The Red List for the endemic trees of Colombia: Effective conservation targeted for plants required in biodiversity hotspots

Abstract

Societal Impact StatementConserving trees is fundamental to maintaining forests, which are home to about half of the global biodiversity and provide unmeasurable benefits to people. Colombia has 5868 known species of trees, 1148 of which are endemic to the country. Unfortunately, 45% of the endemic trees of Colombia are threatened with extinction, and therefore, the ecosystem services they provide might be in jeopardy. This study represents an important contribution to conservation planning for the endemic trees of a megadiverse country and highlights critical considerations for their conservation.Summary Colombia has a very rich tree flora and high levels of tree endemism. As a contribution to the “Global Tree Assessment”, we assessed 860 species to complete the Red List of the 1148 endemic trees of the country. The information is being used to support spatial conservation planning as Key Biodiversity Areas identification. To categorize the species according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List guidelines, we used geographic occurrences obtained from herbarium specimens. We carried out detailed analysis of habitat quantity and quality (using forest cover and human footprint maps) and documented anthropogenic threats and conservation actions. Almost half (45%) of the endemic trees were categorized as threatened. Most species had small distributions (with an extent of occurrence of less than 40,000 km2). Endemic tree occurrences were more common in the Andes and Magdalena regions, which have very high human footprint and consequently a large proportion of threatened species. The major threat to endemic trees was habitat destruction, due mainly to deforestation for livestock and crops. Many endemic trees were present in protected areas (65%), but threatened and non‐threatened species had low coverage with habitat protection, and many of their populations persist in disturbed habitats. Colombia has hundreds of threatened endemic trees, most of them in global biodiversity hotspots, with very few proactive conservation actions. It is urgent to increase the coverage of endemic tree populations in area‐based conservation strategies and to complement this with ex situ and other conservation actions.