Threatened Species Legislation Research Articles

Marine Endangered and Threatened Species in Russia: A Review of Current Conservation Strategies and Management Legislative Tools

Despite the global decline in marine species biodiversity, relatively few countries have enacted national endangered and threatened species legislation. Tailoring an adequate legislative framework with clear objectives and regulations consistent with the available scientific evidence is fundamental for the effective conservation of marine endangered and threatened species. This paper analyzes the legal framework and current institutional tools for the conservation of marine endangered and threatened species in the Russian Federation. In this regard, important legislative tools include federal laws, as well as internationally binding signed agreements, among others, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar). A strategy and an action plan for the conservation of biological diversity were also developed. Besides, the most important tool for the conservation and protection of marine endangered and threatened species is the Red Book of the Russian Federation (RBRF) and other regional Red Books. Responsibility for causing harm to the species listed in the RBRF and their habitat is specified in the code of administrative offenses and the criminal code of the Russian Federation. Finally, conclusions and identified gaps were highlighted in the last section, including, among other things, that legislation is still limited in how it takes the impacts of climate change into account. Such type of study is highly recommended, considering the relatively few number of papers dedicated to the study of the impact and/or implications of the conservation tools and strategies mentioned in this paper on the status of the marine endangered and threatened species.

Eagle deaths in Tasmania attributed to energy assets, with a precautionary appeal to future development

The Tasmanian subspecies of the Wedge-tailed Eagle <em>Aquila audax fleayi</em> is listed as Endangered under both federal and state threatened species legislation, with an estimated population of <1000 individuals, and ongoing threats. The species is vulnerable to injury and mortality from wind-power infrastructure. The same is true of the similarly sized White-bellied Sea-Eagle <em>Haliaeetus leucogaster</em>, which is listed as Vulnerable under Tasmanian threatened species legislation. This paper summarises research undertaken on the number of documented Tasmanian eagle deaths and injuries from energy assets in the period 2010–2022. Information about eagle deaths and injuries is not readily available nor readily made available. Hence, the information comes from searching primary sources such as annual reports. I provide evidence of 272 individual Wedge-tailed Eagles injured or killed plus 49 White-bellied Sea-Eagles. In addition to the 321 reported cases of eagle deaths and injuries, it is likely that unrecorded casualties are higher since most are recorded anecdotally and are not the result of systematic survey.

Resolution of a 35-year taxonomic dilemma: Eucalyptus sp. Howes Swamp Creek (Myrtaceae) from eastern Wollemi National Park, New South Wales

The identity of a population of eucalypts from Howes Swamp Creek in the eastern part of Wollemi National Park in New South Wales has remained unresolved for over 35 years. Despite several workers inspecting both the site and the trees growing there over this period, little consensus has been achieved on its taxonomic status. Various suggestions have been made that the entity was a new species with affinities to Eucalyptus dalrympleana, E. viminalis or E. bridgesiana, and at one time the unpublished manuscript name E. ‘wollemiensis’ was used. Because of the perceived small population size and threats posed by wildfire and other factors, the entity phrase name E. sp. Howes Swamp Creek (M.Doherty 26) was listed as an endangered taxon in both Commonwealth and State threatened species legislation. Our investigations over the last few years, involving field, seedling, and herbarium studies, have determined the original reference specimen designated for the phrase name is E. bridgesiana, and that the population from which the specimen was gathered comprises a hybrid swarm of E. bridgesiana × E. viminalis. Both parent species are present at the site, although the former species is seemingly very rare there. We recommend that E. sp. Howes Swamp Creek be removed from threatened species legislation, and that the names E. sp. Howes Swamp Creek (M.Doherty 26) and E. ‘wollemiensis’ ms be considered nomenclatural synonyms of E. bridgesiana.

Do all fire ephemerals warrant listing under threatened species legislation?

Do all fire ephemerals warrant listing under threatened species legislation?

