Why be red listed? Threatened Myriapoda species in Brazil with implications for their conservation.

Amazonas Chagas-Jr,Manoela Karam-Gemael,Thiago Izzo

doi:10.3897/zookeys.741.21971

Abstract

The biodiversity crisis we live in, marked by high extinction rates, requires well-planned conservation efforts. To overcome this issue, red lists of threatened species are recognized as the main objective approach for evaluating the conservation status of species and therefore guiding conservation priorities. This work focuses on the Myriapoda (Chilopoda and Diplopoda) species listed in the Brazilian red list of fauna to enable discussion of the practical implications of red lists for conservation. Almost all myriapods assessed are endemic to Brazil (99 %) and 73 % are known from subterranean habitats only. Despite of 33 % being recorded from protected areas (PAs), downgrading, degazettement or downsizing of PAs and intense and unregulated ecotourism represent great threats. The PAs network in Brazil tends to fail in conserving myriapod species. The number of data deficient species (42 %) states the need of investing in ecological and taxonomic studies about the group, in order to fill in important knowledge gaps in species assessments nationally and globally. In this work we show that there is a lack of communication between national and global agencies concerning red lists, which results in a significant loss for science and for conservation. Despite investing in national and state red lists, individual countries must take the final step of submitting its data to IUCN global database, as significant international funding is available for IUCN red listed species conservation. Being one of the most diverse countries in the world, and facing the biggest cuts ever on national science funding, losing these important funding opportunities is a huge loss for Brazilian biodiversity conservation and for science. This study raises awareness on subterranean habitats conservation, due to its high endemism and fragility. Since the first edition of the Brazilian Red List in 1968, centipedes are now included for the first time, and millipedes for the second time. The presence of these myriapods in the list brings attention to the group, which usually receives little or no attention in conservation programs and environmental impact assessments. Rather than a specific case for Myriapoda and for Brazil, the points discussed here can be related to arthropods and the tropics, as the most biodiverse countries are emerging economies facing similar challenges in PAs network management, species extinction risks and science funding.

Highlights

IntroductionRecent extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times their pre-human levels in well-known and taxonomically diverse groups from widely different environments (Pimm et al 1995)
Species extinction has always been part of biodiversity history
The current Brazilian red list of threatened species of fauna was constructed through specialists workshops held by ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation, a national agency of the Brazilian Ministry of Environment) and it was published as a legal act in December 17, 2014 (MMA 2014)

Summary

Introduction

Recent extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times their pre-human levels in well-known and taxonomically diverse groups from widely different environments (Pimm et al 1995). The overarching driver of species extinction is human population growth and increasing per capita consumption. How long these trends continue, where and at what rate, will dominate the scenarios of species extinction and challenge efforts to protect biodiversity (Pimm et al 2014). Red lists are indicators of data gaps in taxonomic groups or regions, orientating new biodiversity research. Inclusion in a red list is an indication of actual threat, absence of an entire taxonomic group from the list should be treated with circumspection because its omission could result from a lack of information rather than the absence of threat (Lewinsohn et al 2005)

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