1. We are working on a contract with National Grid to undertake a first year of survey for wild blue lupines and Karner blue butterflies/Frosted Elfins under National Grid’s new Habitat Conservation Plan…..nearly final and approved.  Yea!!!
Anyways, do you have any students in mind that might want to spend mid-May to mid-June, and perhaps longer,  mapping lupines and conducting presence/absence butterfly surveys in the Queensbury, Saratoga, Albany Area?  If they are from here originally and could live with family that would be great.  They need to have a valid driver’s license.  I am looking for two such students.

2. NYSDEC Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources: 42 paid internships available for SUNY-ESF Students!
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources has just added 16 more paid internships to the 26 already available for the 2012 season for SUNY-ESF students.  The following 42 internship opportunities are now available for the spring/summer season: New internships are highlighted in gray. If you have already applied you may reapply for the new ones. No internships have yet been filled. Many internships now have detailed descriptions.
Currently enrolled students can work for up to 20 weeks and up to 800 hours.  Students must be enrolled in fall semester 2012 to be eligible.  Pay rate is $10/hr for undergraduates and $15/hr for graduate students. 
If you are interested in applying for any of these positions, please send as a single document .pdf attachment to an to :
a short cover letter that identifies the specific internship(s) you wish to be considered for (please identify position number) and outlines your qualifications and interest in each
includes a resume with your contact information ( and phone). 

3. IUCN “Redlist” exercise
Review an outdated listing for an endangered species (to be announced at start of next class)
Understand how the classification process works by working through a case study

4. Overview of the IUCN Red List Unit Cambridge, UK

5. (10,000 scientists & experts)
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Commissions
(10,000 scientists & experts)
IUCN Members
80 States
112 Government agencies
>800
NGOs
Some background information about IUCN. The World Conservation Union is the world’s largest conservation organisation. Founded in 1948, its current membership includes:
83 States (in the North Africa region this includes Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt)
110 Government Agencies
More than 800 Non-Government Organisations (including 12 in North Africa)
North African NGO members:
Algeria: Boumerdes Ecological Association (AEB); Algerian Ecological Movement (MEA).
Morocco: Association Ribat Al Fath; Society for the Protection of Animals and Nature.
Tunisia: Friends of the Birds Association; National Tunisian Association for Wildlife Protection (ANTPFS); Tunisian Association for the Protection of Nature and the Environment (ATPNE); Fédération Nationale des Associations des Chasseurs et des Associations de Chasse Specialisées (FNACACS); National Union of Tunisian Women.
Egypt: Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe CEDARE; Arab Office for Youth and Employment; Tree Lovers Association.
IUCN mission: to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
Our work is carried out through six Commissions:
Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) - Guiding the management of natural and modified ecosystems (400 members).
Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP) - Advising on economic and social factors that affect natural resources (500 members).
Commission on Education and Communication (CEM) - Promoting sustainability through education and communication (600 members).
Commission on Environmental Law (CEL) - Advancing environmental laws and its application (800 members)
World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) - Advising and promoting terrestrial and marine reserves, parks and protected areas (1,300 members).
Species Survival Commission (SSC) - Supporting species conservation and protecting endangered species (7,000 members).
The IUCN secretariat supports the work of the IUCN Commissions and helps to implement the IUCN work programme throughout the world.
IUCN Secretariat
1,100 staff in 62 countries, led by IUCN’s Director General (Julia Marton-Lefevre)

6. IUCN Red List Unit
Management of the IUCN Red List (database, web site)
Assessment review
Petitions and enquiries
Training workshops
Assessment workshops
Other projects and Red List tools
Red List Index
Global Species Assessments
Regional assessment initiatives
Climate change and extinction risk assessment

7. 2000
2009

8. What are we trying to do?
Identify and document those species most in need of conservation attention if the global extinction rates are to be reduced.
Provide a global index to monitor the status of the world’s biodiversity.
So, what are we trying to do? The IUCN Red List Unit has two main aims:
To identify and document species that are most in need of conservation attention in order to reduce the global extinction rates. This is achieved through assessing species and publishing their status on the IUCN Red List.
To provide a global index to monitor the changing status of the world’s biodiversity. It is not enough to just keep publishing assessments – by analysing the changes in status over time, and focusing only on genuine changes (rather than changes arising through, e.g., improved knowledge or taxonomic changes) we can see whether the world’s biodiversity is improving (hence our conservation efforts are working), or deteriorating (hence highlighting the need to improve our conservation efforts). This is the Red List Index which has been adopted by CBD.

