Quantifying species recovery and conservation success to develop an IUCN Green List of Species.

Previous studies show that conservation actions have prevented extinctions, recovered populations, and reduced declining trends in global biodiversity. However, all studies to date have substantially underestimated the difference conservation action makes because they failed to account fully for what would have happened in the absence thereof. We undertook a scenario-based thought experiment to better quantify the effect conservation actions have had on the extinction risk of the world's 235 recognized ungulate species. We did so by comparing species' observed conservation status in 2008 with their estimated status under counterfactual scenarios in which conservation efforts ceased in 1996. We estimated that without conservation at least 148 species would have deteriorated by one International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List category, including 6 species that now would be listed as extinct or extinct in the wild. The overall decline in the conservation status of ungulates would have been nearly 8 times worse than observed. This trend would have been greater still if not for conservation on private lands. While some species have benefited from highly targeted interventions, such as reintroduction, most benefited collaterally from conservation such as habitat protection. We found that the difference conservation action makes to the conservation status of the world's ungulate species is likely to be higher than previously estimated. Increased, and sustained, investment could help achieve further improvements.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, a species extinction risk assessment tool, has been guiding conservation efforts for over 5 decades. It is widely assumed to have been instrumental in preventing species from moving closer to extinction and driving recoveries. However, the impact of the IUCN Red List in guiding conservation has not been evaluated. We conducted, transcribed, and coded interviews with experts who use the IUCN Red List across a range of sectors to understand how the list is used in conservation. We developed a theory of change to illustrate how and why change is expected to occur along causal pathways contributing to the long‐term goal of the IUCN Red List and an evaluation framework with indicators for measuring the impact of the IUCN Red List in generating scientific knowledge, raising awareness among stakeholders, designating priority conservation sites, allocating funding and resources, influencing development of legislation and policy, and guiding targeted conservation action (key themes). Red‐list assessments were the primary input leading to outputs (scientific knowledge, raised awareness), outcomes (better informed priority setting, access to funding and resource availability, improved legislation and policy), and impact (implemented conservation action leading to positive change) that have resulted in achievement of IUCN Red List goals. To explore feasibility of attributing the difference made by the IUCN Red List across themes, we studied increased scientific knowledge, raised awareness, access to funding and resource allocation, and increased conservation activity. The feasibility exploration showed increased scientific knowledge over time identified through positive trends in publications referring to the IUCN Red List in the literature; raised awareness of the list following high IUCN activity identified by peaks in online search activity; an increased proportion of conservation funding bodies requesting IUCN Red List status in the application process; and, based on interviews with Amphibian Specialist Group members, red‐list assessments were essential in connecting relevant stakeholders and ensuring conservation action. Although we identified the IUCN Red List as a vital tool in global conservation efforts, it was challenging to measure specific impacts because of its ubiquitous nature. We are the first to identify the influence of the IUCN Red List on conservation.

Phylogenetically informed imputation methods have rarely been applied to estimate missing values in demographic data but may be a powerful tool for reconstructing vital rates of survival, maturation, and fecundity for species of conservation concern. Imputed vital rates could be used to parameterize demographic models to explore how populations respond when vital rates are perturbed. We used standardized vital rate estimates for 50 bird species to assess the use of phylogenetic imputation to fill gaps in demographic data. We calculated imputation accuracy for vital rates of focal species excluded from the data set either singly or in combination and with and without phylogeny, body mass, and life-history trait data. We used imputed vital rates to calculate demographic metrics, including generation time, to validate the use of imputation in demographic analyses. Covariance among vital rates and other trait data provided a strong basis to guide imputation of missing vital rates in birds, even in the absence of phylogenetic information. Mean NRMSE for null and phylogenetic models differed by <0.01 except when no vital rates were available or for vital rates with high phylogenetic signal (Pagel's λ > 0.8). In these cases, including body mass and life-history trait data compensated for lack of phylogenetic information: mean normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) for null and phylogenetic models differed by <0.01 for adult survival and <0.04 for maturation rate. Estimates of demographic metrics were sensitive to the accuracy of imputed vital rates. For example, mean error in generation time doubled in response to inaccurate estimates of maturation time. Accurate demographic data and metrics, such as generation time, are needed to inform conservation planning processes, for example through International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List assessments and population viability analysis. Imputed vital rates could be useful in this context but, as for any estimated model parameters, awareness of the sensitivities of demographic model outputs to the imputed vital rates is essential.

