Invertebrates and threatened species legislation

Abstract

Invertebrates dominate both terrestrial and aquatic environments in terms of their diversity, yet few have been listed as threatened. Does this really mean that few species are threatened, or is it more likely that we just do not know enough about invertebrate populations? Realistically, given the slow acquisition of knowledge of invertebrates in Australia, it is argued that listing of invertebrates is suitable only for "iconic" species in order to raise community awareness. A more effective avenue is the conservation of habitats or communities for invertebrates as well as the implementation of legislation to identify and tackle key threatening processes. Until both the public and scientific community become aware of the importance of invertebrates in ecosystem functioning, there will be little pressure on conservation agencies to conserve invertebrates.

Trends and biases in the listing and recovery planning for threatened species: an Australian case study

“…Knowledge of the overall biodiversity in Australia remains inadequate, and even for many well studied species we have insufficient knowledge of their spatial distribution and the processes that threaten them (Kingsford et al, 2009). These knowledge shortfalls, known as the Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls (Whittaker et al, 2005), are not unique to Australia and are a significant problem in the listing of threatened species worldwide (Wilcove et al, 1998;Hutchings, 2004;Rodrigues, 2006). They can only be overcome with increased funds for threatened species TABLE 4 The number of species in each taxonomic group and threat status that have a nationally adopted single species or multi-species recovery plan, the total number of species with plans, and the percentage of threatened species with a plan.…”