Counting plants: The extent and adequacy of monitoring for a continental-scale list of threatened plant species

Monitoring of threatened species is a critical part of conserving biodiversity. It is needed to understand population trajectories, threatening processes, and the type and effectiveness of management responses needed to ensure persistence and recovery. Characteristics of some plant species (e.g. immobility) should render them amenable to monitoring, whereas other characteristics (e.g. ephemeral life histories) will make plant monitoring challenging. We evaluated monitoring adequacy and extent for a large sample (839 taxa) of Australia's threatened plants (1336 taxa) and compared this assessment with a similar evaluation for threatened vertebrates. We found 37.2% of threatened plants are monitored, half the rate found for vertebrates. For monitored plants, monitoring quality as assessed using a set of nine criteria was generally low, similar to results for vertebrates. Plants with more imperilled conservation status were more likely to be monitored and tended to have higher quality monitoring. Plants with recovery plans were more likely to be monitored than those without. The likelihood a species was monitored decreased the longer a taxon had been listed under threatened species legislation. Monitoring longevity was poor but inclusion of demographic data and linkages to management were better than for vertebrates. Our assessment highlighted a lack of collated monitoring data for plants, and we recognise there are exemplary programs for threatened plants that can guide improvements in monitoring for other species. Plants are overwhelmingly represented in threatened species lists worldwide and a determined focus to improve the extent and quality of plant monitoring should underpin biodiversity conservation targets.

Biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef-how adequately is it protected?

BackgroundThe Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the world’s most iconic coral reef ecosystem, recognised internationally as a World Heritage Area of outstanding significance. Safeguarding the biodiversity of this universally important reef is a core legislative objective; however, ongoing cumulative impacts including widespread coral bleaching and other detrimental impacts have heightened conservation concerns for the future of the GBR.MethodsHere we review the literature to report on processes threatening species on the GBR, the status of marine biodiversity, and evaluate the extent of species-level monitoring and reporting. We assess how many species are listed as threatened at a global scale and explore whether these same species are protected under national threatened species legislation. We conclude this review by providing future directions for protecting potentially endangered elements of biodiversity within the GBR.ResultsMost of the threats identified to be harming the diversity of marine life on the GBR over the last two–three decades remain to be effectively addressed and many are worsening. The inherent resilience of this globally significant coral reef ecosystem has been seriously compromised and various elements of the biological diversity for which it is renowned may be at risk of silent extinction. We show at least 136 of the 12,000+ animal species known to occur on the GBR (approximately 20% of the 700 species assessed by the IUCN) occur in elevated categories of threat (Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable) at a global scale. Despite the wider background level of threat for these 136 species, only 23 of them are listed as threatened under regional or national legislation.DiscussionTo adequately protect the biodiversity values of the GBR, it may be necessary to conduct further targeted species-level monitoring and reporting to complement ecosystem management approaches. Conducting a vigorous value of information analysis would provide the opportunity to evaluate what new and targeted information is necessary to support dynamic management and to safeguard both species and the ecosystem as a whole. Such an analysis would help decision-makers determine if further comprehensive biodiversity surveys are needed, especially for those species recognised to be facing elevated background levels of threat. If further monitoring is undertaken, it will be important to ensure it aligns with and informs the GBRMPA Outlook five-year reporting schedule. The potential also exists to incorporate new environmental DNA technologies into routine monitoring to deliver high-resolution species data and identify indicator species that are cursors of specific disturbances. Unless more targeted action is taken to safeguard biodiversity, we may fail to pass onto future generations many of the values that comprise what is universally regarded as the world’s most iconic coral reef ecosystem.

Dealing with Cumulative Biodiversity Impacts in Strategic Environmental Assessment: A New Frontier for Conservation Planning

AbstractBiodiversity impact assessments under threatened species legislation often focus on individual development proposals at a single location, usually for a single species, leading to inadequate assessments of multiple impacts that accumulate over large spatial scales for multiple species. Regulations requiring ad‐hoc assessments can lead to “death by a thousand cuts,” where biodiversity is degraded by many small impacts that individually do not appear to threaten species’ persistence. Spatial prioritization methods can improve the efficiency of decision‐making by explicitly considering cumulative impacts of multiple proposed developments on multiple species over large spatial scales. We present an assessment approach and a unique case study in which spatial prioritization tools were used to support strategic assessment of a large development plan in Western Australia. The application of the approach helped identify relatively minor alterations to development plans that resulted in reductions in biodiversity impacts and informed expansion of the protected area network. Using these tools to assess trade‐offs between conservation and development will help identify planning footprints that minimize biodiversity losses.

