Applications of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems in research and conservation

José R. Ferrer-Paris

University of New South Wales — Sydney

Outline

• What is the Red List of Ecosystems (RLE)?
• Role in the global biodiversity framework
• Contributions to ecosystem research:
  • Conceptual ecosystem models
  • Ecosystem typology
  • Understanding collapse
  • Risk assessment

What is the Red List of Ecosystems

Motivation for the Red List of Ecosystems

• Which ecosystems are most at risk of major changes involving diversity loss?
• What is the magnitude of the threats?
• Which changes are most likely to occur? Where? When?

D. A. Keith et al. (2015)

The RLE Team

The Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) is developed and implemented jointly by the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) and the IUCN Science and Data Centre, in collaboration with the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC).

Prof. David Keith and Prof. Emily Nicholson lead the RLE Thematic Group.

Desde 2019 formo parte del equipo de trabajo liderado por el Prof. David Keith, la profesora Emily Nicholson y el prof. Richard Kingsford para el desarrollo de la tipología.

La visión y el impulso de David han sido vitales para garantizar el rigor científico y aplicabilidad de la tipología.

What is the Red List of Ecosystems

A global standard for assessing the ecosystems’ risk of collapse

A global standard for assessing the ecosystems’ risk of collapse

“Ecosystems are complexes of organism and their associated physical environment within a specified area” - Tansley, 1935

A global standard for assessing the ecosystems’ risk of collapse

Probability of an adverse outcome over a specified time frame

A global standard for assessing the ecosystems’ risk of collapse

When it is virtually certain that it’s defining biotic or abiotic features are lost, and the characteristic native biota are no longer sustained

D. A. Keith et al. (2013)

Scientifically rigorous protocol

Guidelines for the application of IUCN Red List of Ecosystems categories and criteria (Bland et al. 2016, v 1.1). Updated version in preparation.

RLE Criteria

Using 5 criteria to diagnose different symptoms of collapse

Projected decline in area of one ecosystem type

Projected decline in area of one ecosystem type

Extent and severity of decline in biotic integrity for one ecosystem type

Applicable from local to global risk assessments

Examples of strategic and systematic assessments in Africa from D. A. Keith et al. (2023)

Continental assessment of the forests of the Americas from J. R. Ferrer-Paris et al. (2019)

Key attributes of the RLE

1. A standard method for assessing and comparing risk of ecosystem collapse
2. Easy to comprehend by decision-makers and by public
3. Transparent, objective and scientifically rigorous
4. Applicable to terrestrial, marine, freshwater and subterranean realms
5. Applicable from local to global risk assessments
6. Flexible to use variable quality data and variable coverage
7. Consistent and complementary to other knowledge products

D. A. Keith et al. (2015) and Rodríguez et al. (2015)

Role in the Global Biodiversity Framework

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)

Adopted during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) following a four year consultation and negotiation process. This historic Framework, which supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and builds on the Convention’s previous Strategic Plans, sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050.

Goals and targets

• https://www.cbd.int/gbf/
• 4 goals for 2050
• 23 targets for 2030

Goal A

The integrity, connectivity and resilience of all ecosystems are maintained, enhanced, or restored, substantially increasing the area of natural ecosystems by 2050…

Four major contributions of the RLE

Contributions of the Red List of Ecosystems to different goals and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework (Nicholson et al. 2024)

Robust framework for ecosystem science

RLE provides science-based concepts, definitions and criteria for assessing ecosystem risk

• Ecosystem types
• Ecosystem collapse
• Relative severity and extent of degradation (condition)

Catalyse knowledge synthesis

Knowledge synthesis, data collation, and structured analysis, provide valuable inputs for further research and decision making

Inputs and outputs for the steps of the RLE protocol.

Database of risk assessments

Risk assessment outcomes can inform priorities for a range of conservation and management actions

Using 8 categories to summarise risk or status of assessment

• Assessment database
• Systematic
• Strategic

Global database of RLE assessments

https://assessments.iucnrle.org/

Examples of published systematic assessments

Systematic national assessment of Myanmar (Murray et al. 2020)
https://www.myanmar-ecosystems.org/home

Abu Dhabi Red List of Ecosystems

Colombia Red List of Ecosystems

Examples of published strategic assessments

Tropical glacier of Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuela (José R. Ferrer-Paris et al. in press)

https://red-list-ecosystem.github.io/T6.1-SA-01-VE-01-Cordillera-Merida/

Knowledge sharing

Capacity building, knowledge generation, and knowledge sharing across countries, sectors, and within governments, supporting biodiversity mainstreaming

• Tools and training material
• Workshops and other events

Contributions to ecosystem research

General assembly model for ecosystem types

Mechanisms

• Abiotic mechanisms
  • Resource filters
  • Environmental facots
  • Perturbation regimes
• Biotic mechanisms
  • Biotic interactions
  • Human activity

Algunos ecosistemas son dominados por mecanismos abióticos, por ejemplo en el océano antártico existen comunidades de invertebrados e invertebrados que dependen de la formación de hielo marino.