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 6:193-198 (2008) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00129 National Red Lists: the largest global market for IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria Jon Paul Rodríguez1,2,* 1Centro de Ecología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Apdo. 20632, Caracas 1020-A,Venezuela 2Provita, Apdo. 47552, Caracas 1041-A, Venezuela *Email: jonpaul@ivic.ve ABSTRACT: The 2 major challenges currently confronting the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with regard to the ‘red listing’ process are the taxonomic, and the geographic growth of the data base. Taxonomic growth refers to the objective of gradually assessing the risk of extinction of all the world’s species and periodically repeating such assessments. Geographic growth refers to the increasing number of people around the world interested in performing extinction risk assessments for various groups of organisms in their region or country. The taxonomic challenge, although a large and demanding task, can be addressed by expanding and strengthening the networks of experts organized within the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), which represents a significant scaling-up of a well-developed, known model. However, no current structure within the IUCN has the mandate to address the geographic challenge; this requires the creation of new structures or mechanisms. At least 5 key activities must be implemented to effectively integrate the diffuse network of national assessors into the global red listing process: (1) large-scale publicizing of the Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional Levels, and encouraging the work of national assessors; (2) establishing the IUCN Species Programme as the primary trainer and certifier of multipliers; (3) delegating the majority of training to national institutions; (4) creating a virtual data clearing house for national red lists, seamlessly linked to the global list; and (5) consolidating the IUCN Species Programme as the primary endorser of national red list assessments. Hundreds of regional and national red lists will probably be produced in the next decade using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, particularly because they are now recognized by international agreements such as the 2010 biodiversity target of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nation’s General Assembly Millennium Development Goals. By catalyzing this process, the IUCN would expand the information on the world’s threatened species, while strengthening local scientific capacity for generating and using these data to support conservation action. KEY WORDS: Assessment of extinction risk · Conservation priorities · IUCN Red List · National red lists · Threatened species Full text in pdf format PreviousCite this article as: Rodríguez JP (2008) National Red Lists: the largest global market for IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Endang Species Res 6:193-198. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00129 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 6, No. 2. Online publication date: December 30, 2008 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2008 Inter-Research.

Assessing worth of marine protected areas for the protection of threatened biodiversity using IUCN Red List and Red List Index. A pilot study in six mediterranean areas

