5 thoughts on “Salvadori’s Antwren (Myrmotherula minor)”
The arguments presented appear reasonable, but it would be important to review the criteria used to place this species, a Brazilian endemic, in the VU category nationally (SALVE). The national assessment used a different criterion: B2ab(ii,iii).
The text from the national assessment reads:
“Myrmotherula minor é endêmica do leste do Brasil, ocorrendo da Bahia e leste de Minas Gerais até sul de São Paulo. As principais ameaças à espécie são a perda de habitat e a fragmentação florestal. A área de ocupação (AOO) da espécie foi calculada em 568 km2. A população é severamente fragmentada tendo mais de 50% de sua área total de ocupação separadas de outros fragmentos por grande distância e os indivíduos não se deslocam entre os fragmentos fora do seu habitat. Há declínio continuado da população devido à perda de habitat e a fragmentação florestal, causada pelo crescimento desorganizado das cidades litorâneas, pela expansão de loteamentos e da exploração madeireira ilegal. Dessa forma, M. minor foi categorizada como Vulnerável (VU), 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 based on the contiguous area of apparently suitable habitat adjacent to confirmed records it appears unlikely to be small. Even if the species’ AOO did fall below the threshold for Vulnerable (2,000 km2), it needs 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). While occurring in a number of discrete areas the size and arrangement of these areas strongly suggests that the majority of individuals are not 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 calculated an AOO of just over 1000km² and considered the population to be severely fragmented. This is an example of a case where the data, arguments, and interpretations should be discussed 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.
The arguments presented appear reasonable, but it would be important to review the criteria used to place this species, a Brazilian endemic, in the VU category nationally (SALVE). The national assessment used a different criterion: B2ab(ii,iii).
The text from the national assessment reads:
“Myrmotherula minor é endêmica do leste do Brasil, ocorrendo da Bahia e leste de Minas Gerais até sul de São Paulo. As principais ameaças à espécie são a perda de habitat e a fragmentação florestal. A área de ocupação (AOO) da espécie foi calculada em 568 km2. A população é severamente fragmentada tendo mais de 50% de sua área total de ocupação separadas de outros fragmentos por grande distância e os indivíduos não se deslocam entre os fragmentos fora do seu habitat. Há declínio continuado da população devido à perda de habitat e a fragmentação florestal, causada pelo crescimento desorganizado das cidades litorâneas, pela expansão de loteamentos e da exploração madeireira ilegal. Dessa forma, M. minor foi categorizada como Vulnerável (VU), 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 based on the contiguous area of apparently suitable habitat adjacent to confirmed records it appears unlikely to be small. Even if the species’ AOO did fall below the threshold for Vulnerable (2,000 km2), it needs 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). While occurring in a number of discrete areas the size and arrangement of these areas strongly suggests that the majority of individuals are not 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 calculated an AOO of just over 1000km² and considered the population to be severely fragmented. This is an example of a case where the data, arguments, and interpretations should be discussed 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.