The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the
Department of Conservation
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...
to assess conservation priorities of species in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
The system was developed because the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
, a similar
conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...
system, had some shortcomings for the unique requirements of conservation ranking in New Zealand.
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
s,
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s, and
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
are evaluated, though the lattermost has yet to be published.
Algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
were assessed in 2005 but not reassessed since.
Other
protist
A protist () is any eukaryotic organism (that is, an organism whose cells contain a cell nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. While it is likely that protists share a common ancestor (the last eukaryotic common ancestor), the exc ...
s have not been evaluated.
Categories
Species that are ranked are assigned categories:
;Threatened
This category has three major divisions:
::*Nationally Critical - equivalent to the IUCN category of Critically endangered
::*Nationally Endangered - equivalent to the IUCN category of Endangered
::*Nationally Vulnerable - equivalent to the IUCN category of Vulnerable
;At Risk
This has four categories:
::*Declining
::*Recovering
::*Relict
::*Naturally Uncommon
;Other categories
;;Introduced and Naturalised
These are any species that are deliberately or accidentally introduced into New Zealand.
;;Migrant
Migrant species are those that visit New Zealand as part of their life cycle.
;;Vagrant
Vagrants
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, tempora ...
are taxa that are rare in New Zealand that have made their own way and do not breed successfully.
;;Coloniser
These taxa have arrived in New Zealand without human help and reproduce successfully.
;;Data Deficient
This category lists taxa for which insufficient information is available to make as assessment on conservation status.
;;Extinct
Taxa for which there is no reasonable doubt that no individuals exist are ranked as extinct. For these lists only species that have become extinct since 1840 are listed.
;;Not Threatened
If taxa fit into none of the other categories they are listed in the Not Threatened category.
Qualifiers
A series of qualifiers are used to give additional information on the threat classification:
See also
*
Conservation in New Zealand
Conservation in New Zealand has a history associated with both Māori and Europeans. Both groups of people caused a loss of species and both altered their behaviour to a degree after realising their effect on indigenous flora and fauna.
Protected ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
External links
*Department of Conservation'
New Zealand Threat Classification System websiteNZTCS DatabaseNew Zealand Threat Classification System past conservation status lists and manuals
Nature conservation in New Zealand
Biota by conservation status system