6 thoughts on “Elegant Mourner (Laniisoma elegans)”
The proposed change for this Brazilian endemic species would take the global and national assessments further out of sync, as the species is currently NT globally and EN nationally. A careful comparison with the national assessment is therefore indicated before making a change.
Note that as an apparent migrant, outlying records should be used as evidence of range expansion, and should likely be ignored when calculating EOO.
Text from the ICMBio’s SALVE portal:
“Laniisoma elegans é endêmica do Brasil, ocorrendo sobretudo na região Sudeste, com registros pontuais e históricos no sul da Bahia, Paraná e Santa Catarina. Habita tanto florestas de altitude como de baixada e sua área de ocupação (AOO) foi calculada em 400 km². A população é severamente fragmentada, tendo as localidades de registro distantes entre si e separadas por habitat não adequado à espécie. Há declínio continuado da população, e inclusive diversos casos de extinção local, decorrente do declínio continuado da área de ocupação (AOO) e da qualidade do habitat devido ao corte seletivo de madeira e à abertura de áreas para pastagens e plantações. Dessa forma, L. elegans foi categorizada como Em Perigo (EN) pelo critério B2ab(ii,iii).”
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 25 April 2025. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 25 April 2025, when discussions will re-open.
We thank all contributors for their comments. While calculating AOO solely based on a grid over validated georeferenced records may yield a value that falls below threatened thresholds, this does not account for the potential occupancy of remaining apparently suitable habitat and is thus likely to result in a significant underestimate.
The AOO has not been quantified for this species but is likely to be large. Even if the species’ AOO did fall below the threshold for Vulnerable (2,000 km2), it would still need to meet two of the additional subcriteria to qualify as Vulnerable. Specifically, in addition to the ongoing decline in habitat area/extent/quality, it must either be severely fragmented (>50% of individuals or the total AOO in habitat patches that are both isolated and too small to support viable populations) or be restricted to ten or fewer locations (the term ‘location’ defining a geographically or ecologically distinct area in which a single threatening event can rapidly affect all individuals of the taxon present). There is currently no evidence that the majority of individuals are in subpopulations that would be considered unviable. The spatial footprint of each individual threat event likely to affect the species is small, such that the number of locations would be many. Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2025 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classification outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 4 May 2025, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2025 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
The assessors in Brazil do not calculate the AOO based just on validated georeferenced records but also consider potential habitat and inferred records. They also considered a severely fragmented population, with occurrence sites far apart and separated by habitat unsuitable for the species and reported that cases of local extinction have already occurred. This is another example of a case in which the data, arguments, and interpretations should be discussed directly between the BirdLife and ICMBio teams.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 12 May 2025.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Elegant Mourner is recommended to be listed as Least Concern.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2025.2 GTB Forum process. The final Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
The proposed change for this Brazilian endemic species would take the global and national assessments further out of sync, as the species is currently NT globally and EN nationally. A careful comparison with the national assessment is therefore indicated before making a change.
Note that as an apparent migrant, outlying records should be used as evidence of range expansion, and should likely be ignored when calculating EOO.
Text from the ICMBio’s SALVE portal:
“Laniisoma elegans é endêmica do Brasil, ocorrendo sobretudo na região Sudeste, com registros pontuais e históricos no sul da Bahia, Paraná e Santa Catarina. Habita tanto florestas de altitude como de baixada e sua área de ocupação (AOO) foi calculada em 400 km². A população é severamente fragmentada, tendo as localidades de registro distantes entre si e separadas por habitat não adequado à espécie. Há declínio continuado da população, e inclusive diversos casos de extinção local, decorrente do declínio continuado da área de ocupação (AOO) e da qualidade do habitat devido ao corte seletivo de madeira e à abertura de áreas para pastagens e plantações. Dessa forma, L. elegans foi categorizada como Em Perigo (EN) pelo critério B2ab(ii,iii).”
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 25 April 2025. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 25 April 2025, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
We thank all contributors for their comments. While calculating AOO solely based on a grid over validated georeferenced records may yield a value that falls below threatened thresholds, this does not account for the potential occupancy of remaining apparently suitable habitat and is thus likely to result in a significant underestimate.
The AOO has not been quantified for this species but is likely to be large. Even if the species’ AOO did fall below the threshold for Vulnerable (2,000 km2), it would still need to meet two of the additional subcriteria to qualify as Vulnerable. Specifically, in addition to the ongoing decline in habitat area/extent/quality, it must either be severely fragmented (>50% of individuals or the total AOO in habitat patches that are both isolated and too small to support viable populations) or be restricted to ten or fewer locations (the term ‘location’ defining a geographically or ecologically distinct area in which a single threatening event can rapidly affect all individuals of the taxon present). There is currently no evidence that the majority of individuals are in subpopulations that would be considered unviable. The spatial footprint of each individual threat event likely to affect the species is small, such that the number of locations would be many. Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2025 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classification outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 4 May 2025, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2025 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
The assessors in Brazil do not calculate the AOO based just on validated georeferenced records but also consider potential habitat and inferred records. They also considered a severely fragmented population, with occurrence sites far apart and separated by habitat unsuitable for the species and reported that cases of local extinction have already occurred. This is another example of a case in which the data, arguments, and interpretations should be discussed directly between the BirdLife and ICMBio teams.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 12 May 2025.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Elegant Mourner is recommended to be listed as Least Concern.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2025.2 GTB Forum process. The final Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.