Authors
Tracey J Regan, Mark A Burgman, MICHAEL A McCARTHY, Lawrence L Master, David A Keith, Georgina M Mace, Sandy J Andelman
Publication date
2005/12
Journal
Conservation Biology
Volume
19
Issue
6
Pages
1969-1977
Publisher
Blackwell Science Inc
Description
Systematic protocols that use decision rules or scores are seen to improve consistency and transparency in classifying the conservation status of species. When applying these protocols, assessors are typically required to decide on estimates for attributes that are inherently uncertain. Input data and resulting classifications are usually treated as though they are exact and hence without operator error. We investigated the impact of data interpretation on the consistency of protocols of extinction risk classifications and diagnosed causes of discrepancies when they occurred. We tested three widely used systematic classification protocols employed by the World Conservation Union, NatureServe, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. We provided 18 assessors with identical information for 13 different species to infer estimates for each of the required parameters for the three protocols. The threat …
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Scholar articles
TJ Regan, MA Burgman, MA McCARTHY, LL Master… - Conservation Biology, 2005