Conservation Status Assessment
Versioned assessment with authority and evidence
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
3 bundles · 4 layers · 5 findings · 10 questions
Assessment frame What was assessed, where, by whom and under which rules.
Scope and authority
The assessed unit, region and responsible authority.
Assessed unit
The taxon or unit assessed with its taxonomic concept and region.
- Which taxon, population or habitat was assessed, under which taxonomic concept?
- Is the assessment global, regional or national?
Criteria and authority
The scheme, version and responsible assessors.
- Which categories and criteria, in which version, were applied?
- Which authority or body assessed and reviewed it?
Evidence and result The data and the category assigned.
Evidence
Population, range and threat data used.
Supporting data
The quantitative and qualitative evidence for each criterion.
- Which data on population size, trend and range were used, and from which dates?
- Which threats were identified, and how certain is the evidence?
Category
The category and criteria met.
Assigned category
The category with the criteria codes met and the justification.
- Which category was assigned, and which criteria were met?
- Is the taxon data deficient, or was the category inferred?
Versioning How the assessment changes over time.
Assessment history
Previous assessments and reasons for change.
Change of category
A change between assessments and whether it is genuine.
- What was the previous category, and when was it assessed?
- Is the change genuine or due to new information or taxonomic change?
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- World Models
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- standalone-mm
- Navigation path
- NAV.PHY.LIV.CNS
- Domain
- PHY.LIV.CNS
- Industry
- Cross-industry
- Tags
- conservationstatusassessmentphy.liv.cns
What it is Filled
A conservation status assessment is a versioned, evidence-based judgement by a named authority of how threatened a taxon, population or habitat is in a given area, expressed as a category under a stated set of criteria such as a red list. It is a dated assessment, not the taxon itself, and differs from legal protection, which a status may inform but does not grant.
Why it exists Filled
Versioned assessment with authority and evidence
Distinguishing features Filled
- A dated judgement about a taxon or habitat, not the taxon itself or its occurrence records.
- Always tied to a named scheme, version, region and assessing authority.
- Differs from legal protection status, which a law grants and which may differ from the assessed category.
- Changes between versions can be genuine or non-genuine, and this distinction is part of the record.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Assign or publish a conservation category on its own authority.
- Mix categories from different schemes or regions without labelling them.
- Treat an assessed category as legal protection status.
- Disclose sensitive locations of threatened species gathered as evidence.
- Drop the uncertainty or data-deficient flag when reporting a category.
Only with a human decision
- Approving and publishing an assessment.
- Using an assessment to set legal protection or harvest quotas.
May
- Retrieve the current and past categories of a taxon with scheme, region and date.
- Compile evidence for assessors from occurrence and monitoring data.
- Report when an assessment is older than the scheme's recommended reassessment interval.
- Flag inconsistencies between global and regional assessments.
Moral aspects Filled
- Categories steer conservation money and legal protection, so bias or error has real consequences for species.
- Assessments can affect livelihoods of people who use the species or its land.
- Data-poor species and regions risk being overlooked.
Who is affected
- Assessed species and their habitats
- Communities that use or live alongside the species
- Assessors and conservation authorities
Owners Filled
Steward
The red list authority or conservation body that conducts, reviews and publishes assessments for its scheme and region.
Master systems
- Global red list database
- National red list register
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- WM-LIV-001
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Identified by the publishing authority's assessment identifier, the taxon identifier and the assessment year or version.
- The taxon is referenced by its accepted name and a taxonomic database identifier.
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
The subject is an institutional or informational record with no physical quantities of its own.
Recognition optional Filled
- Marked by a category code, the criteria met, an assessment date, a region and the assessors.
- Often confused with a legal protection listing, a trade restriction listing or a population estimate.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Is versioned by reassessment, with reasons for any category change.
- Can be aggregated into indices of trends across many taxa.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Outdated assessments that hide recent decline.
- Disclosure of locations of rare species to collectors.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria and its regional application guidelines.
- Taxonomic name services for linking assessments to taxa.
- National reporting under biodiversity conventions and directives.
Context of use required Filled
- Used in conservation planning, impact assessment and biodiversity reporting.
- Assessments exist at global, regional and national levels with different authorities.
Sources Filled
- IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1, International Union for Conservation of Nature
- Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels, International Union for Conservation of Nature
- Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations
Open questions
- Planned model: boundary questions, research and every section remain to be written.
Machine files
Provenance
planned (registry candidate) · todo
Built from: models/runtime-index.json, ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-liv-022-conservation-status-assessment.json
Planned entry, hidden from the catalogue until researched.