IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List was founded in 1964 and became the outstanding inventory of global conservation of plant and animal species. The IUCN list of threatened species normally uses sets of quantitative principles to regulate the extermination risks of thousands of animal and plant species. These principles employed by the IUCN is reverent to most species in all regions of the world. Because of IUCN strong scientific base, it is recognized as the most authoritative monitor of various biological diversity in the globe. The primary aim of IUCN is to convey the urgency of conservation to prevent the extinction of species in the universe. The purpose of this paper is to provide my impression as well as implications and limitations of the IUCN red list in determining species diversity rate.
Personal impression
After exploring the IUCN’s website, I had an impression that most of the plant and animal species are at risk of extinction. From the website, there are thousands of animal and plant species termed as endangered because they are at risk of extinction. For instance, cacti are among the plants with a greater probability of extinction. In kingdom Animalia, the polar bear is among the endangered species. The polar bear has gained attention after a debate on climate change considering that the animal dwells in terrestrial’s habitat.
The implication of species diversity
There is a lot of current and future implication of species diversity. Current implication includes species functionality which strongly influences the ecosystem. The alteration of species diversity leads to the altered ecosystem which in turn leads to species extinction. Species extinction is normally contributed by insensitive to species loss which is contributed by species diversity. The future implication of species diversity is greatly influenced by the extinction of plant and animal species in the environment. The species diversity is set to reduce in the future compared to the number of animal and plant species present currently. Unless action is taken now, extinctions of various plants and animal species are set to increase which in turn leads to a decrease in species diversity
Red List Limitations
There are various limitations the Red List face while determining the species diversity state. Some of these limitations include fragmentation of data which makes it difficult to apply the red list techniques. With data fragmentation problem, the system, therefore, relies on a clear definition of species while some specimens are left unclassified.
Another outstanding limitation face by the Red List is the fact that some species have no sufficient data. The species with limited or no data are potentially at a higher threat of extinctions compared to the species with sufficient data because lack of data normally leads to unobserved extinctions. Therefore, the IUCN evaluators have a task of advocating for all data deficiency species to be closely examined until much is known about them. Below par known taxa assessment should be submitted to the expert assessors for a thorough evaluation.
Ambiguity in IUCN categories is another limitation faced by Red List to determine the state of species diversity. The IUCN categories have failed to imitate the distant of an existing population from a risk opposing the size of the minimum population required for evolution potential and long term feasibility of a population. Furthermore, Red List has been negatively criticized for not accounting for the value of hereditary information and also addressing the issues of species with fewer inherited relations.
The other limitation is Red List normally excludes taxa with smaller body size and only focus on the taxa with larger body sizes. This means that the Red List normally target conservation to emblematic groups and excluding other groups. Also, the Red List generally focuses on current condition thus exacerbate data accuracy.
Uses of Red List
IUCN Red List of the ecosystem is a newly developed and growing toolbox with its main functionality of evaluating biodiversity risks by addressing the functionality of the ecosystem. Typically the Red List allows systematic evaluation of terrestrial, marine, subterranean and freshwater ecosystem in terms of their global risks of collapse. Furthermore, the red list provides ecosystem base of technical assessment in terms of region, national and international status level. To be effective in the national and international level the Red List of Ecosystem developed strategies and guideline to be applied in their categories. For instance, the Red List will inform and strengthen reports on the progress of species diversity in different ecological environments.
In terms of representation, I think that the Red List is well represented globally. The primary reason for me to conclude so is the fact that rapid destruction of universe biodiversity made nations of the world to rethink and develop strategies aimed at reducing the significant loss of biodiversity. Despite the good representation, the Red List still lack appropriate identification of species diversity.
Conclusion
Indeed, IUCN Red List has played a significant role in identifying the endangered plant and animal species that are in danger of extinction. Despite the strong scientific base, Red List of Ecosystem has some limitations that normally affect species diversity. To prevent biodiversity loss, nature should be given its space.