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Inferring extinction from biological records: Were we too quick to write off Miss Waldron's Red Colobus Monkey (Piliocolobus badius waldronae)?

Roberts, David L., Kitchener, Andrew C. (2006) Inferring extinction from biological records: Were we too quick to write off Miss Waldron's Red Colobus Monkey (Piliocolobus badius waldronae)? Biological Conservation, 128 (2). pp. 285-287. ISSN 00063207 (ISSN). (doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.09.033) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:33840)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2005.09.033

Abstract

We are now entering a time of immense environmental upheaval where experts are increasingly required to provide conservation assessments. Quantitative assessment of trends in species' range and abundance is costly, requiring extensive field studies over a long period of time. For many species in dense habitats, it may be very difficult to establish reliable and sensitive survey and monitoring techniques, which are able to warn of potentially catastrophic population declines. Unfortunately many other species are only known through a few 'chance' sightings or a handful of museum specimens and therefore extinction may be even harder to ascertain. In 2000 Miss Waldron's Red Colobus, Piliocolobus badius waldronae, was reported as extinct, but since then (in 2001) a single specimen has been collected. Four probabilistic methods were used to infer extinction based on a record of sightings of the subspecies. Based on the date when the extinction statement of Miss Waldron's Red Colobus was made, all four methods returned probability values >0.05, suggesting that the subspecies is extant, but is extremely rare. If we cannot successfully monitor populations of critically endangered taxa, it becomes almost impossible to predict their extinction with any certainty and we can expect increasing numbers of false alarms in future years, which may undermine the potential for conservation action and, more worryingly, public support for conservation. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.biocon.2005.09.033
Additional information: Unmapped bibliographic data: PY - 2006/// [EPrints field already has value set] AD - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, United Kingdom [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, United Kingdom [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, United Kingdom [Field not mapped to EPrints] JA - Biol. Conserv. [Field not mapped to EPrints]
Uncontrolled keywords: Decline, Extinction, Miss Waldron's Red Colobus, Piliocolobus badius waldronae, Rediscovery, conservation management, extinction, monitoring, primate, species conservation, Colobinae, Colobus sp., Procolobus badius
Subjects: Q Science
Q Science > QH Natural history
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH75 Conservation (Biology)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Depositing User: David Roberts
Date Deposited: 20 Feb 2014 14:41 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:11 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/33840 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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