A Regional Red List of Montane Tree Species of the Tropical Andes: Trees at the top of the world

Andean montane forests are a major global conservation priority owing to their biological richness and high level of species endemism. Botanically the Andes are very rich in species but they remain relatively unstudied. In common with montane forests elsewhere in the world, Andean forests are of great value for the provision of ecosystem services relating to water supply, regulation of regional climate and the capture and storage of carbon. The forests and their component species are however under threat. This report summarises information drawn from a wide variety of sources to provide a regional Red List of trees of Andean tropical montane forests. The species evaluation process has drawn on published national red lists of threatened species, botanical literature, specimen databases, forestry information and expert knowledge. The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria have been used for the evaluation and a component of Natalia?s PhD study has been to evaluate their use for species with limited and dispersed data. Understanding the geographical distribution of the species is very important in conservation assessment. The maps produced for this study are a valuable starting point for the Red Listing and a baseline for monitoring impacts of climate change. In this assessment 70 species are recorded as globally threatened based on the IUCN Red List of Categories and Criteria out of 127 tree species evaluated. In addition 165 national endemic trees of the region have previously been evaluated as globally threatened based on the same IUCN process. In total therefore 235 tree species are currently considered to be threatened with extinction within the Andean montane forests. Fil: Tejedor Garavito , Natalia. Bournemouth University; Reino Unido Fil: Álvarez Dávila, Esteban. Jardín Botánico de Medellín; Colombia Fil: Caro, Sandra Arango. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos Fil: Murakami, Alejandro Araujo. Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado; Bolivia Fil: Baldeón, Severo. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Beltrán, Hamilton. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Blundo, Cecilia Mabel. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Laboratorio de Investigaciones Ecológicas de las Yungas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán; Argentina Fil: Boza Espinoza, Tatiana Erika. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos Fil: Fuentes Claros, Alfredo. Herbario Nacional de Bolivia; Bolivia Fil: Gaviria, Juan. Universidad de Los Andes; Venezuela Fil: Gutiérrez, Néstor. Universidad de Los Andes; Venezuela Fil: Khela, Sonia. Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Reino Unido Fil: León, Blanca. University of Texas at Austin; Estados Unidos Fil: la Torre Cuadros, Maria De Los Angeles. Universidad Nacional Agraria; Perú Fil: López Camacho, René. Universidad Distrital; Colombia Fil: Malizia, Lucio Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Centro de Estudios Ambientales Territoriales y Sociales; Argentina Fil: Millán, Betty. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Moraes R., Mónica. Herbario Nacional de Bolivia; Bolivia Fil: Newton, Adrian C.. Bournemouth University; Reino Unido Fil: Pacheco, Silvia. Fundación Proyungas; Argentina Fil: Reynel, Carlos. Universidad Nacional Agraria; Perú Fil: Ulloa Ulloa, Carmen. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos Fil: Vacas Cruz,Omar. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador; Ecuador