Rodrigues et al., 2006 - the value of the IUCN redlist for conservation

Question 1

What does the IUCN red list do?

Answer 1

• most comprehensive resource detailing the global conservation status of plants and animal
• highlights species that are at the greatest risk of extinction and promotes their conservation by ‘concentrating minds on true priorities’

Question 2

How are IUCN red list species assessed?

Answer 2

• compilation of a rapidly increasing number of digital distribution maps of species
  e. g. all threatened birds and amphibians
• data-driven and objective criteria for estimating extinction risk (last 20 years or so)
• clear & comprehensive
• flexible enough to handle uncertainty
• plus guidelines for assessors to improve quality and consistency of assignations
• species assessments are compiled from published and unpublished information
• typically include expert input from assessor(s)
• peer reviewed by two expert evaluators

Question 3

What are the categories of the IUCN red list?

Answer 3

• Extinct (EX)
• Extinct in the Wild (EW)
• Critically Endangered (CR)
• Endangered (EN)
• Vulnerable (VU)
• Near Threatened (NT)
• Least Concern (LC)
• data deficient (DD)
• not evaluated (NE)

Question 4

How is the IUCN red list biased?

Answer 4

• highly biased to well known species
• result of biases in biological knowledge its based on
• becoming more representative
• geographically, taxonomically, ecologically

Question 5

How can the IUCN red list inform conservation efforts?

Answer 5

• assessments also produce a series of recommendations for conservation action
  e. g. 5500 key actions identified for 1186 globally threatened birds during 2000
• recommended conservation measures address threats affecting each species
  e. g. fisheries management for marine species threatened by overfishing
  e. g. captive breeding to provide insurance populations for amphibians threatened by amphibian chytrid fungus
• habitat lost/degradation most common threat
• identifies sites for conservation action priority
• vulnerability and irreplaceability

Question 6

What are limitations of the IUCN red list?

Answer 6

specificL

• less than 2% known species evaluated
• capacity and funding need boosting
• rigour of the process needs increasing

also limited by general problems facing organismal biologyL

• unstable application of species concepts
• lack of knowledge of most species