[PCA] Assessing the risk of ecosystem collapse - IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Website

[De Angelis, Patricia]

FYI...The IUCN has launched its IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Website at:
http://www.iucnredlistofecosystems.org/

Background and news links below. The 2013 article below discusses 20 case
studies, including marine ecosystems such as the Giant Kelp Forests in
Alaska (classified as Endangered-Critically Endangered) and terrestrial
ecosystems like the Great Lakes Alvar (Vulnerable-Endangered).

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
Service-International Affairs
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276

Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>

Follow International Affairs
> on Twitter  http://twitter.com/USFWSInternatl
> on Facebook   http://www.facebook.com/USFWS_InternationalAffairs

-----------------------------------------------

The IUCN Red List of Ecosystem compiles information on the state of the
world’s ecosystems at different geographic scales. Its central objective is
to assess the risk of ecosystem collapse.
The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Thematic Group has been developing a
framework for assessing ecosystems in an manner similar to the species Red
List assessments.
http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/cem/cem_work/tg_red_list/

Establishing IUCN Red List Criteria for Threatened Ecosystems (2011)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01598.x/full

*Abstract: The potential for conservation of individual species has been
greatly advanced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's
(IUCN) development of objective, repeatable, and transparent criteria for
assessing extinction risk that explicitly separate risk assessment from
priority setting. At the IV World Conservation Congress in 2008, the
process began to develop and implement comparable global standards for
ecosystems. A working group established by the IUCN has begun formulating a
system of quantitative categories and criteria, analogous to those used for
species, for assigning levels of threat to ecosystems at local, regional,
and global levels. A final system will require definitions of ecosystems;
quantification of ecosystem status; identification of the stages of
degradation and loss of ecosystems; proxy measures of risk (criteria);
classification thresholds for these criteria; and standardized methods for
performing assessments. The system will need to reflect the degree and rate
of change in an ecosystem's extent, composition, structure, and function,
and have its conceptual roots in ecological theory and empirical research.
On the basis of these requirements and the hypothesis that ecosystem risk
is a function of the risk of its component species, we propose a set of
four criteria: recent declines in distribution or ecological function,
historical total loss in distribution or ecological function, small
distribution combined with decline, or very small distribution. Most work
has focused on terrestrial ecosystems, but comparable thresholds and
criteria for freshwater and marine ecosystems are also needed. These are
the first steps in an international consultation process that will lead to
a unified proposal to be presented at the next World Conservation Congress
in 2012.*
Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (2013)
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0062111

*Abstract: *An understanding of risks to biodiversity is needed for
planning action to slow current rates of decline and secure ecosystem
services for future human use. Although the IUCN Red List criteria provide
an effective assessment protocol for species, a standard global assessment
of risks to higher levels of biodiversity is currently limited. In 2008,
IUCN initiated development of risk assessment criteria to support a global
Red List of ecosystems. We present a new conceptual model for ecosystem
risk assessment founded on a synthesis of relevant ecological theories. To
support the model, we review key elements of ecosystem definition and
introduce the concept of ecosystem collapse, an analogue of species
extinction. The model identifies four distributional and functional
symptoms of ecosystem risk as a basis for assessment criteria: A) rates of
decline in ecosystem distribution; B) restricted distributions with
continuing declines or threats; C) rates of environmental (abiotic)
degradation; and D) rates of disruption to biotic processes. A fifth
criterion, E) quantitative estimates of the risk of ecosystem collapse,
enables integrated assessment of multiple processes and provides a
conceptual anchor for the other criteria. We present the theoretical
rationale for the construction and interpretation of each criterion. The
assessment protocol and threat categories mirror those of the IUCN Red List
of species. A trial of the protocol on terrestrial, subterranean,
freshwater and marine ecosystems from around the world shows that its
concepts are workable and its outcomes are robust, that required data are
available, and that results are consistent with assessments carried out by
local experts and authorities. The new protocol provides a consistent,
practical and theoretically grounded framework for establishing a
systematic Red List of the world’s ecosystems. This will complement the Red
List of species and strengthen global capacity to report on and monitor the
status of biodiversity.

*Citation: *Keith DA, Rodríguez JP, Rodríguez-Clark KM, Nicholson E, Aapala
K, et al. (2013) Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems.
PLoS ONE 8(5): e62111. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062111
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/native-plants_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20131031/493bb02c/attachment.html>