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Research effort is critical to the success of interventions which aim to reduce de clines in biodiversity and so can be considered as a conservation resource. European bird species are among the best studied and most popular groups of animals, yet 1 in 10 are currently globally threatened or near threatened, and many have been prioritised by various multilateral environmental agreements. To investigate how research effort is directed towards European bird species, and in particular whether conservation listing prompts additional research, the number of outputs from a Web of Science search related to conservation was used to develop an index of research effort for each species. This index was then analysed against a set of population, morphological, ecological and socioeconomic parameters collated from the literature, plus measures of threat level. A series of generalised linear models revealed that the most important factors in explaining the distribution of research effort amongst European bird species included ‘European population size’, ‘potential research investment’ and ‘habitat type’, which were linked to ease of study. Also important were the species’ generation length, 1990−2000 European population trend and migration status. Research effort was not well targeted with respect to either European or global threat status, and there was little support for the suggestion that inclusion of species in legislative instruments such as Annex I of the EU Birds Directive might stimulate research. Research effort must become better prioritised to achieve the greatest net conservation benefit.

Red lists are important tools applied worldwide to species conservation, but dis- agreements between lists can affect their implementation and credibility. We searched global, national and local threatened species lists for Brazilian reef fish species and compared the differ- ences between them with respect to categories and criteria applied. Of 559 Brazilian reef fish spe- cies, 125 have been evaluated against threat criteria at different scales; a total of 43 are listed as threatened with extinction. Of 43 threatened species, 32 are mentioned in the global IUCN Red List, 11 are referred to in the national inventory, and state lists also cite 11. Six endemic species are threatened; of these, 3 are listed by the IUCN, 5 at the national level and 2 are threatened in Espirito Santo state. This highlights a mismatch between species lists: 84.8% of the species listed as globally threatened do not appear in the national list, whereas 54.5% of the species mentioned on the Brazilian list are not in the IUCN Red List. Moreover, we found disagreements in the set of categories and criteria applied in the different red listing processes. The same categories and quantitative criteria must be applied in all regional red lists, so that conservation actions are more effective and lists are trustworthy. This is imperative to attract financial support for threatened species management and recovery. Management plans must be developed for those species already listed as threatened in Brazil. In addition, a review of the national list and the inclusion of threatened Brazilian endemic fishes in the IUCN Red List are needed.

Marine conservation activities around the globe are largely undertaken in the absence of comprehensive species-specific information. To address this gap, complete regional species assemblages of major marine taxa are being progressively assessed against the Categories and Criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threat- ened Species. The present study is the first analysis of entire major components of the biota of a large marine biogeographic region conducted in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP). It is based on recently completed IUCN Red List assessments for all known species of bony and cartilaginous shorefishes, corals, mangroves, and seagrasses in the TEP. Twelve percent of the >1600 species assessed are in threatened categories, indicative of elevated extinction risk. Spatial analysis of all assessed taxonomic groups, including previous IUCN Red List assessments for seabirds, marine mammals, and marine turtles, highlights specific geographical areas of elevated threatened- species richness. The distribution of threatened species in the TEP is primarily linked to areas with high rates of overfishing, habitat loss, and increasing El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event impacts, as well as oceanic islands with high stochastic risk factors for endemic species. Species assigned to the highest threat categories have life history traits that likely decrease their resilience to various regional and site-specific threats. Comprehensive information in the form of IUCN Red List assessments combined with spatial analysis will greatly help to refine both site- and species- specific marine conservation priorities in the TEP.

This paper examines the extent to which depleted whale populations have recovered (or not) and their perceived current conservation status and prognosis for continued survival, as repre- sented in the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red Lists. It is concluded that current hypothetical and untested predictions of extinction risk, while in many cases drawing attention to justifiable conservation needs, may seriously undervalue the resilience of species that have evolved to live in a dynamic and ever-changing reality including cen- turies of heavy exploitation by humankind. The paper questions the appropriateness of Red Listing criteria for long-lived highly mobile ocean-dwelling species that are scarcely affected by the princi- pal threats upon terrestrial or aquatic species living in relatively restricted areas subject to habitat fragmentation and/or loss. This analysis draws attention to the problems associated with objectively assessing the conservation status of charismatic species and the value conflicts that may override evidence-based scientific conservation assessments.

