Threatened endemic water beetles from Morocco

Abstract

Biodiversity loss is exceptionally greater in freshwater ecosystems. To preserve such biodiversity it is crucial to know what species and habitats require greater conservation efforts. In this study, we identify the most threatened endemic sensu lato water beetles found in Morocco (i.e., Moroccan, Maghrebian and Ibero-Maghrebian endemics) using six equivalent criteria (general distribution, Moroccan distribution, species rarity, species persistence, habitat rarity and habitat loss) to rank species according to their vulnerability. From the 90 endemic species studied, only Graptodytes bremondi Guignot 1934, Esolus bicuspidatus Alluaud 1922, Enochrus blazquezae Arribas & Millan, 2013 and Elmis atlantis Alluad, 1922 were considered extremely vulnerable following our own methodology, whereas thirty six were cataloged as highly vulnerable. The protection of such species mainly requires the conservation of their habitats, particularly rivers in low lands, saline streams, peat bogs, “Sebkhas” and marshes. Most of these Moroccan habitats are very rare and/or human impacted. Nowadays, no Moroccan species of aquatic Coleoptera has legal protection, being the only conservation measure available for these species the extent to which they occur in protected areas. As a result, all these forty species should be included in the future Red List of Threatened Species for Morocco, whereas the four most threatened are proposed to be incorporated in the IUCN Red List as “Endangered B2ab (iii)”. We present the first comprehensive analysis of all endemic aquatic beetles in Morocco applying a specific methodology. Four of the ninety endemic species studied showed an extremely high vulnerability: Graptodytes bremondi Guignot 1934, Esolus bicuspidatus Alluaud 1922, Enochrus blazquezae Arribas & Millan, 2013 and Elmis atlantis Alluad, 1922. We propose all of them for inclusion in the IUCN red list as "Endangered B2ab (iii)".