According to the latest revision of the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),worrying declines in conifers-the oldest and largest organisms in the world-, thefreshwater shrimp– 28% are threatened with extinction – the conical snails and the finless porpoise of the Yangtze. To this is added that the Cape Verdean giant skink, a species of lizard, the Santa Cruz fish and a species of freshwater shrimp have been declared endangered.
With these updated data, 4,807 species have been added to the IUCN Red List and the total number of species evaluated currently stands at 70,294. “Thanks to the Red List, we now have more information than ever on the state of biodiversity in the world,” says Jane Smart, Global Director of the IUCN Biodiversity Conservation Group. But the overall picture is alarming. We must use this knowledge to the fullest, applying well-directed and efficient conservation efforts, if we truly want tostop the extinction crisis that continues to threaten all life on Earth”.
Conifers, in danger
The revision of the Red List includes the first global reassessment of conifers. According to the results,34% of the world’s cedars, cypress, spruce and other plants with cones or cones are currently threatened with extinction, which represents an increase of 4% since the last comprehensive assessment carried out in 1998. The conservation status of 33 coniferous species has decreased, includingCalifornia Monterey Pine ( Pinus radiata ), the most planted pine in the world, valued for its rapid growth and the qualities of its pulp. The tree has been moved from the category “Least Concern” – used for species with a relatively low risk of extinction – to “Endangered”, with significant threats due to wild goats and attacks by an invasive pathogen. Another conifer species previously classified as “Least Concern”, the Atlas cedar (Chamaecyparis) indigenous to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco, has become “Endangered” due to overexploitation. Its small population is threatened by various pests.
On the other hand, action in favor of conservation has achievedimprove the situation of Lawson’s cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana). This was once a highly commercialized species, but now the tree is in Near Threatened conservation status, thanks to better management practices in California and Oregon that include planting disease-resistant seedlings. If conservation actions continue, this conifer may become Least Concern within 10 years. “The conservation work and the results achieved with the Lawson cypress reassure us,” says Aljos Farjon, Chairman of the IUCN CSE Group of Conifers Specialists. “However, it is clear that this is not enough. More research on the status and distribution of many species is urgent. It seems to us that there are many new species that are waiting to be described but that it is possible that they will never be discovered due to the rate of deforestation and conversion of habitats into oil production plantations ”.
Theconifers are the oldest and largest species on the planet. The long-lived pine (Finns aged), for example, can live up to nearly 5,000 years, and the redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) can reach a height of up to 110 meters. Excluding wetlands, conifers capture more carbon than any other biome, three times the amount captured by tropical and temperate forests. Its economic value is immense; conifers are used in the production of wood and paper, and theTaxol® anticancer agentIt is obtained from the bark of many species of yew.
Three extinctions
Three species have been declared extinct. Last seen in 1912, the Cape Verdean giant skink (Chioninia coctei), a lizard that was restricted to a single island and two smaller islands, has become extinct as a result of the introduction of rats and cats. The little fish of Santa Cruz (Cyprinodon arcuatus) —Which once inhabited the Arizona watershed— is now extinct due to diminishing water, and freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium leptodactylus) was a victim of habitat degradation and urban development.
