Model of the assessment of the critical risk of extinction and the priorities of protection of endangered aquatic species at the national level

Abstract

In the period 1995-2006, the biodiversity of the aquatic habitats in the area of Serbia was explored, with the aim to identify the endangered species of macroalgae, macroinvertebratae and fishes. During the work a data base was formed (Aquatic Ecosystems Diversity in Serbia, AEDSer), containing the data from exploring the biodiversity of the aquatic ecosystems of Serbia since 1860. Based on the data base, classification of the aquatic species was made into categories of endangerment based on IUCN criteria. The following was noted: (1) the global IUCN category assigned to the species often is not identical with the national status of endangerment; and (2) the species that are given a category of endangerment at the national level do not have the same realistic risk of extinction in all their habitats. This remark imposed the need for a model for assessing the critical risk of extinction of the endangered species and determining the priorities of their protection at the national level. Two categories of characters were used to develop the model: the characters that determine the degree of ecological specialisation of the species based on the circumstances of habitat; and the characters suggesting the risk factors from the system: ''HIPPO'' in the spatial and time dimension. The possibility to apply the model was tested on 10 aquatic species belonging to different categories of endangerment at the national level (macroalgae 2, macroinvertebrates 7, and fishes 1 species). The model based on points determined the level of extinction risk and, that way, the species needing urgent conservation from the same or different categories of endangerment were isolated. The model suggested can contribute to a more efficient defining the conservation priorities.

Ecological characteristics and morphological-genetic differentiation in populations of European mudminnoow (Umbra krameri Walbaum, 1792) from Ba?ka, Ma?va and Semberija

“…U Srbiji crnka takođe ima status CR, uz ozbiljnu pretnju da pređe u kategoriju EW (engl. Extinct in the Wild) prema IUCN kriterijumima i kategorijama (Simić et al, 2007a).…”

“…Na isti način, negativan antropogeni faktor i fragmentisanost prirodnih staništa utiču na opstanak malih i izolovanih populacija crnke, koja je na ovim prostorima u takvom stepenu ugrožena da pripada vrstama koje će bez posebnih mera zaštite ubrzo iščeznuti, što ukazuje na ozbiljnost problema i na neophodnost preduzimanja odgovarajućih aktivnih mera zaštite. Iako crnka na globalnom nivou ima status ranjive vrste -Vulnerable A2c (Freyhof, 2011;Freyhof & Brooks, 2011), na nacionalnom nivou predstavlja krajnje ugrožen takson -CR (Simić et al, 2007a).…”

Conservation strategy for the endangered crayfish species of the family Astacidae: the ESHIPPO crayfish model

“…These risk priorities on a global and local level are also the criteria prescribed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN 1994(IUCN , 2001. Although a local level assessment is often different from a global one, it may impact in the global species conservation (Gärdenfors et al 1999;Rodriguez et al 2000;Gärdenfors, 2001;Keller et al 2005;Simić et al 2007;Mace et al 2008;Klobučar et al 2013). For example, if the status of the population of an endangered species declines more rapidly than expected by the IUCN, as seen in Rocha et al (2013), it could reduce the effectiveness of standing conservation efforts.…”

New Finding of SpeciesHildenbrandia Rivularis(Liebmann) J. Agardh 1851 (Rhodophyta) in Serbia

“…Up to now on the territory of Serbia species from 6 genera have been recorded (Bangia lyngbye., Chantransia (Dc) Fries., Batrachospermum Roth, Lemanea Bory, Paralemanea Vis and Sheath, and Thorea Bory (6,28,29,30). Species from the genera Hildenbradia nardo have not been found in Serbia.…”