Journal
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
Volume 145, Issue 1, Pages 258-266Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.021
Keywords
Distribution; Extinction; Hotspots; Threatened species; Population trend
Funding
- Conservation Agency of the Flemish Regional Government (Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos)
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Red Lists are used to assess the extinction risk of species based on quantitative IUCN criteria. For the compilation of a new Red List of butterflies in Flanders (north Belgium), we collated ca 800,000 distribution records and applied the IUCN Red List criteria to this small region (ca 135,00 km(2)). We also explored the effect of spatial resolution on the outcome of the Red List assessment by alternatively using 1 x 1 km(2) and 5 x 5 km(2) grid cells for geographic range size and trend calculations. We determined conservation hot spots in Flanders based on the Red List status of the species composition in each grid cell. The new Red List classified 20 butterflies (out of 68 resident species) as Regionally Extinct, six as Critically Endangered, five as Endangered, seven as Vulnerable and seven as Near Threatened. The remaining 23 species were classified as Least Concern. Using coarse instead of fine grain grid cells would have classified ten species in a lower Red List category. Compared with the previous Red List, nine species were classified in a lower and 12 in a higher threat category. In total, 218 1 x 1 km(2) grid cells were considered as (very) high butterfly conservation priority sites. The application of the new IUCN criteria in a small region such as Flanders resulted in a Red List that offered challenging opportunities for the conservation of butterflies in particular and biodiversity in general. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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