New Zealand Threat Classification System
The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand.[1]
The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some shortcomings for the unique requirements of conservation ranking in New Zealand. As of 2011,[update] plants, animals, and fungi are evaluated, though the lattermost has yet to be published.[2] Algae were assessed in 2005 but not reassessed since.[2] Other protists have not been evaluated.[2]
Categories
[edit]
Species that are ranked are assigned categories:[3]
- Threatened
- This category has three major divisions:
- Nationally Critical - equivalent to the IUCN category of Critically endangered
- Nationally Endangered - equivalent to the IUCN category of Endangered
- Nationally Vulnerable - equivalent to the IUCN category of Vulnerable
- At Risk
- This has four categories:
- Declining
- Recovering
- Relict
- Naturally Uncommon
Other categories
[edit]- Introduced and Naturalised
- These are any species that are deliberately or accidentally introduced into New Zealand.
- Migrant
- Migrant species are those that visit New Zealand as part of their life cycle.
- Vagrant
- Vagrants are taxa that are rare in New Zealand that have made their own way and do not breed successfully.
- Coloniser
- These taxa have arrived in New Zealand without human help and reproduce successfully.
- Data Deficient
- This category lists taxa for which insufficient information is available to make as assessment on conservation status.
- Extinct
- Taxa for which there is no reasonable doubt that no individuals exist are ranked as extinct. For these lists only species that have become extinct since 1840 are listed.
- Not Threatened
- If taxa fit into none of the other categories they are listed in the Not Threatened category.
Qualifiers
[edit]A series of qualifiers are used to give additional information on the threat classification:[1][3]
| Qualifier | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
| CD | Conservation Dependent | Likely to move to a higher threat category if current management ceases |
| DP | Data Poor | Confidence in the listing is low due to the poor data available for assessment |
| De | Designated | The criteria does not completely apply to the taxa |
| EW | Extinct in the Wild | Exists only in cultivation or in captivity |
| EF | Extreme Fluctuations | Extreme unnatural population fluctuations, or natural fluctuations overlaying human-induced declines, that increase the threat of extinction |
| Inc | Increasing | Population thought to increase 10% over 3 generations or 10 years |
| IE | Island Endemic | Endemic only to a single archipelago and not the main islands |
| OL | One Location | Found at one location (geographically or ecologically distinct area) in which a single event (such as a predator irruption) could soon affect all individuals of the taxon |
| PD | Partial Decline | Taxa has one or more secure populations but otherwise is declining |
| RR | Range Restricted | taxa confined to less than 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi) |
| RF | Recruitment Failure | Current population may appear stable but the age structure is such that catastrophic declines are likely in the future |
| SO | Secure Overseas | Secure in other parts of its natural range outside New Zealand |
| Sp | Sparse | Taxa in small, scattered populations |
| ST | Stable | Total population stable |
| TO | Threatened Overseas | Threatened in those parts of its natural range outside New Zealand |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Molloy, Janice; Bell, B.; Clout, M.; de Lange, P.; Gibbs, G.; Given, D.; Norton, D.; Smith, N.; Stephens, T. (2002). "Classifying species according to threat of extinction. A system for New Zealand" (PDF). Department of Conservation (New Zealand). Retrieved 2008-02-29.
- ^ a b c Hitchmough, Rod (June 2013). Summary of changes to the conservation status of taxa in the 2008–11 New Zealand Threat Classification System listing cycle (PDF). Wellington, NZ: Publishing Team, Department of Conservation. ISBN 9780478149869. ISSN 2324-1713. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ a b Townsend, Andrew J.; de Lange, Peter J.; Duffy, Clinton A.J.; Miskelly, Colin M.; Molloy, Janice; Norton, David A. (January 2008). New Zealand Threat Classification System manual (PDF). Wellington, New Zealand: Science & Technical Publishing Department of Conservation. ISBN 9780478143645. Retrieved 2 February 2018.