11 research outputs found
European red list of grasshoppers, crickets and bush-crickets
The European Red List is a review of the conservation
status of European species according to IUCN regional
Red Listing guidelines. It identifies those species that are
threatened with extinction at the regional level, so that
appropriate conservation action can be taken to improve
their status. This Red List publication summarises results
for all hitherto described native European Orthoptera
species (grasshoppers, crickets and bush-crickets). All Orthoptera species (grasshoppers, crickets and bushcrickets) native to or naturalised in Europe before AD
1500 (a total of 1,082 species), have been assessed in
this Red List. The geographical scope is continent-wide,
extending from Iceland in the west to the Urals in the
east, and from Franz Josef Land in the north to the
Canary Islands in the south. The Caucasus region is not
included. Red List assessments were made at two regional
levels: for geographical Europe, and for the 28 Member
States of the European Union in 2016. The status of all species was assessed using the IUCN
Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN 2012a), which is
the world\u2019s most widely accepted system for measuring
extinction risk. All assessments followed the Guidelines
for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and
National Levels (IUCN 2012b).
The assessments were compiled based on the data and
knowledge from a network of leading European experts
on Orthoptera. The assessments were then completed
and reviewed at six workshops held in Italy, Greece,
France, Bulgaria, Spain and Germany as well as through
email correspondence with relevant experts. More than
145 experts participated in the assessment and review
process for European Orthoptera species. Assessments
are available on the European Red List website and
data portal: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/
conservation/species/redlist and http://www.iucnredlist.
org/initiatives/europe. Overall, 25.7% and 28% of Orthoptera species are
assessed as threatened at the European and EU 28 levels,
respectively. However, the exact proportion of threatened
species is uncertain, as there are 107 (10%) Data Deficient
(DD) species in Europe and 84 DD species (8.5%) in the
EU 28. Estimating that a similar relative proportion of the
DD assessments are likely to be threatened (IUCN 2011),
the best estimate of the threatened share of Orthoptera
species is thus 28.5% in Europe and 30.6% in the EU 28.
Further research on DD species to clarify their status is
therefore critical. A further 13.9% (149 species) and 13%
(128 species) are considered Near Threatened in Europe
and in the EU 28, respectively.
By comparison, the best estimate of threatened
species of those other groups that have been assessed
comprehensively in Europe is 58% of freshwater molluscs,
40% of freshwater fishes, 23% of amphibians, 20% of
reptiles, 17% of mammals, 16% of dragonflies, 13% of
birds, 9% of butterflies and bees, 8% of aquatic plants and
marine fishes and 2% of medicinal plants (IUCN 2015).
Additional European Red Lists assessing a selection of
species showed that 22% of terrestrial molluscs, 16% of
crop wild relatives and 15% of saproxylic beetles are also
threatened (IUCN 2015). No other groups have yet been
assessed at the European level.
Looking at the population trends of European Orthoptera
species, 30.2% (325 species) have declining populations,
7.6% (82 species) are believed to be more or less stable
and 3.2% (34 species) are increasing. However, the
population trends for the majority of species (59%, 634
species) remain unknown.
Out of the 739 species that are endemic to Europe
(i.e., they are found nowhere else in the world), 231
(31.3%) are threatened, highlighting the responsibility
that European countries have to protect the global
populations of these species.
Overall, the European areas with the highest diversity
of species are found in southern Europe, especially in
the Mediterranean region and the Balkans. Hotspots
of endemic species are found in the Iberian, the Italian and the Balkan Peninsulas, and in some large mountain
areas (the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians and Appenines).
The greatest concentration of threatened species is found
along some Mediterranean coasts and Mediterranean
mountain blocks. Finally, the number of Data Deficient
species reflects the general distribution of Orthoptera
species, being highest in the Mediterranean and the
Lower Volga region in southern European Russia.
The main threat to European Orthoptera is the loss,
degradation and fragmentation of their habitats as a
consequence of agricultural land use intensification. This
includes direct destruction by transformation of permanent
grassland or shrubland habitats into cropland, degradation
of habitat quality caused by overgrazing, abandonment, use
of fertilisers or heavy machinery and direct mortality from
frequent mowing or the use of pesticides. Other important
threats to Orthoptera are the increasing frequency of
wildfires, touristic development and urbanisation, climate
change, afforestation and intensive forest management,
drainage and river regulations, recreational activities,
deforestation, limestone quarrying and sand excavations
and invasive species.Orthoptera are a diverse group of insects with more
than 1,000 species known to occur in Europe and play
important roles in the ecosystem such as being part of
the food chain and prey to many vertebrate species.
They are also good indicators of land use intensity,
which makes them one of the most important
invertebrate groups for environmental monitoring
and assessment.
Conservation strategies for the European Orthoptera
species with the highest extinction risk should be
developed and implemented.
The European Red List should be used to inform
nature and biodiversity policies to improve the status
of threatened species.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be
enhanced by promoting traditional low-intensity
agricultural land use systems, particularly pastoralism
in Europe, and committing to a long-term reduction
in the use of pesticides and fertilisers, encouraging the
uptake of alternative pest management.
Orthoptera species should be made a standard group
for inclusion in Environmental Impact Assessments to
avoid negative impacts of new development projects
on threatened species.Degraded habitats of threatened Orthoptera species
throughout Europe should be restored and guidelines
for the optimal management of Orthoptera habitats
should be developed.
The protection of Orthoptera habitats throughout
Europe should be improved, so that each threatened
and endemic European species is present in at
least one protected area with an adequate adaptive
management scheme and monitoring for threatened
Orthoptera species.
Orthoptera inventories in protected areas should
be made mandatory to identify priority species for
the respective area and develop strategies for their
protection.
A pan-European monitoring programme for
Orthoptera species should be developed, by merging
all existing recording schemes.
Specific research on those species that have not been
recently recorded in Europe to clarify if they may be
Extinct or Regionally Extinct, or have been assessed
as Data Deficient should be conducted and funding
mechanisms should be put in place to support this
research.
The effects of the lesser understood threats (e.g.,
wildfires, pesticides, climate change) on Orthoptera
should be studied.
The European Red List of Grasshoppers, Crickets and
Bush-crickets should be revised at regular intervals of
ten years, and whenever new data becomes available