An overview of Neotropical arthropod conservation efforts using risk assessment lists

Abstract

Neotropical efforts for arthropod conservation are still insufficient. Some species from the Neotropical region have been assessed by the IUCN Red List criteria (IRL), while others have been assessed using local red lists (LRLs). Unfortunately, these two lists are completely unconnected, even when they use similar criteria to evaluate extinction risks. Therefore, an overview of arthropod conservation using the IRL and LRLs to determine general and common patterns for arthropods in the Neotropical region is still missing, and this was the main goal of our study. The LRLs provided significant information about the species under threat in the Neotropical region, particularly on endemic ones. Both the IRL and LRLs determined that habitat loss (agricultural use land than more 50%) is the most critical threat of arthropod diversity in this region, but other main threats were also found. The conservation efforts for arthropods in Neotropical countries have been developed heterogeneously. Special efforts are necessary to countries without red lists as large countries, islands, or island-like bioregions. So far, the most threatened arthropod diversity in the Neotropical region belongs to the Caribbean islands. Insect conservation is not just about red-listing. It is also crucial to conduct conservation action as habitat management and restoration, citizen science or specific policy to fight the illegal trade. The integration of LRLs with the IRL helped identify common threats to arthropod conservation and also facilitated the macroscopic evaluation of this topic. It is crucial to conserve Neotropical arthropods to protect animal biodiversity. The homologation of the LRLs in the IUCN would increase the representation of endemic arthropods generating (1) an increase in funding for research and (2) for local conservation policies such as ecological restoration, and their use as bioindicators of environmental impact on investment projects in agriculture, mining, forestry, and urbanization.