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List categories and criteria are the most widely used framework for assessing the relative extinction risk of species. The criteria are based on quantitative thresholds relating to the size, trends, and structure of species’ distributions and populations. However, data on these parameters are sparse and uncertain for many species and unavailable for others, potentially leading to their misclassification or classification as data deficient. We devised an approach that combines data on land‐cover change, species‐specific habitat preferences, population abundance, and dispersal distance to estimate key parameters (extent of occurrence, maximum area of occupancy, population size and trend, and degree of fragmentation) and hence predict IUCN Red List categories for species. We applied our approach to nonpelagic birds and terrestrial mammals globally (∼15,000 species). The predicted categories were fairly consistent with published IUCN Red List assessments, but more optimistic overall. We predicted 4.2% of species (467 birds and 143 mammals) to be more threatened than currently assessed and 20.2% of data deficient species (10 birds and 114 mammals) to be at risk of extinction. Incorporating the habitat fragmentation subcriterion reduced these predictions 1.5–2.3% and 6.4–14.9% (depending on the quantitative definition of fragmentation) for threatened and data deficient species, respectively, highlighting the need for improved guidance for IUCN Red List assessors on the application of this aspect of the IUCN Red List criteria. Our approach complements traditional methods of estimating parameters for IUCN Red List assessments. Furthermore, it readily provides an early‐warning system to identify species potentially warranting changes in their extinction‐risk category based on periodic updates of land‐cover information. Given our method relies on optimistic assumptions about species distribution and abundance, all species predicted to be more at risk than currently evaluated should be prioritized for reassessment.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments rely on published data and expert inputs, and biases can be introduced where underlying definitions and concepts are ambiguous. Consideration of climate change threat is no exception, and recently numerous approaches to assessing the threat of climate change to species have been developed. We explored IUCN Red List assessments of amphibians and birds to determine whether species listed as threatened by climate change display distinct patterns in terms of habitat occupied and additional nonclimatic threats faced. We compared IUCN Red List data with a published data set of species' biological and ecological traits believed to infer high vulnerability to climate change and determined whether distributions of climate change-threatened species on the IUCN Red List concur with those of climate change-threatened species identified with the trait-based approach and whether species possessing these traits are more likely to have climate change listed as a threat on the IUCN Red List. Species in some ecosystems (e.g., grassland, shrubland) and subject to particular threats (e.g., invasive species) were more likely to have climate change as a listed threat. Geographical patterns of climate change-threatened amphibians and birds on the IUCN Red List were incongruent with patterns of global species richness and patterns identified using trait-based approaches. Certain traits were linked to increases or decreases in the likelihood of a species being threatened by climate change. Broad temperature tolerance of a species was consistently related to an increased likelihood of climate change threat, indicating counterintuitive relationships in IUCN assessments. To improve the robustness of species assessments of the vulnerability or extinction risk associated with climate change, we suggest IUCN adopt a more cohesive approach whereby specific traits highlighted by our results are considered in Red List assessments. To achieve this and to strengthen the climate change-vulnerability assessments approach, it is necessary to identify and implement logical avenues for further research into traits that make species vulnerable to climate change (including population-level threats).

Many citizen scientists are highly motivated to help address the current extinction crisis. Their work is making valuable contributions to protecting species by raising awareness, identifying species occurrences, assessing population trends, and informing direct management actions, such as captive breeding. However, clear guidance is lacking about how to use existing citizen science data sets and how to design effective citizen science programs that directly inform extinction risk assessments and resulting conservation actions based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria. This may be because of a mismatch between what citizen science can deliver to address extinction risk and the reality of what is needed to inform threatened species listing based on IUCN criteria. To overcome this problem, we examined each IUCN Red List criterion (A–E) relative to the five major types of citizen science outputs relevant to IUCN assessments (occurrence data, presence–absence observations, structured surveys, physical samples, and narratives) to recommend which outputs are most suited to use when applying the IUCN extinction risk assessment process. We explored real‐world examples of citizen science projects on amphibians and fungi that have delivered valuable data and knowledge for IUCN assessments. We found that although occurrence data are routinely used in the assessment process, simply adding more observations of occurrence from citizen science information may not be as valuable as inclusion of more nuanced data types, such as presence–absence data or information on threats from structured surveys. We then explored the characteristics of citizen science projects that have already delivered valuable data to support assessments. These projects were led by recognized experts who champion and validate citizen science data, thereby giving greater confidence in its accuracy. We urge increased recognition of the value of citizen science data within the assessment process.

Human-induced environmental pressures are expected to intensify worldwide during the 21st century. Consequently, future-focused tools and approaches to anticipate pressures on biodiversity are key to effectively prioritize conservation actions and supplement existing approaches. Here, we develop a continuous conservation prioritization index, the Proactive Conservation Index (PCI), that integrates projected future extrinsic threats and traits that can predispose species’ vulnerability. We used the PCI to assess the conservation priority of 33,560 species of land vertebrates worldwide, compared our results to the extinction risk categories of these species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, and examined spatial and phylogenetic patterns in these species future conservation needs. We found that median PCI scores broadly followed the order expected under the IUCN Red List classification, but varied substantially within each IUCN Red List category. According to the PCI, reptiles will be the group of land vertebrates with highest conservation priority in the future, despite amphibians currently having the highest proportion of threatened species according to the IUCN Red List. The PCI revealed that species in the Near Threatened category will have future conservation needs more similar to species in threatened categories than to species in the Least Concern category. Arid ecoregions, tropical montane forests, and islands showed the highest differences between conservation priorities set using the PCI and the IUCN Red List, indicating possible unrecognized future conservation needs. The proportion of threatened species according to the IUCN Red List was uncorrelated with the protected area coverage of each ecoregion, while the PCI, by design, highlighted currently unprotected ecoregions with sensitive fauna that will have high exposure to threats in the future. We produced a user-friendly web application to display our results and an R package to enable users to calculate PCI scores for any taxon and region, customizing the index according to the severity of predicted threats and importance of species attributes in other systems. Our novel index can help practitioners prioritize fine-scale species conservation actions in light of future threats and different global change scenarios.