New range and habitat records for threatened Australian sea snakes raise challenges for conservation

Hydrophiine (true) sea snakes are large predatory live-bearing marine reptiles. Australia is a biodiversity hotspot for true sea snakes with almost half of the ~70 extant species (including 11 endemics). Two Australian endemics, Aipysurus foliosquama and Aipysurus apraefrontalis, were listed as Critically Endangered (CR) under IUCN Red List (2010) criteria and Australia's Threatened Species Legislation (2011) due to their restricted geographic ranges being <10km2 (i.e. Ashmore and Hibernia Reefs, Timor Sea), from where they disappeared between 1998 and 2002. However, museum and anecdotal records suggested that these species might also occur in coastal locations of Western Australia (WA). We used intensive field surveys, habitat data, and molecular genetics to document the first unequivocal records of living A. foliosquama (n=16) and A. apraefrontalis (n=7) since they were listed as Critically Endangered, in coastal WA. Our data significantly increases the known geographic range and habitats of A. foliosquama, to include seagrass meadows in subtropical Shark Bay (latitudes 24.5°S to 26.6°S), which is 500km further south than any previous sighting. Most sea snakes were collected from demersal prawn trawl by-catch surveys, indicating that these species are vulnerable to demersal trawl gear. Nonetheless, the disappearance of these two species from Ashmore Reef (which coincided with extirpations of at least three other sea snake species) could not be attributed to trawling and remain unexplained. Key threatening processes will need to be identified if effective conservation strategies are to be implemented to protect these newly discovered coastal populations of two Critically Endangered species.

Survey of the land snail fauna (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) of Mount Kaputar National Park in northern inland New South Wales, Australia, including a description of the listing of Australia's first legally recognised endangered land snail community

Mount Kaputar is an isolated high-elevation mesic refuge on the dry inland western slopes of eastern Australia's Great Dividing Range. A field survey in Mount Kaputar National Park in 2007–2014, and collation of existing information, identified a native land snail fauna of 24 species (seven families), including nine endemic taxa and another two occurring as disjunct populations. Additional species probably remain to be identified. Two introduced species of agriolimacid slugs were also recorded. Information from this study was the basis of the successful listing of an endangered land snail community at Mount Kaputar under state threatened species legislation in 2013; the first legal listing of an endangered land snail community in Australia. The recognition of endangered communities is a useful intermediate scale between the extremes of the single-species and broad-landscape conservation approaches, and has significant potential for multi-species conservation initiatives for terrestrial gastropods. Anthropogenic climate change is the most significant threat to this community, with a 100 m rise in environmental envelope likely to reduce the available area of habitat by over 50%. This community, and, in particular, a bright pink endemic athoracophorid slug, is contributing to raising public awareness of the threat to global biodiversity from anthropogenic climate change.

Incorporating detectability of threatened species into environmental impact assessment.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a key mechanism for protecting threatened plant and animal species. Many species are not perfectly detectable and, even when present, may remain undetected during EIA surveys, increasing the risk of site-level loss or extinction of species. Numerous methods now exist for estimating detectability of plants and animals. Despite this, regulations concerning survey protocol and effort during EIAs fail to adequately address issues of detectability. Probability of detection is intrinsically linked to survey effort; thus, minimum survey effort requirements are a useful way to address the risks of false absences. We utilized 2 methods for determining appropriate survey effort requirements during EIA surveys. One method determined the survey effort required to achieve a probability of detection of 0.95 when the species is present. The second method estimated the survey effort required to either detect the species or reduce the probability of presence to 0.05. We applied these methods to Pimelea spinscens subsp. spinescens, a critically endangered grassland plant species in Melbourne, Australia. We detected P. spinescens in only half of the surveys undertaken at sites where it was known to exist. Estimates of the survey effort required to detect the species or demonstrate its absence with any confidence were much higher than the effort traditionally invested in EIA surveys for this species. We argue that minimum survey requirements be established for all species listed under threatened species legislation and hope that our findings will provide an impetus for collecting, compiling, and synthesizing quantitative detectability estimates for a broad range of plant and animal species.

