5 thoughts on “Sharpe’s Apalis (Apalis sharpii): Revise global status?”
I agree that uplisting from LC to NT as proposed is probably appropriate for this species.
Although it is a common forest species, and occurs in degraded (e.g., selectively logged and secondary) forest, it is largely restricted to forest habitats, only rarely occurring in farmland where sufficient large forest trees have been retained. Therefore, its population trend is likely to be roughly proportional to deforestation within its range.
Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett (2014) write the following under “Conservation”: “Threatened by deforestation; its range must have contracted already as it should have been common in Tain Tributaries II before its destruction, and it is almost extinct on the Aburi Plateau (a single male seen in Mar 2011 in Aburi Botanic Gardens). East of the Volta threatened by forest clearance at Amedzofe and elsewhere, and protected only in Kyabobo N.P.”
As said above, it can be common in forest habitat, with density estimates of 0.5-2 males per ha (Gatter 1997) and of 20.7 individuals per km2 (Phalan 2009). Occasionally occurs in well-shaded cocoa with remnant canopy trees: density of 0.5 individuals per km2 in farmbush recorded by Phalan (2009) reflects this.
References:
Dowsett-Lemaire, F., Dowsett, R.J., 2014. The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège.
Gatter, W., 1997. Birds of Liberia. Yale University Press.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 21 February 2022. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’s Red List status on this page on 21 February 2022, when discussions will re-open.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2022.1 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 27 February 2022, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 7 March 2022.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Sharpe’s Apalis is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching the thresholds for listing as threatened under Criteria A2c+3c+4c.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2022.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
I agree that uplisting from LC to NT as proposed is probably appropriate for this species.
Although it is a common forest species, and occurs in degraded (e.g., selectively logged and secondary) forest, it is largely restricted to forest habitats, only rarely occurring in farmland where sufficient large forest trees have been retained. Therefore, its population trend is likely to be roughly proportional to deforestation within its range.
Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett (2014) write the following under “Conservation”: “Threatened by deforestation; its range must have contracted already as it should have been common in Tain Tributaries II before its destruction, and it is almost extinct on the Aburi Plateau (a single male seen in Mar 2011 in Aburi Botanic Gardens). East of the Volta threatened by forest clearance at Amedzofe and elsewhere, and protected only in Kyabobo N.P.”
As said above, it can be common in forest habitat, with density estimates of 0.5-2 males per ha (Gatter 1997) and of 20.7 individuals per km2 (Phalan 2009). Occasionally occurs in well-shaded cocoa with remnant canopy trees: density of 0.5 individuals per km2 in farmbush recorded by Phalan (2009) reflects this.
References:
Dowsett-Lemaire, F., Dowsett, R.J., 2014. The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège.
Gatter, W., 1997. Birds of Liberia. Yale University Press.
Phalan, B., 2009. Land use, food production, and the future of tropical forest species in Ghana (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. http://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/245197
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 21 February 2022. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’s Red List status on this page on 21 February 2022, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2022.1 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 27 February 2022, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 7 March 2022.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Sharpe’s Apalis is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching the thresholds for listing as threatened under Criteria A2c+3c+4c.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2022.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.