A new “Red List of the flora of Cuba” has been published!

Experts from more than 30 Cuban institutions, led by the IUCN/SSC Cuban Plant Specialist Group and the National Botanic Garden, University of Havana, published a new edition of the “Red List of the flora of Cuba”. This publication accounts approximately for 15 % of all plant species assessed worldwide according to the IUCN criteria and for 66.5 % of Cuban plants.

The new “Red List”, and all the supporting documents, increased by 300% the knowledge about the conservation status of Cuban plantlife – one of the world’s most diverse island floras. This publication constitutes also a baseline for setting priorities for its preservation and sustainable management.

The Red List of the flora of Cuba compiles assessments for 4627 Cuban plant species. It also provides a general overview of the conservation situation of Cuban plants by regions of the country, vegetation type, protected areas, among other criteria. The publication also includes the abstracts of more than 30 major plant conservation and management projects in Cuba. Three of the projects that stand out for their impact are the National System of Protected Areas, the National Network of Botanical Gardens and Planta! – the Cuban Plant Conservation Initiative. These project summaries will contribute to spread the work done over the last ten years to protect the unique flora of Cuba among decision-makers, researchers and the general public . Hopefully, they will also serve as an inspiration for the creation of new conservation initiatives.

Highlights of the “2016 Red List of the Flora of Cuba”:

Conservation actions should continue increasing connectivity of natural areas, protected or not.

Current management practices of naturally areas covered by bushes or native grasslands of high endemism should improve.

Forest cover indexes should not be used as the only indicators of the conservation status of plant communities.

Pinar del Rio, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo are the provinces with the highest number of threatened species; Baracoa is the municipality of the country with the largest number of species in these categories, with 285 taxa.

 

Mountain rainforests and xeromorphic thickets are plant communities with the highest number of threatened species. However, it is in the lower areas, where most of the Extinct species are recorded, hence the importance of maximizing the protection of preserving remnants of coastal and subcostal xeromorphic thickets, serpentine thickets and freshwater communities.

 

Plant conservation programs should continue monitoring threatened plants, as well as enhancing natural history studies, environmental education and ecological, population and taxonomic research.

Cuba is the Caribbean island with the highest percentage of threatened species relative to its total assessed flora (46.31%), and presents as many endangered species as Madagascar.

The Red List of the flora of Cuba comprises 15% of all plant species assessed according to the IUCN criteria, and 66.57% of the estimated total of Cuban plant species.

The Red List is available at https://www.planta.ngo and https://www.researchgate.net/ DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.24056.65288

The assessments of the conservation situation of plant species has been the main task of the Cuban Plant Specialist Group (GEPC) since its inception in 2003. The publication of the Red List represents the culmination of 10 years of intensive work of GEPC members and collaborators. The process of compiling and editing the Red List has been supported by many specialists, and students from the Faculty of Biology, University of Havana. The Red List project had the support of the National Botanic Garden, the Cuban Environmental Agency, the National Centre for Protected Areas, the Cuban Botanical Society, Planta!, the Whitley Fund for Nature, the MBZ Species Conservation Fund, and the project “Connecting Landscapes”, executed by the Institute of Ecology and Systematics (AMA / CITMA) with support from the GEF / UNDP.

 

Highlights of the “2016 Red List of the Flora of Cuba”

Cuban plants are threatened

About 50% of all Cuban plants are threatened by extinction,  18% of them are Critically Endangered

 

Humans are behind the threats

The most common threats for Cuban plants are deforestation, fragmentation, livestock, forestry and agriculture.

25 Cuban plants are extinct

Talk, share, and make decisions in open channels across your team, in private groups for sensitive matters, or use direct messages one-to-one.

Many Amazing Things

In 2016, in Cuba, there are 31% of flowering plants threatened by extinction, 54.5% of ferns and allies, and 78.5% of gymnosperms; 61.78% of all species belonging to Cuban endemic genera are also threatened by extinction.

Reserves shelter threatened flora

73 % of Cuban threatened plant species have at least one population within the National System of Protected Areas. National Parks and Ecological Reserves are the protected areas that support higher number of threatened species.

