between life history traits and extinction risk. Results show a high degree of consistency in the life history traits of Pseudacris species considering their relative diversity and wide distribution in North America. However, data are lacking for several species, particularly in the Fat Frog and West Coast clades, causing some uncertainties and discrepancies in the literature. We also found that the most threatened populations of chorus frog were located in the east coast of the USA, potentially as a result of increased levels of anthropogenic disturbance. We suggest that the similarities in life history traits among chorus frog species provides an opportunity for collaboration and united efforts for the conservation of the genus.

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