Any country/state conservation lists that will not accept undescribed taxa? The conservation lists that I'm familiar with (IUCN red list, Western Australian state lists) will accept unnamed taxa as long as they have reference specimens lodged in appropriate institutions. Anyone aware of something different? Thanks.
Dear Melinda Moir
This is important in our country. An undescribed animal species will not be included in the Red Book, or local lists of species to be protected. Here are some of my articles and books.
Book Редкие и исчезающие виды насекомых Insecta Центрального Предкавказья
Book Красная книга Краснодарского края. Животные
Book Охрана биоразнообразия
Book Red Book of the Stavropol Territory. Volume 2. Animals. 2013
Book Красная книга Ставропольского края
Article Endemism, Relicts and Invasion Spices of Animals in Structur...
Article Role of Red Data Book in Conservation of Biodiversity in Sta...
Regards, Sergey Viktorovich Pushkin
Undescribed species in many jurisdictions in the United States are used in conservation planning, but cannot be formally treated ("listed") under laws that provide regulation of trade or habitat destruction.
One could regard this as legalistic and fussy, but it actually makes a lot of sense. If the listed status of a species is challenged, the listing agency needs to have scientific documentation of its taxonomic status and its imperilment status as backup for its legal status.
Thanks Alan, true. I suppose in our situation the weight of the legal process would fall partly on the taxonomic expert to prove that it was indeed a distinct species. If the expert was involved in the listing process, then I can't see why this would be a problem.
When assessing conservation status, not only the number of individuals remaining, but overall increase or decrease of species population over time, breeding rates of species and any known threats are taken into consideration. So, the importance of name is not that important for a species to be assessed in the conservation list.
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