Threatened species

Conservation status by IUCN Red List category
Extinct
Extinct (EX) Extinct in the Wild (EW)	(list) (list)
Threatened
Critically Endangered (CR) Endangered (EN) Vulnerable (VU)	(list) (list) (list)
Lower Risk
Near Threatened (NT) Conservation Dependent Least Concern (LC)	(list) (list)
Other categories
Data Deficient (DD) Not Evaluated (NE)	(list)
Related topics International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) IUCN Red List Lists of organisms by population

Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of critical depensation, a mathematical measure of biomass related to population growth rate. This quantitative metric is one method of evaluating the degree of endangerment.

IUCN definition

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories, depending on the degree to which they are threatened:

• Vulnerable species
• Endangered species
• Critically endangered species

Less-than-threatened categories are Near Threatened, Least Concern, and the no longer assigned category of Conservation Dependent. Species which have not been evaluated (NE), or do not have sufficient data (Data Deficient) also are not considered "threatened" by the IUCN.

The three categories of the threatened species IUCN Red List.

Although threatened and vulnerable may be used interchangeably when discussing IUCN categories, the term threatened is generally used to refer to the three categories (critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable), while vulnerable is used to refer to the least at risk of those three categories. They may be used interchangeably in most contexts however, as all vulnerable species are threatened species (vulnerable is a category of threatened species); and, as the more at-risk categories of threatened species (namely endangered and critically endangered) must, by definition, also qualify as vulnerable species, all threatened species may also be considered vulnerable.

Threatened species are also referred to as a red-listed species, as they are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Subspecies, populations and stocks may also be classified as threatened.

United States definition

"Threatened" in relation to "endangered" under the ESA.

Under the Endangered Species Act in the United States, "threatened" is defined as "any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range".^[1] It is the less protected of the two protected categories. The Bay checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis) is an example of a threatened subspecies protected under the ESA.

Within the U.S., state wildlife agencies have the authority under the ESA to manage species which are considered endangered or threatened within their state but not within all states, and which therefore are not included on the national list of endangered and threatened species. For example, the Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) is threatened in the state of Minnesota, while large populations still remain in Canada and Alaska.^[2]

Australian definition

The Commonwealth of Australia has legislation for categorising and protecting endangered species, namely the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, which is known in short as the EPBC Act. This Act has six categories;^[3] Extinct, Extinct in the wild, Critically endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, and Conservation dependent, defined in Section 179 of the Act, and could be summarised as;

• "Extinct" - "no reasonable doubt that the last member of the species has died",
• "Extinct in the wild" - "known only to survive in cultivation" and "despite exhaustive surveys" has not been seen in the wild,
• "Critically endangered" - "extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future",
• "Endangered" - "very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future",
• "Vulnerable" - "high risk of extinction in the wild in medium-term future", and
• "Conservation dependent" - "focus of a specific conservation program" without which the species would enter one of the above categories.

The EPBC Act also recognises and protects threatened ecosystems such as plant communities, and Ramsar Convention wetlands used by migratory birds.

Individual states and territories of Australia are bound under the EPBC Act, but may also have legislation which gives further protection to certain species, for example Western Australia's Wildlife Conservation Act 1950. Some species, such as Lewin's Rail (Lewinia pectoralis), are not listed as threatened species under the EPBC Act, but they may be recognised as threatened by individual states or territories.

See also

• Biodiversity Action Plan
• IUCN Red List
• Illegal logging
• Rare species
• Red and Blue-listed
• Slash-and-burn
• Threatened fauna of Australia

Notes and references

Further reading

• Sharrock, S. and Jones, M. 2009. Conserving Europe's threatened plants Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)

Threatened species Template: Threatened species by region IUCN Red List Categories1 Extinct Extinct (EX) Extinct in the Wild (EW) Threatened Critically Endangered (CR) Endangered (EN) Vulnerable (VU) Not yet threatened Near Threatened (NT) Lower Risk (LR)  (conservation dependent (LR/cd)) Least Concern (LC) Not yet categorized Data Deficient (DD) Not Evaluated (NE) Species Lists Extinct in the Wild Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable Near Threatened Data Deficient WP categories Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable Near Threatened Data Deficient By taxa Endangered arthropods / spiders Threatened Banksia / birds / rays / sharks / sturgeons The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates The world's 100 most threatened species Conservation Biodiversity action plan Biodiversity threats Conservation biology CITES ARKive Bird conservation Conservation status Conservation-reliant species Ecoregion conservation status Habitat destruction Latent extinction risk Rare species Vulnerability and susceptibility 1 Pre-2001 categories and subcategories shown in italics.

Threatened species by region By region Blue-listed Environmental Vulnerability Index Regional Red List Australasia Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 ROTAP Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 Threatened ecological community Trade in Endangered Species Act 1989 Canada Species at Risk Act Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada Europe European Endangered Species Programme Funds for Endangered Parrots South Africa Endangered Wildlife Trust United States Distinct population segment Endangered Species Act Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1978 Endangered species recovery plan Endangered Wolf Center National Wildlife Refuge NatureServe conservation status The Nature Conservancy Lists Asia List of endangered and protected species of China Endangered mammals of India List of endangered animals in India List of endangered species in Pakistan List of threatened species of the Philippines List of endangered species in Vietnam Europe Threatened mammals of Europe Endangered plants of Europe List of endangered species of the British Isles List of extinct and endangered species of Italy List of extinct and endangered species of Lithuania North America List of mammals of Canada List of endangered plants in North America List of endangered species in North America Endangered mammals and birds of the United States List of threatened mammals of the United States List of threatened birds of the United States List of threatened reptiles and amphibians of the United States Elsewhere Threatened fauna of Australia List of threatened flora of Australia Official list of endangered flora of Brazil List of mammals of Morocco

Conservation of species Conservation biology Conservation behavior Conservation dependent species Conservation ethic Conservation genetics Conservation status Ex-situ conservation Extinction threshold In-situ conservation Latent extinction risk Marine conservation Species translocation Threatened species Conservation areas Conservation designation Conservation development Conservation district Conservation easement Ecoregion conservation status Environmental protection Gap analysis Habitat conservation High conservation value area Landscape scale conservation Marine protected area National conservation area Open space reserve Riparian buffer Roadless area conservation Roadside conservation Site-based conservation Special Area of Conservation Restoration Assisted natural regeneration Ecosystem restoration Island restoration Reforestation afforestation Rewilding By taxa Amphibians and reptiles Birds burrowing owls raptors Insects bumblebees butterflies Land mammals bats bats 2 bears cheetahs cheetahs 2 gorillas painted dogs slow lorises small cats tigers tigers 2 wolves Marine Antarctic seals cetaceans cetaceans 2 manatees migratory sharks salmon sea otters sea turtles sturgeons Plants forests fungi medicinal plants orchids By country Australia Belize Brazil Hong Kong Iceland India Bhopal Ireland Italy New Zealand Papua New Guinea Uganda United Kingdom United States Other Biodiversity Conservation agriculture Conservation finance Conservation grazing Conservation management system Conservation movement Conservation officer Conservation organisations Conservation photography Conservation psychology Conservation refugee Conspicuous conservation De-extinction Myth of superabundance NatureServe conservation status Planetary boundaries Index of conservation articles List of conservation issues Category