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IUCN Red List
Inventory of the global conservation status of biological species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, established in 1964, is a global inventory assessing the conservation status and extinction risk of biological species. It includes Regional Red Lists that evaluate species within specific political areas. The Red List aims to provide scientific data to highlight threatened biodiversity, guide conservation actions, and influence policies. Key contributors include BirdLife International and the Institute of Zoology. Species assessments are peer-reviewed and updated regularly by expert groups. As of 2023, out of 150,388 species assessed, over 42,000 face threats from human activities like overfishing, hunting, and land development.

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History

The idea for a Red Data Book was suggested by Peter Scott in 1963.7

1966–1977 Red Data Lists

Initially the Red Data Lists were designed for specialists and were issued in a loose-leaf format that could be easily changed.

The first two volumes of Red Lists were published in 1966 by conservationist Noel Simon, one for mammals and one for birds.89

The third volume that appeared covered reptiles and amphibians. It was created by René E. Honegger in 1968.10

In 1970, the IUCN published volume 5 in this series. This was the first Red Data List which focused on plants (angiosperms only), compiled by Ronald Melville.11

The final volume created in the loose leaf style was volume 4 on freshwater fishes. This was published in 1979 by Robert Rush Miller.12

1969 Red Data Book

The first attempt to create a Red Data Book for a nonspecialist public came in 1969 with The Red Book: Wildlife in Danger.13 This book covered varies groups but was predominantly about mammals and birds, with smaller sections on reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and plants.

2006 release

The 2006 Red List, released on 4 May 2006 evaluated 40,168 species as a whole, plus an additional 2,160 subspecies, varieties, aquatic stocks, and subpopulations.14

2007 release

On 12 September 2007, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) released the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In this release, they have raised their classification of both the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) from endangered to critically endangered, which is the last category before extinct in the wild, due to Ebola virus and poaching, along with other factors. Russ Mittermeier, chief of Swiss-based IUCN's Primate Specialist Group, stated that 16,306 species are endangered with extinction, 188 more than in 2006 (total of 41,415 species on the Red List). The Red List includes the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) in the Critically Endangered category and the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Endangered category.15

2008 release

The 2008 Red List was released on 6 October 2008 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona and "confirmed an extinction crisis, with almost one in four [mammals] at risk of disappearing forever". The study shows at least 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth are known to be threatened with extinction, and 836 are listed as Data Deficient.16

2012 release

The Red List of 2012 was released 19 July 2012 at Rio+20 Earth Summit;17 nearly 2,000 species were added,18 with 4 species to the extinct list, 2 to the rediscovered list.19 The IUCN assessed a total of 63,837 species which revealed 19,817 are threatened with extinction.20 3,947 were described as "critically endangered" and 5,766 as "endangered", while more than 10,000 species are listed as "vulnerable".21 At threat are 41% of amphibian species, 33% of reef-building corals, 30% of conifers, 25% of mammals, and 13% of birds.22 The IUCN Red List has listed 132 species of plants and animals from India as "Critically Endangered".23

Categories

Species are classified by the IUCN Red List into nine groups,24 specified through criteria such as rate of decline, population size, area of geographic distribution, and degree of population and distribution fragmentation.25 There is an emphasis on the acceptability of applying any criteria in the absence of high quality data including suspicion and potential future threats, "so long as these can reasonably be supported".: 6 26

  • Extinct (EX) – beyond reasonable doubt that the species is no longer extant.
  • Extinct in the wild (EW) – survives only in captivity, cultivation and/or outside native range, as presumed after exhaustive surveys.
  • Critically endangered (CR) – in a particularly and extremely critical state.
  • Endangered (EN) – very high risk of extinction in the wild, meets any of criteria A to E for Endangered.
  • Vulnerable (VU) – meets one of the 5 Red List criteria and thus considered to be at high risk of unnatural (human-caused) extinction without further human intervention.
  • Near Threatened (NT) – close to being endangered in the near future.
  • Least Concern (LC) – widespread and abundant in the wild.
  • Data Deficient (DD) – inadequate information to assess extinction risk.
  • Not Evaluated (NE) – has not yet been assessed.

In the IUCN Red List, "threatened" embraces the categories of Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable.27

1994 categories and 2001 framework

The older 1994 list has only a single "Lower Risk" category which contained three subcategories:

In the 2001 framework, Near Threatened and Least Concern became their own categories, while Conservation Dependent was removed and its contents merged into Near Threatened.

Possibly extinct

The tag of "possibly extinct" (PE)28 is used by Birdlife International, the Red List Authority for birds for the IUCN Red List.29 BirdLife International has recommended PE become an official tag for Critically Endangered species, and this has now been adopted, along with a "Possibly Extinct in the Wild" tag for species with populations surviving in captivity but likely to be extinct in the wild.30

Versions

There have been a number of versions, dating from 1991, including:3132

  • Version 1.0 (1991)
  • Version 2.0 (1992)
  • Version 2.1 (1993)
  • Version 2.2 (1994)
  • Version 2.3 (1994)
  • Version 3.0 (1999)
  • Version 3.1 (2001)

All new IUCN assessments since 2001 have used version 3.1 of the categories and criteria.

