The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™

The IUCN Species

Information Service (SIS)

Importance of storing, maintaining &

updating Red List data

Primary value of the Red List is the underlying data

• Red List assessment = more than just the category & criteria

• Data (documentation & map) tells us the whole story: why the

species is assessed as it is and what to do about it

• Data used for conservation planning, priority-setting and

decision-making

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™

Species Information System (SIS)

What is the Species Information Service (SIS)?

• Online system for centralized data storage

• Direct link to Red List website

• Standardizes assessments

• Transparency

• Facilitates consistency checking and review

• Allows for convenient and informed

reassessments

• Source code is open-source and free: can

be used to produce national and regional

Red List assessments

Sharks

Groupers

Seahorses

Gobies

Sticklebacks

Conifers

Orchids

Acacias

Cycads

Ferns Bees

Spiders

Dragonflies

Mayflies

Bivalves

Frogs

Newts

Salamanders

Toads

Mammals Birds

Reptiles Fungi

Ferns

Working Set

Internet

connection

Gobies &

Sticklebacks

Working Set

Internet

connection Dragonflies

& Mayflies

Working Set

Internet

connection

Bivalves

Working Set

Fern specialist Freshwater fish specialist

Mollusc specialist Odonata specialist

Ferns Gobies

Sticklebacks

Dragonflies

Mayflies Bivalves

Internet

connection

Online SIS

Species Information System (SIS)

Online SIS

• Training site: https://train.iucnsis.org

−Practicing in SIS or testing functions before trying them on the live

SIS. Use this for Red List training.

• Live site: https://sis.iucnsis.org

−Entering assessment information for the IUCN Red List web site.

Use this for entering real data for the project and the IUCN Red List.

Offline SIS • Very careful management required to keep track of the current version of

the dataset and to ensure correct version is uploaded back into the live

SIS.

• Only one person should work on an offline dataset at any one time.

• MAKE REGULAR BACKUPS

Please contact the Red List Unit if you absolutely need to use offline SIS.

Species Information System (SIS)

• Best internet browsers for SIS are:

− Mozilla Firefox

− Google Chrome

− Apple Safari

• Offline SIS requires JAVA be installed (free to download)

• Does not work very well through Internet Explorer (IE not

standards compliant)

System Requirements

Mozilla Firefox

Species Information System (SIS)

Different versions of SIS are very similar:

It is useful to give each version

a different background colour

Offline

Online live

Online training

Species Information System (SIS)

User accounts and permissions

• Each SIS user will get a specific Username and Password

• Permissions are tailored for each person:

− Only SIS managers and RLU staff have full access

− Users can edit and add new assessments only to those taxa

that they have permission to edit

• Taxonomic information is strictly controlled

− Very few people have permission to change taxonomy

Supporting information

Supporting information

text fields in SIS

Supporting information

In general, please…

• Enter text in all documentation fields

• Use “normal” language

• No one word answers

• Complete sentences please!

• Be specific (e.g. EOO = 4600 km² not EOO < 5000 km²)

• Enter references properly (check SIS before doing so!)

• Follow citation standards

• Follow IUCN style guidelines and Red List terminology

• Use consistency checklist

Supporting information

In general, please…

• Enter text in all documentation fields

• Use “normal” language

• No one word answers

• Complete sentences please!

• Be specific (e.g. EOO = 4600 km² not EOO < 5000 km²)

• Enter references properly (check SIS before doing so!)

• Follow citation standards

• Follow IUCN style guidelines and Red List terminology

• Use consistency checklist

See the sheet “General questions to guide the amphibian assessment process”

Supporting information

Classification Schemes

Download at http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes

Supporting information

Prof. Philippe Bouchet

Taxonomic concepts and the

IUCN Red List

Dr Jan van Tol

Dr Maurice Kottelat

Supporting information

2005: Species = LC 2010: Species = EN

The taxonomic concept has changed since 2005, so the 2010 assessment

should not include the 2005 assessment as part of its assessment history.

CHANGING TAXONOMIC CONCEPTS

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™

Now on to SIS for a demonstration….

https://train.iucnsis.org/apps/org.iucn.sis.server/SIS/index.html https://sis.iucnsis.org/apps/org.iucn.sis.server/SIS/index.html