Quantification of Extinction Risk: IUCN's System for Classifying Threatened Species

Abstract

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species was increasingly used during the 1980s to assess the conservation status of species for policy and planning purposes. This use stimulated the development of a new set of quantitative criteria for listing species in the

Temporal patterns of genetic diversity in Kirtland’s warblers (Dendroica kirtlandii), the rarest songbird in North America

“…The N e is often an important parameter for endangered species management and policy [28]. The utility of our N e estimates for evaluating the short-term genetic status of the Kirtland’s warblers depends on the accuracy and precision of our contemporary N e estimates Simulations suggest that it is difficult to obtain a precise estimate of N e when the true N e is >400 because at those sizes of N e , sampling error is large compared to the strength of the drift induced shifts in heterozygosity and linkage disequilibrium [21,29].…”

Evolution of mammalian migrations for refuge, breeding, and food

“…It has been suggested that migrants have more specialized diets than nonmigrants (e.g., diet specialization hypothesis; Boyle, Conway, & Bronstein, 2011). We expect migrants to have narrower diet breadth than nonmigrants, especially for tracking migrants, which follow specific resources rather than using alternative ones in a single place.Red List—Threat assessment categorization according to the IUCN Red List (Mace et al., 2008). We ran our analyses with the Red List category coded in two ways.…”

National and subnational Red Lists in European and Mediterranean countries: current state and use for conservation

“…Some taxa, such as non-vascular plants and most invertebrates, were underrepresented in N RLTSs and SRLTSs (Köppel et al 2003, Zamin et al 2010), leading to a corresponding bias in conservation policies (Mace et al 2008, Martín-López et al 2011. While the focus is on species for which data is available, the lack of currently available data may conceal greater threats to other species (McKinney 1999).…”

“…National and subnational actors mainly use RLTSs for prioritizing species for protection. Nevertheless, a confusion persists between risk of extinction and conservation priorities or rarity (Miller et al 2007, Fitzpatrick et al 2007, Mace et al 2008) that can affect RLTS efficiency and constrain support from policymakers (Possingham et al 2002, Lamoreux et al 2003. As a prioritization tool, RLTSs must be associated with other factors such as national responsibility and opportunities for action (Keller & Bollmann 2004, Rodríguez et al 2004, Schatz et al 2014, Schmeller et al 2014.…”

“…The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (RLTS) is the most comprehensive source of information on species conservation status and threats (Lamoreux et al 2003, De Grammont & Cuarón 2006, Mace et al 2008, IUCN 2014b. It is used to inform the general public on species' conservation status, monitor the state of bio diversity, advise policies and programs, identify prio rity sites and species for conservation and orient scientific research (Rodrigues et al 2006, IUCN 2011).…”