New Zealand Threat Classification System Research Articles

Assessing the conservation status of New Zealand's native terrestrial invertebrates

The objectives of the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) are summarised together with the methods used to classify taxa as Threatened, At Risk, Data Deficient and Extinct. An analysis is provided of the threat rankings of 3838 New Zealand terrestrial invertebrate taxa that were assessed between 2009 and 2011. Overall, 193 taxa were Threatened with 106 Nationally Critical, 30 Nationally Endangered and 57 Nationally Vulnerable. A further 1055 invertebrates were At Risk comprising 35 Declining, six Recovering, 102 Relict and 912 that were Naturally Uncommon. Another 1208 were Data Deficient, seven were Extinct and 1175 were Not Threatened. The remaining taxa examined were classified as either Introduced and Naturalised (190) or Vagrant (11). Factors and attributes that affect the threat status of New Zealand terrestrial invertebrates are discussed.

The conservation status of New Zealand bats, 2009

The New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) is a national system used to assess the risk of extinction faced by New Zealand plants, animals and fungi. The system is specifically designed to be relevant to New Zealand's unusual ecological and geographic conditions. We undertook a re-evaluation of the status of seven bat taxa based on our knowledge of New Zealand bats using revised NZTCS criteria. Five taxa were listed as Threatened or At Risk: one as Nationally Critical (long-tailed bat Chalinolobus tuberculatus ‘South Island’), one as Nationally Endangered (southern lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata tuberculata), two as Nationally Vulnerable (long-tailed bat ‘North Island’ and northern lesser short-tailed bat M. t. aupourica) and one as Declining (central lesser short-tailed bat M. t. rhyacobia). One taxon was assessed as Data Deficient (greater short-tailed bat M. robusta) and one (little red flying fox Pteropus scapulatus) as Vagrant. We suspect declines result primarily from predation and competition from introduced mammals, habitat degradation, and disturbance.