Format: ORAL

Neil Brummitt1, Ana Claudia Araujo1, Sinan Grlek1,2, Kathryn Fowler1, Giuseppe Signorino1

1 Natural History Museum London, SW7 5BD, UK 2 Imperial College London, SL5 7PY, UK

Bryophytes are fundamental ecological components of peatlands and tropical forests and provide important services such as carbon storge and nitrogen fixation. About 20% of species worldwide might be threatened with extinction (Brummitt et al. 2015), yet fewer than 3 % globally have been assessed under IUCN Red List criteria. Of those that have, two thirds are threatened with extinction (Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered) or Near Threatened, a further 10% classified as Data Deficient, but almost one third already need updating. These results reflect bias in the species selected for assessment; instead, we have randomly selected and assessed 1500 bryophyte species from around the world, and show that 215 are at risk of becoming extinct, 68 were classified as DD and 725 are Least Concern; the rest are poorly known and left as Not Evaluated. The greatest number is found in Africa, followed by the American continent, Asia, and Australasia. 70% of threatened bryophytes are found in tropical forests, and the major threat is habitat loss. We hope this is a significant step towards extinction risk evaluation of bryophytes, but acknowledge its flaws. It is time-consuming, taxonomic knowledge may be lacking, publication is complex, information can already be out of date when it is published, species classed as Not Evaluated or Data Deficient due to taxonomic issues and/or poor recording are not adequately dealt with. New artificial intelligence techniques using morphological traits are being developed to indicate which species are pre-disposed to becoming threatened, tackling uncertainties and narrowing down the species to prioritize for IUCN Red List assessment while also speeding the process. However, collaboration between taxonomic specialists, ecologists and conservationists is paramount to fully estimate and understand the true number of bryophytes at risk, which and where they are, what threatens their survival and how to halt their extinction.