Criticism

In 1997, the IUCN Red List received criticism on the grounds of secrecy (or at least poor documentation) surrounding the sources of its data.33 These allegations have led to efforts by the IUCN to improve its documentation and data quality, and to include peer reviews of taxa on the Red List.34 The list is also open to petitions against its classifications, on the basis of documentation or criteria.35

In the November 2002 issue of Trends in Ecology & Evolution, an article suggested that the IUCN Red List and similar works are prone to misuse by governments and other groups that draw possibly inappropriate conclusions on the state of the environment or to affect exploitation of natural resources.36

In the November 2016 issue of Science Advances, a research article claims there are serious inconsistencies in the way species are classified by the IUCN. The researchers contend that the IUCN's process of categorization is "out-dated, and leaves room for improvement", and further emphasize the importance of readily available and easy-to-include geospatial data, such as satellite and aerial imaging. Their conclusion questioned not only the IUCN's method but also the validity of where certain species fall on the List. They believe that combining geographical data can significantly increase the number of species that need to be reclassified to a higher risk category.37

See also

  • Ecology portal
  • Biology portal
  • World portal

Citations

General and cited references

Wikidata has the property:
  • IUCN taxon ID (P627) (see uses)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Species by IUCN Red List category.

References

  1. "Background & History". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 19 May 2021. https://www.iucnredlist.org/about/background-history ↩

  2. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), Joint Meeting of the Animals and Plants Committees, Shepherdstown (United States of America), 7–9 December 2000, Retrieved 14 November 2012. ↩

  3. "Overview of The IUCN Red List". IUCN Red List. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20140630010436/http://www.iucnredlist.org/about/overview#redlist_authorities ↩

  4. Lovejoy, Thomas E. (8 August 2017). "Extinction tsunami can be avoided". PNAS. 114 (32): 8840–8841. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.8440L. doi:10.1073/pnas.1711074114. PMC 5559057. PMID 28747527. /wiki/Thomas_Lovejoy ↩

  5. "Threatened species on the IUCN Red List". IUCN Red List. Retrieved 21 July 2023. https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-statistics#Summary%20Tables ↩

  6. Aguilera, Jasmine (18 July 2019). "Almost 30,000 Species Face Extinction Because of Human Activity". Time. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019. https://time.com/5629548/almost-30000-species-face-extinction-new-report ↩

  7. Fitter, Richard; Fitter, Maisie, eds. (1987). The Road to Extinction: Problems of Categorizing the Status of Taxa Threatened with Extinction. Gland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. ISBN 2880329299. 2880329299 ↩

  8. Simon, Noel (1966). Red Data Book. Volume 1. Mammalia, a compilation. International Union for the Conservation of Nature. ↩

  9. Simon, Noel (1966). Red Data Book. Volume 2. Aves. International Union for the Conservation of Nature. ↩

  10. Honegger, René (1968). Red Data Book. Volume 3. Amphibia & Reptilia. International Union for the Conservation of Nature. ↩

  11. Melville, Ronald (1970). Red Data Book. Volume 5. Angiospermae, a compilation. International Union for the Conservation of Nature. ↩

  12. Miller, Robert (1979). Red Data Book. Volume 4. Pisces: freshwater fishes. International Union for the Conservation of Nature. ↩

  13. Fisher, James; Simon, Noel; Vincent, Jack (1969). The Red Book: Wildlife in Danger. Collins. ↩

  14. IUCN (2006). Release of the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species reveals ongoing decline of the status of plants and animals (PDF). IUCN News Release. https://www.uicnmed.org/web2007/documentos/press_release_red_list.pdf ↩

  15. "Extinction crisis escalates: Red List shows apes, corals, vultures, dolphins all in danger" (Press release). IUCN. 12 September 2007. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2019. https://www.iucn.org/content/extinction-crisis-escalates-red-list-shows-apes-corals-vultures-dolphins-all-danger ↩

  16. "IUCN Red List reveals world's mammals in crisis" (Press release). IUCN. 6 October 2008. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008. https://www.iucn.org/content/iucn-red-list-reveals-worlds-mammals-crisis ↩

  17. Matthew Knight (19 June 2012). "Extinction threat 'a call to world leaders' at Rio Earth Summit". CNN. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2018. https://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/19/world/rio-red-list-extinction-species/index.html ↩

  18. Jessica Phelan (19 June 2012). "IUCN Red List update: Nearly 2,000 species added". www.pri.org. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018. https://www.pri.org/stories/2012-06-19/iucn-red-list-update-nearly-2000-species-added ↩