The precautionary principle, uncertainty and the Noah’s Ark problem

Multiple biodiversity objectives have been proposed in conservation planning and economics for the Noah’s Ark problem – the problem of allocating limited funds to conservation projects – including species richness, persistence, taxonomic diversity, representativeness, the charismatic value of species, the broader concept of direct utility and ecological importance. However, these objectives are incommensurable and there is little consensus about which objective should be pursued, given the current state of nature. In economics, this is perhaps because the commensurability problem can be solved by converting all biodiversity objectives to monetary values. Yet, even here, a commensurability problem exists because fundamental uncertainty about species interactions means that ecological values cannot be represented in economic terms. Thus, maximising biodiversity value, combined as it is with a rational decision-making framework and assumed known probabilities of survival, can undermine the very values being pursued. This is especially the case when climate change is a current and future state of nature. Climate change adds additional complexity and fundamental uncertainties to the survival probabilities, the future value of species, the interactions among species and the probability of success of conservation projects. The associated incomplete information can lead decision makers to risky decisions under the current approach. Instead, under such conditions, the precautionary principle is appropriate. This leads to a broad conservation strategy of minimising the maximum regret and, when applied to the Noah’s Ark problem, an objective of ecosystem resilience or functional diversity rather than an objective based on economic values. The paper therefore provides an economic justification for focussing conservation resources and threatened species legislation on the resilience of ecosystems.

Trends and biases in the listing and recovery planning for threatened species: an Australian case study

AbstractMany countries rely on formal legislation to protect and plan for the recovery of threatened species. Even though the listing procedures in threatened species legislation are designed to be consistent for all species there is usually a bias in implementing the laws towards charismatic fauna and flora, which leads to uneven allocation of conservation efforts. However, the extent of bias in national threatened species lists is often unknown. Australia is a good example: the list of threatened species under the Environmental Protection and Biological Conservation Act has not been reviewed since 2000, when it was first introduced. We assessed how well this Act represents threatened species across taxonomic groups and threat status, and whether biases exist in the types of species with recovery plans. We found that birds, amphibians and mammals have high levels of threatened species (12–24%) but &lt; 6% of all reptiles and plants and &lt; 0.01% of invertebrates and fish are considered threatened. Similar taxonomic biases are present in the types of species with recovery plans. Although there have been recent improvements in the representation of threatened species with recovery plans across taxonomic groups, there are still major gaps between the predicted and listed numbers of threatened species. Because of biases in the listing and recovery planning processes many threatened species may receive little attention regardless of their potential for recovery: a lost opportunity to achieve the greatest conservation impact possible. The Environmental Protection and Biological Conservation Act in Australia needs reform to rectify these biases.

New Zealand lacks comprehensive threatened species legislation ? comparison with legislation in Australia and the USA

New Zealand lacks dedicated threatened species legislation which is hindering the effective recovery of the country?s threatened species. Few of New Zealand?s recorded threatened species receive active management. New Zealand is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot which has undergone widespread anthropogenic change in a relatively short time. Using its own threat classification system based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, but modified to suit the island characteristics of its biota, New Zealand has identified 2,788 species and subspecies within 14 taxonomic groups that are threatened with extinction. However, this level of awareness of the threatened state of New Zealand?s biota is not supported by comprehensive threatened species legislation. We reviewed New Zealand?s current legislation for the management and recovery of threatened species and made a comparison with the US Endangered Species Act 1973 (ESA1973) and the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 (EPBC1999). We argue that New Zealand needs to develop similar legislation to the ESA1973 and EPBC1999 to enable an integrated and legally accountable approach to the management and recovery of threatened species. A strength of the ESA1973 and EPBC1999 is that species that have been assessed to be threatened with extinction are listed on a central government register with a legal mandate for the production of recovery plans. A weakness of both acts is that species can languish on these lists without effective recovery actions. Although not always implemented, both acts have the provision for the protection and conservation of critical habitat.

The role of floristic survey data and quantitative analysis in identification and description of ecological communities under threatened species legislation: A case study from north‐eastern New South Wales

