The Pacific islands: an analysis of the status of species as listed on the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ Helen Pippard, IUCN Regional Office for Oceania The diverse Pacific islands initiatives, and reporting to various Conventions (e.g. the The Pacific islands of Oceania cover almost 15% of the Convention on Biodiversity), on trends in biodiversity. world’s surface and are characterised by a high degree of ecosystem and species diversity. The region is characterised In order to begin the process of creating a Regional Red List by thousands of isolated small coral atolls and higher for the Pacific islands, the current status of species listed on volcanic islands, which has led to the high diversity of the Red List and found in the Pacific islands must be known. species found today. In fact, the number of plants and This summary is therefore an analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red animals found nowhere else on earth (endemic species) is List in relation to the countries and species of the Pacific extremely high - often up to 90% for particular groups. islands. Often, these rare and endemic species are adapted to specialised habitats and limited to small areas of a few The 2008 IUCN Red List contains listings for the following 24 islands. With economic and cultural dependence on the Pacific islands countries and territories: American Samoa, natural environment very high in the Pacific islands, along Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, with a rapidly expanding human population, there are ever- Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Federated States of, Nauru, increasing demands on the region’s natural resources. Plant New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana and animal species are therefore very vulnerable to Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Samoa, extinction from climate change, competition from introduced Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, US (invasive) species and human impacts such as habitat Minor Outlying Islands and Wallis and Futuna. destruction, over-harvesting of species and pollution. The species found in these countries have been compiled Background – what is the IUCN Red List? into 2 lists: Animals of the Pacific islands listed on the 2008 The threatened status of animals and plants is one of the Red List; and Plants of the Pacific islands listed on the 2008 most useful signs for assessing the condition of an Red List. These are contained in Appendices 1 and 2 ecosystem and its biodiversity. The IUCN Red List of respectively. These lists allow us to see the status of Pacific Threatened Species™ (IUCN Red List) is widely recognized island species in 2008, as assessed using the IUCN Red List as the most comprehensive, apolitical approach for Categories and Criteria. assessing and monitoring the status of biodiversity. It provides taxonomic, conservation and distribution data on These lists should be used in conjunction with information taxa that have been evaluated using the IUCN Red List contained on the IUCN Red List website Categories and Criteria. Volunteer experts of IUCN’s (www.iucnredlist.org ). The website contains additional Species Survival Commission (SSC), Birdlife International, information on each assessed species, such as sources of the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science of Conservation information used in the assessment, detailed data on threats International and NatureServe, supply and collate and descriptions on geographical range and habitats in information on a species’ taxonomy, ecology, distribution, which a species is found. conservation status and use and access their relative threat according to the IUCN guidelines. This information can then Appendices 3-10 describe any geographical or taxonomic be disseminated to governments and decision-makers omissions to the Lists of Animals and Plants of the Pacific throughout the world. islands. Due to certain omissions, data referred to in this Analysis may differ slightly from figures obtained through a The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria were developed for search on the IUCN Red List website. applying at the global level. As a result, any regional level assessments of non-endemic species based on these criteria The status of Pacific island species on the 2008 Red List could result in incorrect or misleading listings. This in turn could have adverse consequences if the listings are linked to The 2008 IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2008) includes conservation priority setting schemes. IUCN has therefore assessments for 3769 species found in the Pacific islands. produced a set of regional guidelines for the assessment of endemic and non-endemic species at country or regional Of the species assessed: levels. • 1060 are threatened with extinction (177 listed as Critically Endangered (CR), 213 The creation of a Regional Red List for the Pacific islands will Endangered (EN), and 670 species in the help in determining the conservation status and trends of Vulnerable (VU) categories) Pacific island species; identify species or ecosystems under • 123 