RECONCILING RARITY AND REPRESENTATION - A REVIEW OF LISTED SPECIES INTHE INDIAN-RIVER LAGOON

The Indian River Lagoon supports 75 species that are listed in need of protection by state or federal entities. A review of these listed spe cies reveals strong taxonomic biases towards vertebrates and a lack of representation for invertebrates. Protecting biodiversity in the lago on requires recognition of this inadequacy and means by which to recti fy the lack of representation. Of the species that are currently liste d there is the problem of categorizing these in terms of both vulnerab ility and potential for management and recovery. This paper prioritize s listed species in the Indian River Lagoon for local management actio n in relation to three criteria: their geographic distribution; the de gree to which they are restricted to a limited number of habitats; and their population sizes. High priority is given to the 30.67% of liste d species which have a narrow geographic range, the 60% of the listed species found in the lagoon that are habitat specific, and the 30.67% of species that have relatively large population sizes locally. A few listed species have an adequate level of protection in the existing pr otected area network whereas the majority (66.67%) are only recorded w ith low population sizes for any protected area and nine species do no t occur at all in any protected area. Management recommendations for t hese listed species are reviewed in the light of whether a species bas ed approach will really protect biodiversity in the lagoon. Recommenda tions are also made to address the lack of data concerning population sizes and distribution of listed species. Management for these listed species is only considered worthwhile if a healthy, functioning lagoon al system is maintained.