AMERICAN SAMOA Summary of species on the 2008 IUCN Red List The Pacific islands of Oceania cover almost 15% of the linked to conservation priority setting schemes. IUCN has world’s surface and are characterised by a high degree of therefore produced a set of regional guidelines for the ecosystem and species diversity. The region is characterised assessment of endemic and non-endemic species at country or by thousands of isolated small coral atolls and higher regional levels. volcanic islands, which has led to the high diversity of species found today. In fact, the number of plants and In order to begin the process of creating a Regional Red List for animals found nowhere else on earth (endemic species) is the Pacific islands, the current number and status of species extremely high - often up to 90% for particular groups. Often, listed on the Red List and found in the Pacific islands must be these rare and endemic species are adapted to specialised known. habitats and limited to small areas of a few islands. With economic and cultural dependence on the natural This summary sheet provides a snapshot of the number of environment very high in the Pacific islands, along with a species in American Samoa documented in the 2008 IUCN Red rapidly expanding human population, there are ever List. increasing demands on the region’s natural resources. Plant and animal species are therefore vulnerable to extinction The summary sheet is part of the larger document, “The Pacific from climate change, competition from introduced (invasive) islands: An analysis of the status of species as listed on the species and human impacts such as habitat destruction, 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, which can be over-harvesting of species and pollution. obtained from the IUCN Oceania Regional Office. Data sources and references used in this summary sheet can be found in the In order to make informed decisions to deal with these full analysis document. The analysis also contains a 2008 Red challenges, a sound knowledge of species found in the List for Pacific islands Animals and Plants. This allows us to see region and information on their conservation status and the current status of all the species in the Pacific islands, which distribution is needed. A growing number of national and have been assessed using the IUCN Red List categories and international conventions and agreements now exist, criteria. concerned with conserving biodiversity, preserving wetlands and migratory species, and regulating trade in endangered The 2008 Red List provides the most up-to-date collated species. Governments and decision-makers need reliable information for American Samoa. However, this analysis and quality information on the status of biodiversity, in order indicates that our knowledge and information on the biodiversity to work together to meet targets set by these agreements, of American Samoa and the Pacific islands as a whole, is and ultimately stem the extinction crisis. generally either limited in accuracy and scope, out of date, or poorly documented. For instance, only mammals, amphibians However, there are currently many gaps in the knowledge of and birds have been completely assessed according to IUCN species in American Samoa and the rest of the Pacific Red List criteria at the global scale. Gaps exist at the global and islands. At present, there is no regional resource regional level for reptiles, fishes, invertebrates (aside from hard documenting which species exist and/or are threatened in corals) and all plants. Freshwater species are under- American Samoa or the Pacific islands. Data is often represented, as are marine species, especially when compared dispersed, taxonomic expertise is absent, and nomenclature to the estimated number of described species. and classification systems often disputed for various species. For a region known for its biodiversity hotspots, data is The creation of a Regional Red List for the Pacific islands will lacking and there are few links to regional and national form a baseline to help in determining the conservation status policies. and trends of species in American Samoa and the Pacific islands in general. It will help to identify species or ecosystems The threatened status of animals and plants is one of the under greatest threat; assist in conservation planning and most useful signs for assessing the condition of an priority setting; and raise awareness of threatened species ecosystem and its biodiversity. The IUCN Red List of throughout American Samoa and the Pacific islands. The list will Threatened Species™ (IUCN Red List) is widely recognized also enable the monitoring of biodiversity, determination of the as the most comprehensive, apolitical approach for success of conservation initiatives, and reporting to various assessing and monitoring the status of biodiversity. It Conventions (e.g. the Convention on Biodiversity), on trends in provides taxonomic, conservation and distribution data on biodiversity. taxa that have been evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Volunteer experts of IUCN’s Funding is currently being sought by IUCN Oceania in order to Species Survival Commission (SSC), Birdlife International, begin the process of Regional Red Listing in the Pacific islands. the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science of Conservation The findings of the document, “The Pacific islands: An analysis International and NatureServe, supply and collate of the status of species as listed on the 2008 IUCN Red List of information on a species’ taxonomy, ecology, distribution, Threatened Species™, indicate the current taxonomic and conservation status and use and access their relative threat geographic gaps in our knowledge. Prioritising research efforts according to the IUCN guidelines. This information can then in these areas will enable us to conduct regional assessments be disseminated to governments and decision-makers and gather relevant data to produce a comprehensive Regional throughout the world. There is strong support in the region Red List for the Pacific islands. for updating and improving the information in the Red List as a foundation for conservation work. The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria were developed for applying at the global level. As a result, any regional level assessments of non-endemic species based on these criteria could result in incorrect or misleading listings. This in turn could have adverse consequences if the listings are AMERICAN SAMOA Estimated number of described and assessed species Taxonomic Group Plants Sub group Total Plants 269 5 Mosses 40 0 Birds Ferns 1 0 Mammals Cycads 0 0 Reptiles Conifers 0 0 Summary Amphibians Dicots 27 5 Estimated number of Fish Monocots 54 0 Algae 35 0 described*species Total Fish 748 Fungi 56 112 0 46 46 22 22 Number of 9 2 Species 0 Assessed Invertebrates Marine Fish 727 56 Fresh-water Fish Insecta 93 0 Percentage of assessed species listed as threatened Total Invertebrates Arachnids 0 0 *For sources,TOTAL see page 2 of 1466+ Hard Corals429 279 279 status of species as listed on the 2008 IUCN Red Li Threatened Species™” Molluscs (Bivalves and Gastropods) Amphibians n= 0 Number of assessed species in each Red List categor Crustaceans unknown 1 Hydrozoa unknown 7 21 0 Mammals n=22 Other (CR, EN, VU categories) invertebrates Fishes n=56 0 TaxonomicInvertebrates Group unknown 10 “ n=298 The Pacific islands: An analysis of the Plants n=5 unknown 1 Birds n=46 Reptiles n=2 33 372+ 1 There is one assessed species listed as Extinct for Samoa - the Gastropod, 3 Different Snail, which was endemic to American Samoa. 221 10 American Samoa has 6 assessed endemics. For their th 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% st of categories see Figure 11 of the Analysis. 298 Assessed endemic species (not including EX or EW) CR % of species listed as threatened 68 EN GASTROPODA GASTROPODA Extinctions VU GASTROPODA Diastole matafaoi, y The graph below shows theGASTROPODA percentage of American Samo assessed species that areGASTROPODA endemic, by class. NT GASTROPODA LC 93 Diastole matafaoi 100% DD Eua zebrina Samoana abbreviata the Mount Matafaoi 80% Samoana conica EX 100% Samoana thurstoni 60% Trochomorpha apia American 40% 20% Percentage of assessed species 0% reat Gastropods n=6 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Aves Liliopsida Amphibia Magnoliopsida a’s Crustaceans Coniferopsida Reptilia Mammalia Class Insecta Bryopsida Cycadopsida Actinopterygii+Chondrichthyes .