Summary The concept of ecological communities play an important role in conservation planning and natural resource management. However, inherent uncertainties in the definition and identification of individual communities make it difficult to assess whether particular communities are present on particular sites and how they may be affected by proposed developments or management actions. If communities are poorly defined or misidentified, they may not perform their intended role as effective representations of biodiversity. We use a case study of forest communities dominated by Brown Barrel (Eucalyptus fastigata) in north‐eastern New South Wales to demonstrate the value of quantitative floristic survey data for resolving robust and effective classifications of communities. Numerical analyses of an extensive set of floristic data suggested a re‐configuration of a prior classification based largely on subjective interpretation. Although the general existence of assemblages dominated by Brown Barrel was confirmed, the new classification replaced three prior units with two assemblages that were more robust and better reflected the overall patterns in species composition. As only one of the two assemblages potentially warranted threatened status, the new classification allows scarce conservation resources to be targeted where they are most needed. The quantitative survey data also enabled a more detailed floristic description of the assemblages and provided a basis for maps of point locations and modelled habitat. These maps identified previously undocumented occurrences of the communities and helped to assess their extent of decline since European settlement. Improving the coverage of quadrat‐based floristic sampling is therefore a valuable and cost‐effective investment to inform better management of native vegetation and biodiversity.

Going with the flow? Threatened species management and legislation in the face of climate change

Summary The potential impacts of climate change on threatened species, populations and communities are considered. It is suggested that minor changes to legislation will be required to address the consequences of movement of threatened species but that threatened species legislation will remain relevant as an important tool for prioritizing conservation actions. The importance of taking proactive steps now to permit future movement of species and communities across fragmented landscapes is emphasized.

Implications of changing species definitions for conservation purposes

AbstractConcern has been expressed that failure to adopt phylogenetic or related species concepts will result in biodiversity loss. Here we describe how widespread adoption of such concepts may affect conservation administration and the social contract with elected governments that fund management of threatened species. We then review threatened species legislation, showing that most laws and international conventions avoid arguments over species' definitions altogether, thus negating arguments that such definitions should be changed to further species' conservation.

South Africa's threatened species legislation: What stands between our plants and extinction?

South Africa's threatened species legislation: What stands between our plants and extinction?

Threatened species listing as a trigger for conservation action

Legislative listing schemes, under which the listing of a species as threatened automatically triggers command regulation and/or recovery planning, raise significant issues for policy makers. In this paper, we explore strategies for factoring considerations beyond the empirical assessment of a species’ conservation status into the resource allocation decisions that flow from listing. Even in threatened species legislation that appears to prioritise species conservation over socio-economic considerations by creating an automatic nexus between listing and conservation response, there are significant pressure valves that allow the latter to exercise a significant influence on decisions in practice. We critically examine two other techniques currently used in legislation that allow a broader range of considerations to be factored into resource allocation decisions: abandoning the automatic triggering of resource allocation by listing; and taking into account a broader range of considerations in the listing decision itself. We conclude by outlining the framework for a strategic approach to the allocation of conservation resources. This has three limbs to it: recovery plans that identify what needs to be done to bring about recovery, in addition to what available resources will allow us to do; a system for prioritising between the implementation of recovery plans; and the integration of threatened species conservation into strategic land use planning processes.

Threatened species legislation: is it just an Act?

This volume contains the proceedings of a forum held by the Royal Zoological Society of NSW in October 2003 on the topic of threatened species legislation, with particular reference to the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. The papers are divided into the three general areas of ?The wider context?, ?NSW legislation?, and ?Implementation issues: consequences, difficulties, opportunities?, and there is also an edited transcript of the plenary session held at the forum.

Loss of habitat through inundation and the conservation status of two endemic Tasmanian Syncarid crustaceans: Allanaspides hickmani and A. helonomus

Extant representatives of the ancient crustacean family Anaspididae are restricted to the island State of Tasmania, Australia. Allanaspides hickmani and Allanaspides helonomus were first described in the early 1970s from surface pools in buttongrass moorland in two adjacent watersheds in south-west Tasmania. Both of these catchments have since been inundated for hydroelectric power generation (Lake Gordon and Serpentine Impoundments). Surveys indicate that both species persist in a small number of highly fragmented populations on the margins of the two impoundments. A. hickmani and A. helonomus have extant Areas of Occupancy of c. 21 and 54 km2, respectively. We estimate that inundation resulted in the loss of 85–94% of the original range of A. hickmani and c. 78% of the original range of A. helonomus. Under IUCN Red List guidelines and National threatened species legislation A. hickmani but not A. helonomus may qualify for listing as Vulnerable (Area of Occupancy &lt;20 km2). At the present time only A. hickmani is listed as Rare under Tasmanian (State) threatened species legislation but A. helonomus merits the same listing under State legislation. Global warming appears to pose the most significant potential threat to Allanaspides species.