The 2 major challenges currently confronting the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with regard to the 'red listing' process are the taxonomic, and the geographic growth of the data base. Taxonomic growth refers to the objective of gradually assessing the risk of extinction of all the world's species and periodically repeating such assessments. Geographic growth refers to the increasing number of people around the world interested in performing extinction risk assessments for various groups of organisms in their region or country. The taxonomic challenge, although a large and demanding task, can be addressed by expanding and strengthening the net- works of experts organized within the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), which represents a significant scaling-up of a well-developed, known model. However, no current structure within the IUCN has the mandate to address the geographic challenge; this requires the creation of new struc- tures or mechanisms. At least 5 key activities must be implemented to effectively integrate the diffuse network of national assessors into the global red listing process: (1) large-scale publicizing of the Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional Levels, and encouraging the work of national assessors; (2) establishing the IUCN Species Programme as the primary trainer and certifier of multipliers; (3) delegating the majority of training to national institutions; (4) creating a virtual data clearing house for national red lists, seamlessly linked to the global list; and (5) consolidating the IUCN Species Programme as the primary endorser of national red list assessments. Hundreds of regional and national red lists will probably be produced in the next decade using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, particularly because they are now recognized by international agreements such as the 2010 biodiversity target of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nation's General Assembly Millennium Development Goals. By catalyzing this process, the IUCN would expand the information on the world's threatened species, while strengthening local scientific capa- city for generating and using these data to support conservation action.

The Red List of Threatened Species, produced by the International Union for the Con- servation of Nature and Natural Resources/World Conservation Union (IUCN) classifies the global populations of all 7 sea turtle species, except the flatback Natator depressus, as Endangered or Crit- ically Endangered. However, the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG), which carries out the assessments for the IUCN, is experiencing internal debate over the relevance and usefulness of such statements. Assigning a distinct Red List category to the global population, as a single manage- ment unit, does not capture the reality of regional and local populations that tend to have different (positive or negative) trajectories. From a technical viewpoint, setting the time scale for assessment at 3 generations, which is 60 to 100+ yr for sea turtles, means few reference points are available for quantifying past changes in abundance. Moreover, it hardly establishes a sense of urgency for action to prevent future changes over long time scales. The application of current Red List criteria, resulting in flawed categorizations, creates problems of credibility. When a species that may number in the mil- lions in an ocean basin is classified as being at the same 'very high risk of extinction in the wild,' as a species represented by just a few individuals, there is something fundamentally wrong with the assessment system. We suggest that MTSG members desist from using the current Red List criteria to generate implausible global assessments of extinction risk and instead concentrate their efforts on developing more realistic and credible criteria, perhaps for application at the regional level.

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Spe- cies™ (RL) is widely recognised as an authoritative assessment of the conservation status of species, yet its coverage is uneven and incomplete. Trees account for approximately 20% of taxa currently included, but most of these were listed a decade ago. Over the last 10 yr, only 879 taxa have been added to the RL database, representing 11% of the number listed in 1998. However, progress has not been as limited as these data suggest. Ten recent assessments of different groups of trees are pro- filed, and the lessons learned from these assessments are summarised. In total, these assessments have evaluated >2500 tree taxa, but only a fraction of these have been added to the RL database, rais- ing concerns about the process of data management. Results indicated that a mean of 42% taxa were classified as threatened. Information on the status and distribution of most tree species is severely lacking, a situation compounded by taxonomic confusion in many groups. As a result, RL assessments will continue to be highly dependent on expert knowledge originating from herbarium data, which, as demonstrated here, tends to result in a relatively high proportion of taxa being listed under RL Cri- teria B1 and B2. Given this situation, attempts to use the RL to support global monitoring of biodiver- sity appear premature, and much greater support needs to be given to collection of primary field data and expert knowledge to accurately ascertain the current status of the world's threatened tree spe- cies.

Systematic conservation planning aims to identify comprehensive protected area networks that together will minimize biodiversity loss. Importantly, conservation planners seek to determine where to allocate limited resources first, particularly given the uneven spread of, and threats to, biodiversity. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species incorporates data not only on threats to species, but also on species distributions and ecological requirements. These temporal and spatial attributes, when combined with other datasets, have proven useful for determining the most urgent priority areas for conserving biodiversity, from the global level down to the scale of individual sites. Although many challenges remain, the increasing reliability and comprehensiveness of the IUCN Red List suggests that its role as a source of biodiversity data in systematic conservation planning is certain to expand dramatically.

The scale of the global biodiversity crisis means that international efforts to identify, conserve and monitor threatened species must be carried out at a greater speed than ever before. Recent developments in information technology present an opportunity to speed up the production of species conservation assessments, and methods and prospects for this are discussed in the context of the work being conducted on plant assessments for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Sampled Red List Index. The need for an internationally agreed upon, comparable, standardised system such as the Red List is emphasised here, but ultimately more efficient tech- niques must be developed to supplement the existing approach if this is to be able to meet the global demand.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (www.redlist.org) is a comprehensive list of relative extinction risk for species throughout the world, and it is commonly referenced in the scien- tific literature. Established in 1963, the IUCN Red List and its Criteria have been revised regularly to make them more scientific and objective. Nevertheless, the aim of the IUCN Red List to establish global standards across varied taxa has generated some controversy, particularly in terms of what is the most appropriate scale for both assessing the threat of extinction and setting conservation priori- ties for particular species. The papers included in this Theme Section of Endangered Species Research focus on the IUCN Red List and provide several recommendations for strengthening this conservation tool.