Otros ecosistemas están dominados por mecanismos o procesos bióricos, en los bosques de algas marinas, los arrecifes de coral, los bosques tropicales, las sabanas tróficas, etc.

Filtros y propiedades

• Emerging ecosystem properties:
  • Ecosystem functions
  • Ecological processes and structural properties
  • Species (and community) traits

La acción de estos mecanismos y filtros influye en las propiedades del ecosistema, desde los procesos ecológicos y características estructurales hasta la prevalencia de características fenotípicas en las especies

Interactions, dependencies and feedback loops

Pero los mecanismos y filtros no actuan de manera aislada, sino que interfieren, se complementan o se refuerzan entre si. Usamos este modelo diagramático para expresar estas interacciones y retroalimentaciones.

Example conceptual models: generic

Este es un ejemplo del modelo para los deltas riparinos, donde la contribución del caudal del río y las mareas crean un paisaje complejo con gradientes de salinidad y las inundaciones y tormentas aceleran o interrumpen procesos de deposición y sucesión ecológica.

Este tipo de modelos es fundamental para comparar grupos funcionales de ecosistemas.

Example conceptual models: specific

Conceptual Ecosystem Model for the Tropical glacier ecosystem of the Cordillera de Mérida (José R. Ferrer-Paris et al. in press)

A function-based typology

Versions

Version 2.0, D. A. Keith et al. (2020)

Version 2.1, D. A. Keith et al. (2022)

Principles of the typology

1. Representation of ecological processes
2. Representation of the biota
3. Conceptual consistency
4. Scalable structure
5. Spatially explicit
6. Parsimony and applicability

Synthesis and comparability

Knowledge transfer

En este esquema apreciamos los seis niveles de la tipología desde los ámbitos en el nivel superios hasta los subtipos regionales en el nivel inferior. Vamos a empezar explorando la tipología desde arriba hacia abajo. La primera característica es que no es una jerarquía completamente anidada.

Explore the webapp

global-ecosystems.org includes the three upper levels

• 5 Realms

• 25 Functional biomes

  • Including 6 anthropogenic

• 110 Ecosystem functional groups

  • Including 15 anthropogenic

Usamos la página web para explorar estos tres niveles superiores de la tipología.

Exploring the lower levels

¿Qué pasa entonces con los niveles inferiores?

Vemos que los subgrupos funcionales del nivel 4 y los niveles 5 y 6 no están alineados. Esto se debe a que estos niveles se derivan por rutas diferentes.

Regional subgroups of ecosystem types

Example: Workshop with experts in preparation of assessment of Intertidal forests (Mangroves)

Veamos un ejemplo del nivel 4: Para los bosques de mangle usamos un mapa global y lo subdividimos en regiones. Consultamos con expertos y acordamos criterios para decidir como hacer estas divisiones.

El cruce de los mapas nacionales con los grupos funcionales es un paso fundamental para resolver los niveles más detallados de la tipología. Aquí es frecuente encontrarse con situaciones en las que un tipo de ecosistema no concuerda exactamente con un grupo funcional, sino que tiene características parciales o mezcladas.

Ecosystem collapse

Ecosystem collapse

• Transformation of identity
• Loss of defining features
• Replacement by a new system
  • May have some elements in common
    
  • May be valuable

Examples of collapsed ecosystem

Examples of global and local ecosystem collapse

Ecosystem collapse: symptoms

Transformation of defining features

• Ecosystem structure, dominance & composition
  • Characteristic native biota (extirpations, invasions)
• Ecosystem functions & services
  • Productivity
  • Resource cycling (water, nutrients, carbon)
  • Trophic diversity & structure
• Reduced resilience to environmental change

Reduced resilience

Resilient response to fire vs. ecosystem collapsed after underground mining and fire, from D. Keith et al. (2023)

