Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems

作者：David A. Keith, Jon Paul Rodrı́guez, Kathryn M. Rodríguez‐Clark, Emily Nicholson, Kaisu Aapala, Alfonso Alonso, Marianne Asmüssen, Steven P. Bachman, Alberto Basset, Edmund Barrow, John Benson, Melanie J. Bishop, Ronald S Bonifacio, Thomas M. Brooks, Mark A. Burgman, Patrick Comer, Francisco A. Comı́n, Franz Essl, Don Faber‐Langendoen, Peter G. Fairweather, Robert J. Holdaway, Michael D. Jennings, Richard T. Kingsford, Rebecca E. Lester, Ralph Mac Nally, Michael A. McCarthy, Justin Moat, María A. Oliveira‐Miranda, Phil Pisanu, Brigitte Poulin, Tracey J. Regan, Uwe Riecken, Mark Spalding, Sergio Zambrano-Martínez · 发表于：PLoS ONE · 年份：2013 · DOI：10.1371/journal.pone.0062111 · 被引用次数：629 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Ecosystem dynamics and resilience、Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation

An understanding of risks to biodiversity is needed for planning action to slow current rates of decline and secure ecosystem services for future human use. Although the IUCN Red List criteria provide an effective assessment protocol for species, a standard global assessment of risks to higher levels of biodiversity is currently limited. In 2008, IUCN initiated development of risk assessment criteria to support a global Red List of ecosystems. We present a new conceptual model for ecosystem risk assessment founded on a synthesis of relevant ecological theories. To support the model, we review key elements of ecosystem definition and introduce the concept of ecosystem collapse, an analogue of species extinction. The model identifies four distributional and functional symptoms of ecosystem risk as a basis for assessment criteria: A) rates of decline in ecosystem distribution; B) restricted distributions with continuing declines or threats; C) rates of environmental (abiotic) degradation; and D) rates of disruption to biotic processes. A fifth criterion, E) quantitative estimates of the risk of ecosystem collapse, enables integrated assessment of multiple processes and provides a conceptual anchor for the other criteria. We present the theoretical rationale for the construction and interpretation of each criterion. The assessment protocol and threat categories mirror those of the IUCN Red List of species. A trial of the protocol on terrestrial, subterranean, freshwater and marin...