A revision of studies on classification and conservation priorities of vertebrates in Argentina

Abstract

A revision of the studies on classification and conservation priorities of vertebrates of Argentina performed between 1960 and 2001 is reported. In five of the studies surveyed details on how the evaluation was made were not provided, seven of these studies are compilations, two were based on the opinion of specialists and 46 used diverse evaluation methods. Eleven of these methods were developed by Argentinean authors and based on explicit criteria. In some of these methods the criteria are subject to a quantitative evaluation and in others these criteria are qualitatively or quantitatively weighted. The criteria most utilised are population size and biological features; less frequently used criteria are distribution area, taxonomic or evolutionary singularity and the extraction of individuals. The methods analysed are uneven with respect to the kind and quality of the information required for their application. Except in one of these methods, the evaluation and appraisal of the criteria is performed in a single procedure, arriving at a final result which may be a category or a hierarchical ordination resulting from an index value. The results evidence an increasing concern about conservation and the use of objective methods for conservation evaluation in Argentina, but also reveal that the requirements for the adoption of a single method for conservation are yet to be met.