Ecosystem collapse: symptoms

Emergence of a novel ecosystem

• New set of defining features

• New governing processes

• Some elements in common with prior system

The case of the Aral sea

flowchart LR
  FW["Freshwater\necosystem"] 
  ES["ephemeral\nsteppe"]
  HS["hypersaline\nlakes"]
  collapse((" "))
  FW --->|"water\nextraction"| collapse --> ES & HS

Satellite images from the Aral sea in 1989 and 2014

Ecosystem collapse: mechanisms

Spatial processes

• Rates of spatial decline (rapid habitat loss ~ high risk)
  • Land-use change: tropical forests
• Vulnerability to disasters (spatially explicit threat)
  • Forests of Easter Island

Ecosystem collapse: mechanisms

Functional processes

• Physical degradation of the environment (suitability / heterogeneity - niche theory)
  • Aral Sea
• Interruption of biotic processes (decreased functional complementarity, facilitation)
  • Kelp forest, arid shrublands

Conceptual models of collapse

Conceptual model of ecosystem dynamics for groundwater-dependent, peat-accumulating wetlands with three states, from D. Keith et al. (2023)

Indicator responses for different collapse profiles, from Bergstrom et al. (2021)

Comparative study of collapse in 19 ecosystems in Australia and Antarctica, from Bergstrom et al. (2021)

Questions ?

j.ferrer@unsw.edu.au

https://github.com/jrfep

This presentation was prepared by José R. Ferrer-Paris and is shared under license: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

• Links
• References
• Images and figures
• R session info

This presentation is available at:

jrfep.quarto.pub/iucn-rle-in-research-and-conservation.

It was created using RStudio, Quarto, y reveal.js.

Source code available at:

bitbucket.org/iucn-presentations/rle-intro-presentation.

Bergstrom, Dana M., Barbara C. Wienecke, John van den Hoff, Lesley Hughes, David B. Lindenmayer, Tracy D. Ainsworth, Christopher M. Baker, et al. 2021. “Combating Ecosystem Collapse from the Tropics to the Antarctic.” Global Change Biology 27 (9): 1692–1703. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15539.

Bland, L. M., D. A. Keith, R. M. Miller, N. J. Murray, and J. P. Rodríguez, eds. 2016. Guidelines for the Application of IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Categories and Criteria. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

Ferrer-Paris, J. R., Irene Zager, David A. Keith, María A. Oliveira-Miranda, Jon Paul Rodríguez, Carmen Josse, Mario González-Gil, Rebecca M. Miller, Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio, and Edmund Barrow. 2019. “An Ecosystem Risk Assessment of Temperate and Tropical Forests of the Americas with an Outlook on Future Conservation Strategies.” Conservation Letters 12 (2): e12623. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12623.

Ferrer-Paris, José R., Luis Daniel Llambí, Alejandra Melfo, and David Keith. in press. “First Red List of Ecosystems Assessment of a Tropical Glacier Ecosystem to Diagnose the Pathways Toward Imminent Collapse.” Oryx, in press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605323001771.

Keith, DA, DH Benson, IRC Baird, L Watts, CC Simpson, M Krogh, S Gorissen, J. R. Ferrer-Paris, and TJ Mason. 2023. “Effects of Interactions Between Anthropogenic Stressors and Recurring Perturbations on Ecosystem Resilience and Collapse.” Conservation Biology 37: e13995. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13995.

Keith, David A., Jose R. Ferrer-Paris, Emily Nicholson, and Richard T. Kingsford, eds. 2020. IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0: Descriptive Profiles for Biomes and Ecosystem Functional Groups. IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.ch.2020.13.en.

Keith, David A., José R. Ferrer-Paris, Emily Nicholson, Melanie J. Bishop, Beth A. Polidoro, Eva Ramirez-Llodra, Mark G. Tozer, et al. 2022. “A Function-Based Typology for Earth’s Ecosystems.” Nature 610: 513–18. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05318-4.

Keith, David A., Somaya Magdy M. Ghoraba, Eric Kaly, Kendall R. Jones, Ané Oosthuizen, David Obura, Hugo M. Costa, et al. 2023. “Contributions of Red Lists of Ecosystems to Risk-Based Design and Management of Protected and Conserved Areas in Africa.” Conservation Biology. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14169.

Keith, David A., Jon Paul Rodríguez, Thomas M. Brooks, Mark A. Burgman, Edmund G. Barrow, Lucie Bland, Patrick J. Comer, et al. 2015. “The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems: Motivations, Challenges, and Applications.” Conservation Letters 8 (3): 214–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12167.