9. The IUCN Red List Assessment: An estimate of extinction risk
Illustration copyright Bob Diven
What is the likelihood of a species
Becoming extinct in the near future,
given current knowledge about population
trends, range, and recent, current or
projected threats?
IUCN Red List assessment methodology has undergone several reviews since the 1960s. For 30 years, Red List assessments were rather subjective, relying on the opinions of species specialists. However, as the Red List became a more popular and important reference source for globally threatened species, IUCN recognised the need to make the assessments more objective and scientifically sound.
Work on reviewing the criteria began in the early 1990s and by 1994 the first criteria-based categories were being used for global Red List assessments (Red List Categories & Criteria version 2.3). Over the next six years of using the criteria, assessors raised various issues and problems. With these issues in mind, the criteria were reviewed and the final version (version 3.1) was published in 2001.
The Categories and Criteria are designed for application to all taxonomic groups (other than micro-organisms). The rules outlined in the booklet are therefore quite general in their nature. Since it would be impractical to review the criteria every time issues are raised about how to apply the criteria to different taxa, it was decided that a Standards Working Group be formed to write and regularly update a set of Guidelines to outline some of the concepts behind the criteria and explain in greater detail how they should be applied under different circumstances.
The Guidelines are essential for anyone carrying out an assessment for the IUCN Red List. They are reviewed annually and are available to download from the SSC and the Red List web sites. Users should always check these sites before embarking on assessments to ensure they have the most recent version of the Guidelines.

10. IUCN Red List Categories & Criteria
Version 3.1 (2001)
Version 2.3 (1994)
Also refer to:
Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: version 7.0 (August 2008)
Free download from the IUCN Species Survival Commission web site ( or the Red List web site (
IUCN Red List assessment methodology has undergone several reviews since the 1960s. For 30 years, Red List assessments were rather subjective, relying on the opinions of species specialists. However, as the Red List became a more popular and important reference source for globally threatened species, IUCN recognised the need to make the assessments more objective and scientifically sound.
Work on reviewing the criteria began in the early 1990s and by 1994 the first criteria-based categories were being used for global Red List assessments (Red List Categories & Criteria version 2.3). Over the next six years of using the criteria, assessors raised various issues and problems. With these issues in mind, the criteria were reviewed and the final version (version 3.1) was published in 2001.
The Categories and Criteria are designed for application to all taxonomic groups (other than micro-organisms). The rules outlined in the booklet are therefore quite general in their nature. Since it would be impractical to review the criteria every time issues are raised about how to apply the criteria to different taxa, it was decided that a Standards Working Group be formed to write and regularly update a set of Guidelines to outline some of the concepts behind the criteria and explain in greater detail how they should be applied under different circumstances.
The Guidelines are essential for anyone carrying out an assessment for the IUCN Red List. They are reviewed annually and are available to download from the SSC and the Red List web sites. Users should always check these sites before embarking on assessments to ensure they have the most recent version of the Guidelines.

11. Terrestrial biodiversity
(6,260)
(9,990)
(5,488)
(910)

12. Marine biodiversity Polidoro et al.
6 groupes d’espèces marines ont été évalués (requins, mérous, coraux, oiseaux, mammifères, tortues).
Les pourcentages d’espèces menacées pour chacun des groupes sont représentés en rouge sur ce graphique et sont particulièrement importants (surtout pour les coraux) d’autant que pour certains groupes comme les requins ou les mammifères le nombre d’espèces dans la Catégorie Données Insuffisantes est très important
Polidoro et al.

13. Freshwater biodiversity
Darwall et al.
Pour les espèces d’eau douce nous avons focalisé nos efforts sur 5 groupes (poissons, crabes, mollusques, libellules et plantes)
Nous commençons à avoir des résultats assez détaillés
Si l’on regarde les poissons, les pourcentages d’espèces menacées (en rouge) peuvent atteindre plus de 50% pour les espèces endémiques de la région Méditerranéenne ou de Madagascar
Nous sommes capables d’identifier les zones où les menaces sont les plus importantes (ex de l’Afrique australe et de l’Est) 13

14. The Past:

15. Introduction to the IUCN Red Listing Process

16. The IUCN Red List Categories & Criteria
All materials are freely available on IUCN Red List web site:

17. CR A2ace;B1ab(iii) Category: Critically Endangered
Rabb’s Fringe-limbed Treefrog Ecnomiohyla rabborum
Category: Critically Endangered
CR A2ace;B1ab(iii)
Criteria & subcriteria

18. The IUCN Categories Extinct (EX) Extinct in the Wild (EW)
Least Concern (LC)
Extinct in the Wild (EW)
THREATENED
Endangered (EN)
Critically Endangered (CR)
Vulnerable (VU)
Data Deficient (DD)
Near Threatened (NT)
Not Evaluated (NE)
There are NINE IUCN Red List categories.

