Publications
Most publications are available as PDF files. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view PDF files.
If you are unable to access a publication, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.
Links to another web site
Opens a pop-up window
Geoffrey M. Clark and Fiona Spier, 2003
This Review represents the first attempt to objectively assess the conservation status of a selected suite of Australian non-marine invertebrates.
Australia is home to over 300,000 species of non-marine invertebrates of which over 80% are endemic; the majority of which are not formally described. Any attempt to provide a detailed and comprehensive overview of the conservation status of such a large and diverse group is obviously impractical.
The approach we have taken is to select a suite of 25 species that are representative of the diversity of our invertebrate fauna, their geographic distribution, different habitat requirements and associations and potential threats. These 25 species should not be viewed as priority taxa in any sense.
For each selected species we provide information on:
Each of the selected species has been objectively assessed against the 1994 IUCN Threatened Species Criteria using the software package RAMAS RedList®. As anticipated the majority of taxa were categorised as Critically Endangered with the remaining as Data Deficient. This latter category highlights many of the problems associated with assessment of invertebrate species, namely the lack of detailed and comprehensive biological, ecological and distribution data.
Effective invertebrate conservation cannot rely on the conventional single species approach adopted for the conservation of our vertebrates and plants. The focus needs to change to a more community and landscape scale approach with a primary emphasis on habitat conservation and threat abatement. However, for some faunal elements a single species emphasis may still have merit.
The aims of this Review are twofold. The first is to highlight that invertebrates are amenable to conventional assessment of their conservation status. Although such assessment might be more difficult than for better-known groups, such as vertebrates, there is nothing intrinsically different about them to prevent objective assessment. The second and perhaps more important aim is to draw attention to the conservation needs of the largest and most diverse component of Australia's biota. There is a general increase in awareness of the uniqueness and importance of Australia's invertebrates. This review stresses that this fauna is just as worthy of conservation as our koalas, parrots and Wollemi Pine.