  19. "IUCN 2012 update – 4 species extinct – 2 rediscovered – Food security waning". wildlifeextra.com. 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042748/http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/iucn-2012.html ↩

  20. James Ayre (20 June 2012). "The Red List Of Threatened Species, Annual Report Released". planetsave.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2018. http://planetsave.com/2012/06/20/the-red-list-of-threatened-species-annual-report-released-video/ ↩

  21. The list is queryable at: "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 March 2020. https://www.iucnredlist.org/en ↩

  22. James Ayre (20 June 2012). "The Red List Of Threatened Species, Annual Report Released". planetsave.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2018. http://planetsave.com/2012/06/20/the-red-list-of-threatened-species-annual-report-released-video/ ↩

  23. K.S. Sudhi (21 June 2012). "Red list has 132 species of plants, animals from India". thehindu.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2018. http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article3551664.ece?homepage=true ↩

  24. Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (PDF), Version 13, IUCN, March 2017, archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2018, retrieved 4 January 2018 http://cmsdocs.s3.amazonaws.com/RedListGuidelines.pdf ↩

  25. Mace, Georgina M.; Collar, Nigel J.; Gaston, Kevin J.; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Akçakaya, H. Resit; Leader-Williams, Nigel; Milner-Gulland, E.J.; Stuart, Simon N. (December 2008). "Quantification of Extinction Risk: IUCN's System for Classifying Threatened Species". Conservation Biology. 22 (6): 1424–1442. Bibcode:2008ConBi..22.1424M. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01044.x. PMID 18847444. S2CID 37234648. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1523-1739.2008.01044.x ↩

  26. "IUCN RED LIST CATEGORIES AND CRITERIA Version 3.1 Second edition" (PDF). 2012 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/RL-2001-001-2nd.pdf ↩

  27. Mace, Georgina M.; Collar, Nigel J.; Gaston, Kevin J.; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Akçakaya, H. Resit; Leader-Williams, Nigel; Milner-Gulland, E.J.; Stuart, Simon N. (December 2008). "Quantification of Extinction Risk: IUCN's System for Classifying Threatened Species". Conservation Biology. 22 (6): 1424–1442. Bibcode:2008ConBi..22.1424M. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01044.x. PMID 18847444. S2CID 37234648. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1523-1739.2008.01044.x ↩

  28. Butchart, S. H. M.; Stattersfield, A. J.; Brooks, Thomas M. (5 June 2006). Kirwan, Guy M. (ed.). "Going or gone: defining 'Possibly Extinct' species to give a truer picture of recent extinctions". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 126A: 7–24 – via the Biodiversity Heritage Library. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/131321#page/8/mode/1up ↩

  29. "Birds on the IUCN Red List". BirdLife International. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20131014153403/http://www.birdlife.org/action/science/species/global_species_programme/red_list.html ↩

  30. "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Summary Statistics". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Summary Statistics. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024. https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-statistics#:~:text=The%20tags%20'Possibly%20Extinct'%20(,for%20which%20confirmation%20is%20required. ↩

  31. "2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1)". IUCN. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140627094911/http://www.iucnredlist.org//static/categories_criteria_3_1#introduction ↩

  32. "Historical IUCN Red Data Books and Red Lists". IUCN. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20140627094911/http://www.iucnredlist.org//about/publication/historical-red-lists#red_lists ↩

  33. Mrosovsky, Nicholas (October 1997). "IUCN's credibility critically endangered". Nature. 389 (6650): 436. Bibcode:1997Natur.389..436M. doi:10.1038/38873. S2CID 4389685. https://doi.org/10.1038%2F38873 ↩

  34. Mace, Georgina M.; Collar, Nigel J.; Gaston, Kevin J.; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Akçakaya, H. Resit; Leader-Williams, Nigel; Milner-Gulland, E.J.; Stuart, Simon N. (December 2008). "Quantification of Extinction Risk: IUCN's System for Classifying Threatened Species". Conservation Biology. 22 (6): 1424–1442. Bibcode:2008ConBi..22.1424M. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01044.x. PMID 18847444. S2CID 37234648. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1523-1739.2008.01044.x ↩

  35. "Information Sources & Quality". IUCN Red List. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080917154041/http://www.iucnredlist.org/info/info_sources_quality ↩

  36. Possingham, Hugh P.; Andelman, Sandy J.; Burgman, Mark A.; Medellı́n, Rodrigo A.; Master, Larry L.; Keith, David A. (November 2002). "Limits to the use of threatened species lists". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 17 (11): 503–507. Bibcode:2002TEcoE..17..503P. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.467.6031. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(02)02614-9. /wiki/Hugh_Possingham ↩

  37. Stocks, Sam (10 November 2016). "New study claims that the IUCN Red List is inaccurate". Discover Wildlife. Retrieved 24 April 2022. https://www.discoverwildlife.com/news/new-study-claims-that-the-iucn-red-list-is-inaccurate/ ↩