Conservation of the redwoods:

lessons from a Red Listed species

Erin Kelly

Dept. of Forestry

Humboldt State University

Conservation of the redwoods:

lessons from a Red Listed species

• Overview of the IUCN Red List• Brief history of redwood

conservation• Rationale provided for listing

redwood as endangered• Implications of redwood listing• Suggested modifications for the

IUCN Red List

Overview of the IUCN Red List

• The IUCN created & has maintained the Red

List since 1964

• Intended to be a “clarion call to action” &

consistency, objectivity for labeling species

(Vie et al. 2008)

• Allows for comparison across species and

regions, and for large-scale assessments of

biodiversity and conservation (Mace et al.

2008; for an example see Brooks et al. 2006)

Late 19th c.:

“scenic

protection” for

isolated

1918:

establishment

of the Save-

the-Redwoods

Leagu

Mid- to late-

20th century:

maintaining the

last remnants

of old growth,

including

boycotts, legal

action,

direction action

Late 19th & early

20th c.: “scenic

protection” for

isolated groves

(Schrepfer 1983)

1918: establishment

of the Save-the-

Redwoods League

(Schrepfer 1983)

Late 20th c.: preserving the

last remnants of privately-

held old growth through

boycotts, legal action, direct

action

(Bevington 2009)

A brief history of redwood conservation

21st c.: maintaining and restoring

old-growth function & increasing

structural diversity and restoring

ecosystem function in 2nd/3rd growth

(Lorimer et al. 2009, SRL 2016, Van

Pelt et al. 2016)

Categories of the IUCN Red List

Figure from: Rodrigues et al. 2006.

Categories of the IUCN Red List

Figure from: Rodrigues et al. 2006.

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000

data deficient

least concern

near threatened

vulnerable

endangered

critically endangered

extinct in wild

extinct

Redwood listing criteria: A2acd

Redwood listing

criteria/

subcriteria

Explanation

A: (criteria)The population of mature individuals has been

reduced.

2: (subcriteria)

The population of the species has declined by ≥50%

over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever

is longer. The reduction has not ceased, is not

understood, or may not be reversible.

The subcriteria of a, c, and d refer to the basis for listing the species:

a: (subcriteria) The species was listed as a result of direct observation.

c: (subcriteria) The species has had a decline in area of occupancy…

d: (subcriteria)The species was listed because of actual or potential

levels of exploitation.

Why was redwood listed as

endangered?

“Its late successional to climax dominance

coupled with shade tolerance means it is

easily replaced by more light demanding

conifers such as Pseudotsuga menziesii[Douglas-fir]. This can be made ‘permanent’

if forests are chosen to be so managed, as

indeed they tend to be in commercial forestry

operations.”

From the listing: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/34051/0

Why was redwood listed as

endangered?

“A second cause of decline

of area of occupancy for

redwoods is urbanization,

at present a relatively

minor factor, but predicted

to increase much in the

next few decades.”

Image from CDF 2010

From the listing: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/34051/0

What does the IUCN propose to

address this listing?

“It is imperative to place all remaining ‘old

growth’ forest in which this species is a

component under strict protection; the

greater portion of these forests is already so

protected. Logging the species should be

under stricter regulation allowing

regeneration to maturity of this species”

From the listing: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/34051/0

Implications of Red Listing of redwood

• There are no legal or political consequences

Definition of “endangered”

Federal ESA: a species is in danger of extinctionthroughout all or a significant portion of its range.

California ESA: a native species… which is in serious danger of becoming extinct throughout all, or a significant portion, of its range

• Possible economic consequences?

Implications of Red Listing of redwood

Flaws in the IUCN listing

The IUCN Red List criteria may not be helpful for assessing species like redwood, particularly since:

• threats to the species are not existential or single-species, but threats to ecosystem function/process

• conservation actions suggested by the listing are already in place, and would not address threats identified by practitioners in the region

“[T]hreats to redwoods include climate change;

human land uses not compatible with forest health

(such as development and conversion to vineyards);

intense fires; people’s increasing detachment from

nature…”

“[T]hreats to redwoods include climate change;

human land uses not compatible with forest health

(such as development and conversion to vineyards);

intense fires; people’s increasing detachment from

nature…”

Parcelization

Lessons for IUCN from this case:

• Consult local experts & managers

• Create multiple lists (Mrosovsky 2003)

regarding:

1) Whether species is threatened with

extinction;

2) Whether species is fulfilling its ecological

role;

3) Whether species is maintaining economic

utility.

Citations:Bevington, D. 2009. The rebirth of environmentalism: grassroots activism from the spotted owl to the polar bear.

Washington, DC: Island Press.

Brooks, T.M.; Mittermeier, R.A.; da Fonseca, G.A.B.; Gerlach, J.; Hoffmann, M.; Lamoreux, J.F.; Mittermeier, C.G.; Pilgrim,

J.D.; Rodrigues, A.S.L. 2006. Global biodiversity conservation priorities. Science 313(5783): 58-61.

Lorimer, C.G.; Porter, D.J.; Madej, M.A.; Stuart, J.D.; Veirs, S.D.; Norman, S.P.; O’Hara, K.L.; Libby, W.J. 2009.

Presettlement and modern disturbance regimes in coast redwood forests: implications for the conservation of old-

growth stands. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 1038-1054.

Mace, G.M.; Collar, N.J.; Gaston, K.J.; Hilton-Taylor, C.; Akҫakaya, H.R.; Leader-Williams, N.; Milner-Gulland, E.J.; Stuart,

S.N. 2008. Quantification of extinction risk: IUCN’s system for classifying threatened species. Conservation Biology.

22(6): 1424-1442.

Rodrigues, A.S.L.; Pilgrim, J.D.; Lamoreux, J.F.; Hoffman, M.; Brooks, T.M. 2006. The value of the IUCN Red List for

conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21(2): 71-76.

Schrepfer, S.R. 1983. The Fight to Save the Redwoods: A History of Environmental Reform 1917-1978. Madison, WI:

University of Wisconsin Press.

Save the Redwoods League (SRL). 2016. Threats to Redwoods. Webpage. Available:

https://www.savetheredwoods.org/about-us/faqs/the-threats-to-the-redwoods/.

Van Pelt, R.; Sillett, S.C.; Kruse, W.A.; Freund, J.A.; Kramer, R.D. 2016. Emergent crowns and light-use complementarity

lead to global maximum biomass and leaf area in Sequoia sempervirens forests. Forest Ecology and Management

375: 279-308

Vie, J.-C.; Hilton-Taylor, C.; Pollock, C.; Ragle, J.; Smart, J.; Stuart, S.N.; Tong, R. 2008. The IUCN Red List: a key

conservation tool. In: Vie, J.-C.; Hilton-Taylor, C.; Stuart, S.N. (eds). The 2008 Review of the IUCN Red List of

Threatened Species. IUCN Gland, Switzerland.