Magnoliaceae

The Red List of Magnoliaceae
PART 1
BAckGROUnD
Red List
Year published
The magnolia family, Magnoliaceae, is
found in temperate and tropical regions of
Eastern and Southeast Asia, and the
Americas. The Magnoliaceae consists of
over 300 species in two genera –
Magnolia L. and Liriodendron L. They are
evergreen or deciduous trees and shrubs.
Many species are widely appreciated
around the world as ornamental trees due
to their attractive flowers and foliage. In the
wild, these plants are also widely
appreciated, and used for timber and
medicines by local communities as well as
in international trade. There are
conservation concerns for many of the
species in the wild due to threats such as
habitat destruction, overharvesting for
timber and medicinal uses, and low
natural regeneration. In order to assess
the impact of these threats on the world’s
Magnoliaceae species, there is a need for
a global assessment of their conservation
status to guide conservation action.
The evaluation of the conservation
status of trees has long been a
global conservation priority recognised
by Botanic Gardens conservation
International (BGcI). BGcI, in partnership
with Fauna & Flora International,
coordinates the Global Trees campaign
(GTc). GTc is a joint initiative to safeguard
the world’s threatened tree species from
extinction. Part of the task of GTc is to
assess the conservation status of trees in
the wild and in ex situ collections – and in
such a way prioritise species in need of
conservation action. BGcI, working with
the IUcn/SSc Global Tree Specialist Group
(GTSG), has for the last eight years been
working towards this goal, producing global
conservation assessments of trees both
with taxonomic and regional foci (Table 1).
These tree conservation assessments
contribute directly to the Global Tree
Assessment (GTA), which aims to have
conservation assessments for all trees by
2020 (Box 1, newton et al. 2015).
The Red List of Magnoliaceae 2007*
The Red List of Oaks 2007*
The Red List of Maples 2009
The Red List of Trees of central Asia 2009
The Red List of Mexican cloud Forest Trees 2011
The Red List of Rhododendrons 2011
A Regional Red List of Montane Tree Species
of the Tropical Andes 2014
The Red List of Betulaceae 2014
*Published by Fauna & Flora International
Table 1. Summary of Red Lists produced by Botanic Gardens Conservation
International in partnership with Fauna & Flora International and the Global Tree
Specialist Group.
Global Tree Assessment (GTA)
Despite the importance of trees, many are
threatened by over-exploitation and habitat
destruction, as well as by pests, diseases,
drought and their interaction with global climate change. In order to estimate the
impact of such threats to trees there is an urgent need to conduct a complete
assessment of the conservation status of the world’s tree species – the Global
Tree Assessment.
The Global Tree Assessment aims to provide conservation assessments of all
the world’s tree species by 2020. The assessment will identify those tree species
that are at greatest risk of extinction. The goal of the Global Tree Assessment
is to provide prioritization information to ensure that conservation efforts are
directed at the right species so that no tree species becomes extinct.
The Global Tree Assessment is an initiative led by BGcI and the IUcn/SSc
Global Tree Specialist Group. Work is ongoing to develop an even more
extensive global collaborative partnership, involving the coordinated effort of
many institutions and individuals. These steps will enable the Global Tree
Assessment to achieve its 2020 target.
The first of such Red Lists was The Red
List of Magnoliaceae produced in 2007
(cicuzza et al. 2007). Since this
publication, new information on existing
taxa has been published and new threats
have emerged. In addition, since 2007,
93 new Magnolia species have been
described and published (IPnI 2015).
The majority of these are from the
neotropical region. In the light of this new
information and new taxa, it is now time
to produce an updated and extended
version of The Red List of Magnoliaceae.
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