However, there are 63 protected areas needing plant surveys to identify threatened species occurring inside them.

Many Amazing Things

Talk, share, and make decisions in open channels across your team, in private groups for sensitive matters, or use direct messages one-to-one.

Questions and Answers about the Red List of the Flora of Cuba

What is a Red List?

It is a compilation of the conservation status of species based on the criteria established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This type of compilation allows setting priorities among the species according to their extinction risk, based on the information provided by the specialists. It also provides appropriate advice about the conservation and management actions needed. However, in order to define priorities, guidelines and policies for the conservation of a given species other important factor should be considered in addition to the Red Lists. For example, the probability of success of the recommended conservation actions, the availability of funding and qualified personnel to undertake such actions, and the existence of a legal framework to support the conservation of the given species should be also taken into account for setting conservation priorities.

Why is the Red List needed?

The Red List is the baseline for setting conservation priorities among the species considering their extinction risk. The risk is assessed considering global standardized criteria proposed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and based on information provided by specialists. The Red List provides appropriate advice about the conservation and management actions needed for protecting and/or recovering a given species. Additionally, the Red List can be a very effective tool to raise awareness and education about endangered species.

The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011 – 2020) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, known as Aichi Biodiversity Targets, aims on its Target 12 that by 2020 “the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.” It is therefore a global priority, identify these endangered species to begin concrete conservation actions. Cuba is committed to have assessed the conservation situation of 80% of the flora of the country by 2020.

How is the Red List done?

Researchers, specialists, technicians, hobbyists, and nature enthusiasts provide relevant and documented information about a given species. The data provided for each species is compiled in “Species Information Sheet” that summarizes all known information of the species in question. This information sheets are sent to the Cuban Plant Specialist Group (GEPC) – a group within the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who reviews the data and assign a conservation category to the species according to the criteria established by the IUCN.

How can a species be included on the Red List of the flora of Cuba?

For a species to be formally included on the Red List, it must be categorized as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable, or have been preliminarily assessed as Threatened.

In order to submit a species to be included on the Red List of the flora of Cuba the “Species Information Sheet” should be sent for review and validation to the Cuban Plant Specialist Group (GEPC) – a group within the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who reviews the data and assign a conservation category to the species according to the criteria established by the IUCN.

To make the Red List of the flora of Cuba more user friendly, it includes in alphabetical order, both threatened species and those species that were assessed as Lower Concern and Data Deficient.

What is the difference between a Red List of a Red Book?

A Red Book includes the categories and criteria as the Red List does but it also provides additional information such as brief descriptions, photographs, distribution maps of each species. Also, a red book commonly provides more details on threats and ongoing conservation actions for each species. The Red List is a summarized first approach to the conservation status of the species.

What are the categories and criteria of the Red List?

The categories of the Red List are a compact way of plotting the conservation status Henriettea ramiflora – CR of a species. They were last approved in 2001 by IUCN, where 8 categories and criteria were established in May. The criteria refer to the number of individuals, population size, population expansion, major threats and fragmentation of habitats, among others. The variation in magnitude of these criteria places the species in a given category, being those that require further attention: Extinct, Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable.

How many red lists have been made in Cuba?

Since 1989, they have carried out efforts to categorize species according to their extinction risk. The first attempt was developed by eminent botanists Attila Onaney Muñiz and Borhidi. Other similar listings succeeded him; however, it was not until 2005 that the first “Red List of the Cuban vascular flora”, where 1414 Cuban plants species were categorized according to their risk of extinction is compiled. This LRC’16 shows an increase of 300% in terms of number of species assessed, demonstrating the intense work carried out in the last 10 years by the Cuban Specialist Group Plants, composed of 30 researchers from various national institutions and numerous domestic and foreign partners.

Conservation status of all the flora of Cuba known?

No, so far they have been evaluated 4627 species of plants, representing about 67% of the flora. Yet to be categorized about 1 600 species, mainly families Apocynaceae, Convolvulaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Myrtaceae, Orchidaceae and Poaceae, which represents the main challenge GEPC 2020.

How many plants are Extinct in Cuba?