Freshwater fish species comprise 40% of all fish diversity and provide multiple ecosystem services. Recently, several populations of this faunal group have faced declines and range contractions due to several threats. The Red List of Threatened Species, established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is the most comprehensive system for evaluating species&rsquo; risk of extinction and holds information on the species&rsquo; populations, distribution, ecology, and threats. This work aims to use this database to (1) identify the major threats to European freshwater fishes; (2) portray the geographical patterns of threat incidence with species richness, conservation status, and migratory phenology; and (3) identify the knowledge gaps in terms of valid published scientific literature supporting the threat data in the IUCN Red List database. The analysis includes 434 species, of which 41.2% are threatened, accounting for 837 threats, whereas only 11 register a valid and published scientific output. &ldquo;Resident&rdquo; was the migratory phenology with the highest percentage of threatened species (46.3%), and &ldquo;Dams &amp; water management/Use&rdquo; was the most frequent (&gt;50%) threat type. Across Europe, there is a high level of imperilment in freshwater fish species, with a particular incidence in southern regions and some coastal areas. Southern Europe, particularly the Iberian Peninsula, has a comparatively low species richness but a high proportion of threatened species with a high threat incidence. Overall, only 1.6% of the species and 1.3% of all threats identified are supported by valid published scientific literature. In sum, the present level of imperilment of European freshwater fish fauna is high, particularly in Iberia, and river network fragmentation will likely be the most challenging threat to future restoration efforts. The lack of valid scientific support for the IUCN Red List assessment affects its reliability and may hamper efforts of threat mitigation and species conservation.

Wildlife is a vital part of an ecological community as wildlife plays an important role in the environment. Wildlife Conservation is not just important for animals, but to all living things to prevent damages in biosphere and for the sustainability of life on planet earth. The biosphere and human living is endangered, because of environmental changes due to species extinction. Biodiversity loss can have significant direct impacts to human health if ecosystem services are no longer adequate to meet social needs. Conserving as much as species possible is important for the benefit of humans, ecosystems of an environment. It remains a challenge in species conservation and identification of the geographical patterns in underlying environmental associations of species with unique ecological niches and distinct behaviors. The objective is to analyze species extinction and conservation organization of different working groups. Worldwide numbers of governmental and non-governmental organization are employed to conserve species and nature. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List to become a more complete “Barometer of Life”. The IUCN Red List shows where action needs to be taken to save the species of nature from extinction. This paper delivers the complete knowledge about species extinction and methodologies utilized by various organizations to protect the species from extinction and evaluation of species risk status.

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a "Green List of Species" (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species' progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 separate but interlinked components: a standardized method (i.e., measurement against benchmarks of species' viability, functionality, and preimpact distribution) to determine current species recovery status (herein species recovery score) and application of that method to estimate past and potential future impacts of conservation based on 4 metrics (conservation legacy, conservation dependence, conservation gain, and recovery potential). We tested the framework with 181 species representing diverse taxa, life histories, biomes, and IUCN Red List categories (extinction risk). Based on the observed distribution of species' recovery scores, we propose the following species recovery categories: fully recovered, slightly depleted, moderately depleted, largely depleted, critically depleted, extinct in the wild, and indeterminate. Fifty-nine percent of tested species were considered largely or critically depleted. Although there was a negative relationship between extinction risk and species recovery score, variation was considerable. Some species in lower risk categories were assessed as farther from recovery than those at higher risk. This emphasizes that species recovery is conceptually different from extinction risk and reinforces the utility of the IUCN Green Status of Species to more fully understand species conservation status. Although extinction risk did not predict conservation legacy, conservation dependence, or conservation gain, it was positively correlated with recovery potential. Only 1.7% of tested species were categorized as zero across all 4 of these conservation impact metrics, indicating that conservation has, or will, play a role in improving or maintaining species status for the vast majority of these species. Based on our results, we devised an updated assessment framework that introduces the option of using a dynamic baseline to assess future impacts of conservation over the short term to avoid misleading results which were generated in a small number of cases, and redefines short term as 10 years to better align with conservation planning. These changes are reflected in the IUCN Green Status of Species Standard.