19. Extinct in the Wild (EW)
A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable
doubt that the last individual has
died.
Dodo, Raphus cucullatus
Extinct (EX)
Extinct in the Wild (EW)
A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalized population (or populations)
well outside the past range.
Franklinia,
Franklinia alatamaha
Photo © Craig Hilton-Taylor
Definitions in the User Guidelines:
Extinct - A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. A taxon is presumed Extinct when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon’s life cycles and life form.
Extinct in the Wild – A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population (or populations) well outside the past range. A taxon is presumed Extinct in the Wild when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon's life cycle and life form.

20. Photo © Craig Hilton-Taylor
A taxon is threatened when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for the thresholds stated in one of the three threatened categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable.
Critically Endangered (CR)
CR taxa are considered to be facing an extremely
high risk of extinction in the wild
Mandrinette, Hibiscus fragilis
Photo © Wendy Strahm
Endangered (EN)
EN taxa are considered to be facing a
very high risk of extinction in the wild
Black-browed Albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys
Photo © Tony Palliser
Definitions in the User Guidelines:
Critically Endangered - A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Critically Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
Endangered - A taxon is Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
Vulnerable - A taxon is Vulnerable when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable, and it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Each of these categories have a set of criteria and thresholds attached to them, which will be shown in detail later.
Vulnerable (VU)
VU taxa are considered to be facing a high risk of
extinction in the wild
Golden Pagoda, Mimetes chrysanthus
Photo © Craig Hilton-Taylor

21. Near Threatened (NT) Least Concern (LC)
A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against the criteria and does not qualify for CR, EN or VU now, but is close to qualifying for
or is likely to qualify for a threatened
category in the near future.
Macaronesian Laurel, Laurus azorica
Photo © H. Fraga
Least Concern (LC)
A taxon is Least Concern when it has been evaluated against the criteria and does not qualify for CR, EN,
VU or NT. Widespread and abundant taxa
are included in this category.
Olive Baboon, Papio anumbis
Photo © Caroline Pollock
Definitions in the User Guidelines:
Near Threatened - A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against the criteria but does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.
(NT details on p. 56 of the User Guidelines) - To qualify for the Near Threatened category, the taxon should be close to qualifying for the Vulnerable category. The estimates of population size or habitat should be close to the Vulnerable thresholds, especially when there is a high degree of uncertainty, or possibly meet some of the subcriteria. This may be combined with biological susceptibility and threat. The category Near Threatened is not specified by its own criteria, but instead by the proximity of a species to the criteria for the category Vulnerable. For taxa listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, assessors are asked to indicate as part of the justification, which criteria were nearly met. For example, NT listing would be justified in the following cases (in each case, any criteria not specifically mentioned are not met and are not nearly met):
Least Concern - A taxon is Least Concern when it has been evaluated against the criteria and does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

22. Solanum [Cyphomandra] betacea
Data Deficient (DD)
A taxon is Data Deficient when there is inadequate information to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its
risk of extinction based on its distribution
and/or population status.
Tree Tomato
Solanum [Cyphomandra] betacea
Definitions in the User Guidelines:
Data Deficient - A taxon is DD when there is inadequate information to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution and/or population status. A taxon in this category may be well studied, and its biology well known, but appropriate data on abundance and/or distribution are lacking. Data Deficient is therefore not a category of threat. Listing of taxa in this category indicates that more information is required and acknowledges the possibility that future research will show that threatened classification is appropriate. It is important to make positive use of whatever data are available. In many cases great care should be exercised in choosing between DD and a threatened status. If the range of a taxon is suspected to be relatively circumscribed, if a considerable period of time has elapsed since the last record of the taxon, threatened status may well be justified.
Not Evaluated - A taxon is Not Evaluated when it is has not yet been evaluated against the criteria.
Not Evaluated (NE)
A taxon is Not Evaluated when it has not
yet been evaluated against the criteria

23. The IUCN Red List Criteria

24. Nature of the Criteria A B C D E THREATENED CATEGORIES CRITERIA
Critically Endangered (CR)
Endangered (EN)
Vulnerable (VU) A
Population reduction B
Restricted geographic range
Quantitative thresholds C
Small population size & decline
Five criteria are used, based on different aspects of extinction risk, to determine which threatened category applies to the taxon. The criteria are independent of each other (I.e., meeting the thresholds under criterion B does not mean that the rules for criterion E also applies to the taxon).
Very small or restricted population D E
Quantitative analysis

25. Why use multiple criteria?
Not all the criteria are appropriate to all taxa.
All taxa being assessed must be evaluated against each criterion.
Meeting any one of the criteria qualifies a taxon for listing at that level of threat
All criteria met at the highest level of threat should be listed.
Although not all the criteria are appropriate for all taxa, when carrying out an assessment it is important to consider all five criteria against the available data. This is because although a taxon may immediately qualify for VU under criterion A, there may also be evidence that it actually qualifies for CR under another criterion – if the other criteria are not considered after “A”, then this higher listing will be missed.
Taxa do not need to meet all 5 criteria to fall into a threatened category – one criterion is sufficient. However, if more than one criterion applies for one category, all the applicable criteria for that category must be given in the assessment.

