Threatened and endangered mammals of Chile: Does research align with conservation information needs?

Abstract

Across the globe, mammalian faunal extinctions are poorly understood. Despite increasing risk of extinction, data are lacking on the causes of population declines, as well as ecological and biological considerations for conservation. Although the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) provides a catalog of global species status, many species are ranked as data deficient, due to this lack of information. We used Chile—a biodiversity hot‐spot, with 1,569 endemic species and several endemic species lineages—as a case study to assess trends in available ecological and biological information relevant to conservation planning for threatened and endangered terrestrial mammals. Specifically, we assessed the amount of research by topic and taxonomic group for 22 IUCN Red‐listed species. Although the number of published articles has been increasing over the last 19 years, we found that 7 species (31%), including the one critically endangered species, had little available research (less than 10 articles), and over 25% of species were missing critical information regarding basic biological and life history characteristics. Our finding of substantial gaps in information for at‐risk Chilean mammals highlights the importance of developing strategic research agendas for at‐risk species in Chile, as well as across the globe.