Genetic diversity is critical for adaptation in response to changing environments and provides a valuable metric for predicting species’ extinction risk. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and broader scientific community have acknowledged that genetic diversity is a critical component to biodiversity conservation. However, there remain gaps in the incorporation or application of genetic data to extinction risk assessments. Here, we describe how genetic diversity metrics can inform species extinction risk. Specifically, we focus on how information gained from genetic diversity metrics, and temporal reporting of changes in genetic diversity can complement existing IUCN Red List of Threatened Species criteria. We conclude by advocating for standardized reporting of genetic sequence data and calculated diversity metrics to facilitate the use of genetic data in threat assessments for IUCN and Red List-assessed species. This perspective highlights a critical need for, and a critical step towards, integration of genetic diversity metrics into Red List assessments. We expect our recommendations will complement ongoing work by the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Conservation Genetics Specialist Group to protect genetic diversity globally.

Thorough evaluation has made the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List the most widely used and accepted authority on the conservation status of biodiversity. Although the system used to determine risk of extinction is rigorously and objectively applied, the list of threatening processes affecting a species is far more subjectively determined and has not had adequate review. I reviewed the threats listed in the IUCN Red List for randomly selected groups within the three most threatened orders of mammals: Artiodactyla, Carnivora, and Primates. These groups are taxonomically related and often ecologically similar, so I expected they would suffer relatively similar threats. Hominoid primates and all other terrestrial fauna faced similar threats, except for bovine artiodactyls and large, predatory carnivores, which faced significantly different threats. Although the status of bovines and hominoids and the number of threats affecting them were correlated, this was not the case for large carnivores. Most notable, however, was the great variation in the threats affecting individual members of each group. For example, the endangered European bison (Bison bonasus) has no threatening processes listed for it, and the lion (Panthera leo) is the only large predator listed as threatened with extinction by civil war. Some threatening processes appear spurious for the conservation of the species, whereas other seemingly important factors are not recorded as threats. The subjective nature of listing threatening processes, via expert opinion, results in substantial biases that may be allayed by independent peer review, use of technical manuals, consensus among multiple assessors, incorporation of probability modeling via decision-tree analysis, and adequate coordination among evaluators. The primary focus should be on species-level threats rather than population-level threats because the IUCN Red List is a global assessment and smaller-scale threats are more appropriate for national status assessments. Until conservationists agree on the threats affecting species and their relative importance, conservation action and success will be hampered by scattering scarce resources too widely and often by implementing conflicting strategies.

The international trade of threatened marine species as seafood poses significant challenges for biodiversity conservation and undermines global sustainability goals. While illegal fishing contributes to these threats, many national and international policies permit the legal harvest and trade of threatened species, creating a fundamental conflict with conservation objectives.The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species provides the world's most comprehensive assessment of species' conservation status and extinction risks. However, threats and species' extinction risks at regional levels can differ significantly from global assessments, leading many countries to develop their own national threatened species lists. For instance, the Orange Roughy is classified as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List in Europe, but listed as "Endangered" under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.While previous studies have analyzed trade patterns using IUCN listings alone, incorporating national threatened species lists can provide a more complete picture of how international trade affects endangered species. Our research compiles national threatened species lists from around the world to examine how major seafood trading nations engage in trade of species listed as threatened under their own biodiversity conservation policies, and identifies the mechanisms that enable such trade. By analyzing the interaction between national conservation frameworks and international trade patterns, we identify critical gaps where trade practices conflict with domestic species protection policies. Our findings suggest specific targets for strengthening domestic conservation measures and highlight opportunities to better align international trade policies with biodiversity protection and sustainability goals.