Unraveling the conservation status of data deficient species

Abstract

Many species are classified as Data Deficient, because there is a knowledge gap about distribution range and population size and trends. This situation may be a problem in conservation, because the extinction risk of these species is unknown. In the present study, we analyzed all Brazilian anuran species classified as Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List to propose a method to know the conservation status of Data Deficient species. We used the time since species description coupled with the known current species distribution size to indicate the potential conservation status of Data Deficient species. We considered 231 Data Deficient anuran species in Brazil, in which most species (n = 166 spp.) are newly described and restricted geographically (Group D). Group A (n = 9 spp.) and C (n = 18 spp.) were composed by species widely distributed and Group B (n = 37 spp.) was composed by species described more than 50 years ago and geographically restricted. Data Deficient is not a threatened category, however it indicates a need to obtain more information about the species listed, but unfortunately financial resource is limited. We suggested that the species allocated in the group B in our analyses must be priorities in future studies, because it is possible that these are threatened. Our analysis used the amphibian anuran from Brazil as model to propose some action that may be useful to known the conservation status of Data Deficient species.