Extinct in LRC’16 25 taxa, 3 of whom also live outside of Cuba, which only considered Extinct Regional are reported. Regarding the list of 2005, 14 taxa are new reports of extinction. However, the figure not significantly increased due to the location in recent years of new populations of species considered Extinct before, thanks to the efforts of botanists from around the country.

How has changed the state of conservation of the flora of Cuba in the last 10 years?

If we analyze the behavior, 10 years later, the 1414 species analyzed in the Red List of 2005 we see that 290 remain the same category of threat, 272 increased their category and 83 species moved to a lower category. In general we can say that, so far, the vast majority of these category changes are due to a better understanding of the species and not both change in the actual state of their populations or management programs and managing them.

How many plants have been added to the Red List the previous edition?

While the increase in the number of species analyzed is nearly 300%, the increase in the number of threatened species is 115%. In 2005, 997 were reported; today, are 2,143 threatened taxa our flora.

What are the regions of Cuba with the highest number of threatened species?

Pinar del Rio, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo are the provinces with the most number of threatened species, which coincides with the regions with the highest number of plant species. As for the municipalities, Baracoa has the largest number of threatened plant species.

How protected areas contribute to the conservation of the flora of Cuba?

Cuban protected areas occupy 17.16% of the total land area, including the most important biodiversity areas of Cuba. These areas contain 3,210 native plant species, of which 1,386 are endemic and 1579 presented some category of threat. In percentage figures, about 74% of the threatened flora of Cuba is included within the National System of Protected Areas.

Why so many species are still considered Data Deficient?

There are 939 species in the category Data Deficient (DD), which exemplifies the ignorance about the status of populations of a large part of our flora. It is necessary to increase, population, ecological studies of natural history and taxonomic that provide the information necessary for categorization.

Why is threatened flora of Cuba?

The main threats to the conservation of the Cuban flora are associated with human activities. Thus, biological invasions, deforestation, fragmentation, livestock and forestry are the most important in terms of taxa affected.

Why Cuba is the island with the highest number of threatened species worldwide?

The intrinsic characteristics of our geography, with a mosaic floor and relatively small patches different types of vegetation, flora makes Cuba vulnerable to extinction even without the threats posed by human action. However, the reality is that few islands in the world who have made such a comprehensive endangered species of flora analysis. Therefore, it would be correct to say that Cuba is the island with the highest number of threatened plant species of which today is reference. The second island in the number of threatened species is Madagascar with 42.1% of its plants at risk of extinction.

Who made the Red List of flora of Cuba?

More than 80 researchers from the ministries of Higher Education (MES), Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) and Agriculture (MINAGRI) contributed to the categorization of the Cuban flora. The compilation and editing of all information for the Red List was conducted by 13 researchers from the National Botanical Garden (University of Havana), the University of British Columbia (Canada), the Institute of Ecology and Systematics (CITMA), the National Center Protected Areas and Botanical Garden of Holguin, all members or collaborators of the Cuban Specialist Group plants.

How often must be updated threat category of a species?

There is no formal deadline for a category given to a taxon. However, IUCN suggests that the categories of species should be reviewed in a period of less than or close to 10 years reasonable time, to include in the analysis the most recent data on the taxon concerned. This does not mean that there is a “maturity” of the previous category granted in cases for which new information is not have. However, with the emergence of new evidence or specifics of a species can proceed to a new evaluation immediately. All Cuban species analyzed in the Red List of 2005 were re-evaluated during the process of making the new LRC’16.

What is being done to protect the flora of Cuba?

In recent years there has been a notable increase in conservation actions with Cuban species and ecosystems. These actions have led to know the conservation status of many natural populations and threats, and establish specific measures to protect and maintain over time these species actions. These actions are still not enough if we want to protect all our species of plants. On a good part of these conservation projects deal with the case studies included in the pages of the LRC’16.

How can you contribute to the Red List?

The new information about some native species (range, new locations, number of individuals, threats or conservation actions) can be sent to Cuban Specialist Group Plants (gepc@planta.ngo). This group of experts will review and publish this information, always respecting the authorship of the contribution.