Dear colleagues,
This is to advise you that the IUCN has recently classified the
Fiordland (NZ) subpopulation of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops
truncatus) as Critically Endangered A3bcd; C1 in their 2011.1 update
of the Red List of Threatened Species.
The full assessment is available here:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/194300/0
The assessment was based on the following recently published paper:
Currey, R.J.C., Dawson, S.M. and Slooten, E. 2009. An approach for
regional threat assessment under IUCN Red List criteria that is
robust to uncertainty: The Fiordland bottlenose dolphins are
critically endangered. Biological Conservation, 142: 1570–1579. doi:
10.1016/j.biocon.2009.02.036
Numerous globally abundant species are exposed to human impacts that
threaten the viability of regional populations. Assessing and
characterising the risks faced by these populations can have
significant implications for biodiversity conservation, given the
ecological importance of many such species. To address these risks,
the IUCN is starting to conduct assessments of regional populations
in addition to species-level assessments of conservation status.
Here, we demonstrate a threat assessment process that is robust to
uncertainty, applying the IUCN criteria to a regional population of
bottlenose dolphins in Fiordland, New Zealand. We compiled available
population-specific information to assess the population under the
five Red List criteria. We estimated there were 205 Fiordland
bottlenose dolphins (CV = 3.5%), using current estimates of abundance
for two sub-populations and stochastic modelling of an earlier
estimate for the third sub-population. Population trajectory and
extinction risk were assessed using stochastic age-structured Leslie
matrix population models. The majority of model runs met the criteria
for classification as critically endangered (C1: 67.6% of runs) given
the number of mature individuals (123; CV = 6.7%) and the predicted
rate of population decline (average decline: 31.4% over one
generation). The evidence of isolation of the population confirms
this was an appropriate regional classification. This approach
provided an assessment that was robust to uncertainty.
A PDF copy of the paper is available here:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.02.036
Alternatively, send requests to:
[email protected]
Regards,
Dr Rohan Currey
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