26. Past, present or future population reduction
Criterion A
Past, present or future population reduction
Time
Population Size

27. Criterion A Based on any of four criteria:
A1: Population reduction in past and causes of decline now ceased
A2: Population reduction in past and causes of decline ongoing
A3: Population reduction expected in future
A4: Population reduction in past AND future

28. Criterion B
Restricted geographic range and fragmentation, continuing decline or extreme fluctuations

29. Criterion B Based on either of two sub-criteria:
B1: Estimated extent of occurrence
AND / OR
B2: Estimated area of occupancy
AND at least TWO of a-c:
a. Severely fragmented or few locations
b. Continuing decline
c. Extreme fluctuations
Criterion B was designed to identify populations with restricted distributions that are also severely fragmented, undergoing a form of continuing decline, and/or exhibiting extreme fluctuations (in the present or near future). It is important to pay particular attention to criterion B, as it is the most commonly misused criterion.

30. Criterion B Subcriterion B1 Subcriterion B2 CR EN VU
Extent of occurrence estimated to be:
Subcriterion B2
Area of occupancy estimated to be:
< 10 km² CR
< 100 km²
< 500 km²
< 5,000 km² EN
< 2,000 km² VU
< 20,000 km²

31. Criterion B AND at least TWO of a, b or c: CR EN VU
a. Severely fragmented or # locations:
b. Continuing decline in any of the following:
EOO
AOO
Area, extent and/or quality of habitat
# locations or subpopulations
# mature individuals
c. Extreme fluctuation in any of the following:
EOO
AOO
# locations or subpopulations
# mature individuals 1 CR
 5 EN VU
 10

32. Small population size and continuing decline
Criterion C
Small population size and continuing decline
Extinct

33. Criterion C Based on small population size AND either C1 or C2:
C1: Continuing decline in population size at a specified rate OR
C2: Continuing decline in population size at any, unspecified rate AND either C2a or C2b:
C2a: (i) very small subpopulations, OR (ii) most mature individuals are in one subpopulation
C2b: extreme fluctuations in number of mature individuals

34. Criterion C Thresholds for criterion C CR EN VU
Population size is estimated at:
< 250 mature individuals CR
< 2,500 mature individuals EN
< 10,000 mature individuals VU

35. Criterion C Subcriterion C1 CR EN VU Estimated continuing decline of:
 25% within 3 years or 1 generation CR
 20% within 5 years or 2 generations EN VU
 10% within 10 years or 3 generations

36. Criterion C Subcriterion C2 AND at least one of the following: CR EN
Observed, projected or inferred continuing decline at any rate
AND at least one of the following:
C2a(i).
All subpopulations have:
C2a(ii).
One subpopulation contains:
C2b.
There are extreme fluctuations in number of mature individuals. CR
< 50 mature individuals
 90% of the mature individuals
< 250 mature individuals
 95% of the mature individuals EN
The diagram is an attempt to make this criterion easier to understand (I’m not entirely sure it achieves this aim yet!)
Criterion C was designed to identify taxa with small populations that are currently declining or may decline in the near future. For criterion C the small population threshold must be met as well as one of the two subcriteria that describe decline.
Subcriterion C1 – first the population size threshold must be met. Then continuing decline in population size must be estimate at a particular rate (see the thresholds). If decline at a specific rate cannot be estimated but the population size threshold is met, then consider subcriterion C2.
Subcriterion C2 – first the population size threshold must be met. Then there must be continuing decline in population size (at any rate). Then either the structure of the population must be restricted (either small subpopulations, or most of the total population being in one subpopulation), or extreme fluctuations in population size occur.
100% of the mature individuals
< 1,000 mature individuals VU

37. Very small or restricted population
Criterion D
Very small or restricted population

38. Criterion D
Criterion D is split into D for the CR and EN categories; and D1 and D2 for the VU category.
D. Total current population size estimated as:
D1. Total current population size estimated as:
NOTE: for the VU D2, there should be a plausible threat that is likely to rapidly affect the population.
< 50 mature individuals CR
< 250 mature individuals EN
D2. The population has a very restricted AOO (typically <20 km²) or is known from very few locations (typically ≤5).
< 1,000 mature individuals VU

39. Quantitative analysis
Criterion E
Quantitative analysis
= oh ohh!

40. Critically Endangered
Criterion E
Based on quantitative analysis showing a probability of extinction in the wild is at least:
50%
Critically Endangered
20%
Endangered
10%
Vulnerable
Within 10 years or 3 generations
Within 20 years or 5 generations
Within 100 years
Up to a maximum of 100 years in the future