Keith, David A., Jon Paul Rodríguez, Kathryn M. Rodríguez-Clark, Emily Nicholson, Kaisu Aapala, Alfonso Alonso, Marianne Asmussen, et al. 2013. “Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems.” Edited by Matteo Convertino. PLoS ONE 8 (5): e62111. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062111.

Murray, Nicholas J., David A. Keith, Adam Duncan, Robert Tizard, J. R. Ferrer-Paris, Thomas A. Worthington, Kate Armstrong, et al. 2020. “Myanmar’s Terrestrial Ecosystems: Status, Threats and Conservation Opportunities.” Biological Conservation 252: 108834. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108834.

Nicholson, Emily, Angela Andrade, Amanda Driver, José R Ferrer-Paris, David Keith, Michael Sievers, and Simone Stevenson. 2024. “Beyond the Headline: Roles of the Red List of Ecosystems in Implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.” Nature Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02320-5.

Rodríguez, Jon Paul, David A. Keith, Kathryn M. Rodríguez-Clark, Nicholas J. Murray, Emily Nicholson, Tracey J. Regan, Rebecca M. Miller, et al. 2015. “A Practical Guide to the Application of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Criteria.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 370 (1662): 20140003. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0003.

Photographs and images from gobal-ecosystems.org:

 [1] "High cichlid fish diversity in Lake Malawi, Africa / Michel Roggo / [roggo.ch](http://www.roggo.ch)"                                                                    
 [2] "Frozen Lake, Ulriken, Bergen, Norway / Sveter on Wikimedia commons, CC BY-SA 3.0"                                                                                       
 [3] "Cabo de Gata Nijar, Andalusia, Spain / Damocean / istock photo"                                                                                                         
 [4] "Giant kelp forest, Southern California / Brett Seymour / US NPS"                                                                                                        
 [5] "Mola mola (sunfish) near Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia / Ilse Reijs and Jan-Noud Hutten, CC BY 2.0"                                                                         
 [6] "Deep sea Anglerfish (_Himantolophus sp._) female with lure projecting from head to attract prey, Atlantic ocean / Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo"           
 [7] "Leopard seal on ice floe / Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre"                                                                                
 [8] "Blind cave fish, _Phreatichthys andruzzii_, southern Madagascar / Hectonichus on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0"                                                       
 [9] "Stygofauna from the Pilbara, Western Australia / Jane McRae / Western Australian Museum"                                                                                
[10] "Anchialine Pond; Makena, Ahihi Kinau Natural Reserve, Maui, Hawaii / Design Pics Inc / Alamy Stock Photo"                                                               
[11] "Giant rosettes of Lobelia and Dendrosenecio in alpine herbfields, Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda / Rowan Donovan / National Geographic Image Collection / Alamy Stock Photo"
[12] "Multi-species plantation (shade coffee), Chikmagalur, India / Prashant Y on Flickr, CC BY 2.0"                                                                          

Wikimedia images: - Keith2013 process circle.png - AralSea1989 2014.jpg

Other figures from cited references.

R version 4.3.1 (2023-06-16)
Platform: aarch64-apple-darwin20 (64-bit)
Running under: macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

Matrix products: default
BLAS:   /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.3-arm64/Resources/lib/libRblas.0.dylib 
LAPACK: /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.3-arm64/Resources/lib/libRlapack.dylib;  LAPACK version 3.11.0

locale:
[1] en_AU.UTF-8/en_AU.UTF-8/en_AU.UTF-8/C/en_AU.UTF-8/en_AU.UTF-8

time zone: Australia/Sydney
tzcode source: internal

attached base packages:
[1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base     

other attached packages:
[1] jsonlite_1.8.8 dplyr_1.1.4   

loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
 [1] digest_0.6.33    utf8_1.2.4       R6_2.5.1         fastmap_1.1.1   
 [5] tidyselect_1.2.0 xfun_0.41        magrittr_2.0.3   glue_1.6.2      
 [9] tibble_3.2.1     knitr_1.45       pkgconfig_2.0.3  htmltools_0.5.7 
[13] rmarkdown_2.25   generics_0.1.3   lifecycle_1.0.4  cli_3.6.2       
[17] fansi_1.0.6      vctrs_0.6.5      withr_2.5.2      compiler_4.3.1  
[21] tools_4.3.1      pillar_1.9.0     evaluate_0.23    yaml_2.3.8      
[25] rlang_1.1.2