The combination of threats at-risk species face does not necessarily predict trends in population abundance

We found at-risk species in Canada have, on average, five threats listed in their Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assessment reports, and harvesting — deliberate or unintentional — is the most frequently cited threat.

The presence and absence of threats (e.g., harvesting, invasive species, disease, pollution) were used to create threat profiles — the combination of threats — for 180 at-risk species in Canada.

Read this open access paper on the FACETS website.

While it was anticipated that threat profiles would be strongly associated with population trends, our study found that intrinsic factors — including taxonomic group — currently have greater predictive power.

Importantly, inclusion of spatial data on threats, widespread adoption of a threat classification and assessment calculator, and larger sample sizes may enhance the predictive power of threat profiles in future iterations of this work.

Explore the data on Tableau.

Read the paper — An analysis of threats and factors that predict trends in Canadian vertebrates designated as at-risk by Jessica Currie and Valentina Marconi.