are Extinct and 12 Extinct in the wild greatest threat; assist in conservation planning and priority • 394 are Near Threatened setting; and raise awareness of threatened species throughout • 534 are Data Deficient; there is insufficient the Pacific islands. The list will also enable the monitoring of information to determine their threat status biodiversity, determination of the success of conservation • 1605 are of Least Concern: generally speaking these species have a low probability of extinction 1 Rainbow Reef, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands © Helen Pippard Overview of the status of species on the Red List: Observations at the Regional level How many described species are there? The number of described species for the Pacific is ambiguous for most groups. Even experts contributing to global species assessments are often unable to provide an accurate estimate of the number of known species. Information was gathered from the same data sources as used in the compilation of the 2008 Red List wherever possible. The same database was used for each taxonomic group for the entire region, to ensure continuity and comparison. Therefore, a general search using databases other than those consulted here may produce differing results. The estimated number of described species and resulting estimated percentages of species assessed on the 2008 Red List should therefore be used with caution. This is especially true for groups such as plants, invertebrates. The estimated number of described species by major taxonomic group and class for the Pacific islands is indicated in Table 1. Table 1: Estimated number of described species in the Pacific islands region The sources used for estimating the number of Estimated % of Estimated number Number of described species in the Pacific islands and Pacific islands of described Pacific assessed Pacific globally are listed below. species assessed island species island species by 2008 1. ? = no data available Vertebrates 2. M ammals: IUCN Red List 2008 th Mammals 2 320 320 100% (www.iucnredlist.org , accessed March 8 2009 (In turn from Wilson and Reeder (2005; Birds 3 1079 1079 100% www.bucknell.edu/msw3/) 4 3. Birds: IUCN Red List 2008 ( www.iucnredlist.org , Reptiles 432 26 6% accessed March 8 th 2009 (In turn from Birdlife Amphibians 5 271 271 100% International 2008) 4. Reptiles : based on figures provided by Peter 6 Fishes 4,102 223 5% Uetz and Jakob Hallermann in the Reptile Subtotal 6207 1,919 31% Database: www.reptile-database.org , accessed March 7 th 2009 Invertebrates 5. Amphibians : from Frost, D.R. 2008, Amphibian 7 Species of the World, an online reference available Insects 4911 27 <1% from Molluscs http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/inde (Gastropods and 2000+ 332 ~16% x.php . Accessed March 8th 2009 Bivalves) 9 6. Fishes : Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Editors, 2009, th Crustaceans ?1 16 unknown www.fishbase.org, Accessed March 7 2009 7. Insects, Arachnids : Bisby FA, Roskov YR, 8 Hard Corals 591 591 100% Orrell TM, Nicolson D, Paglinawan LE, Bailly N, 7 Kirk PM, Bourgoin T, van Hertum J, eds (2008). Arachnids 475 0 0 Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Hydrozoa ? 8 unknown Annual Checklist. Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2008/. Others ? 1 Species 2000: Reading, U.K Subtotal 8000+ 975 ≤12% 8. Hard corals : IUCN Red List 2008 (www.iucnredlist.org , accessed March 8 th 2009. Plants 9. Molluscs : accessed from OBIS Indo-Pacific th 10 Molluscan database, March 20 2009. Information Mosses 2650 5 <1% provided with the permission of The Academy of Ferns and allies 10 2680 0 0 Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA Gymnosperms 10. Biodiversity occurrence data for mosses, 254 96 (Cycads and 38% ferns, dicotyledons, monocotyledons, algae and 11 Conifers) fungi accessed through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, (GBIF) Data Portal, Dicotyledons th 10 14138 703 5% www.gbif.net, March 12 2009 (Magnoliopsida) 11. Cycads and Conifers : IUCN Red List 2008 Monocotyledons th 10 6087 71 1% (www.iucnredlist.org , accessed March 8 2009 (Liliopsida) Green Algae 10 285 0 0 Red Algae 10 406 0 0 Fungi 10 2627 0 0 10 Other plants 225+ 0 0 Subtotal 29802+ 875 3% TOTAL 44009+ 3769 9% 2 How many species have been assessed? 3769 Pacific island species have so far been assess according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Crite Table 1 shows the number of species assessed by maj taxonomic group in the Pacific islands. The estimat percentage of species assessed is also seen in Tabl a comparison with the number of described species. There are large gaps between the groups for which a species have been assessed (mammals, birds, amphibi and hard corals) and the other taxonomic groups. Co are close to being assessed for the region, but all groups have an extremely low number of assessed spe on the 2008 Red List compared to the number of desc species. Although only approximately 9% of described species in the Pacific islands have been assessed, t List is a useful starting point for what is happeni today’s species and highlights the need for urgent the region.