Is the global conservation status assessment of a threatened taxon a utopia?

Abstract

The signatory countries of the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. How will we know, however, if we have achieved this goal? Eight groups of hindrances in evaluating the global conservation status of threatened taxon are identified: (1) the extreme heterogeneity and (2) restricted availability of relevant data; (3) the uncertainty in species number and taxonomic division of the given taxon (Linnean shortfall); (4) the fragmentary distribution knowledge (Wallacean shortfall); (5) the incomplete or incorrect red-listing across the whole distribution area; (6) the lack of homogeneous and exhaustive population trend data; (7) the threat knowledge shortfall; (8) the incomplete general biological knowledge on a given taxon. The Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls lay the foundation of all other hindrances. So long as this dramatic shortfall situation does not change, the adequate assessment of the global status for overwhelming majority of extant taxa will remain a utopia.