<div dir="ltr">FYI...The IUCN has launched its IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Website at: <a href="http://www.iucnredlistofecosystems.org/">http://www.iucnredlistofecosystems.org/</a><div><div><br></div><div>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). </div>
<div><div><br clear="all"><div><div>Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.</div><div>Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife Service-International Affairs</div><div>Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance</div>
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<div><br></div><div><div><p>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. </p></div></div><div>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. <a href="http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/cem/cem_work/tg_red_list/">http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/cem/cem_work/tg_red_list/</a><br>
</div><div><br></div><div><h1 class=""><span class="">Establishing IUCN Red List Criteria for Threatened
Ecosystems (2011)</span></h1><h1 class=""><span style="font-size:small;font-weight:normal"><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01598.x/full">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01598.x/full</a></span></h1>
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<p><i><b>Abstract: </b>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.</i></p></div></div><div><h1 href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" rel="dc:type">Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (2013) </h1></div><div>
<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0062111">http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0062111</a></div><div><div class=""><a id="article1.front1.article-meta1.abstract1.p1" name="article1.front1.article-meta1.abstract1.p1"></a>
<p><b>Abstract: </b>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.</p><p><strong>Citation: </strong>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<br></p></div></div>
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