Several plant and animal species, including three birds — capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), and Dupont’s lark (Chersophilus duponti) — will move from the current “vulnerable” label to higher risk categories, underscoring the seriousness of their situation.
This shift appears in a draft mandate from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge to replace the Special Conservation Wild Species List and the Spanish Endangered Species Catalogue.
Regarding the capercaillie, the two existing populations in Spain, Cantabrian and Pyrenean, will be recategorized to the same threat level. According to the Red Book of the Birds of Spain, the species is considered at the maximum risk of disappearance, with only about 400 individuals remaining.
The future of the Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) looks precarious. Nicolás López-Jiménez, a biologist and ecologist from Asturias SEO/BirdLife, says the outlook is very dark and notes that the species has already been endangered since 2018. Adrián Vigil, head of the Asturian Ornithological Coordination and protector of the principality’s natural environment, adds that there is no easy solution and that saving the species must be pursued to the end.
The main drivers of the decline are human activity, infrastructure development, forest fires, and habitat fragmentation. Additional pressures include inbreeding, low birth rates, and high mortality, with annual deaths not fully offset by births.
Dupont’s lark populations are also experiencing strong regression due to changes in land use and the abandonment of marginal farmland.
A recent study shows an overall decline of 41.4 percent from 2004 to 2015, equating to an average annual decrease of 3.9 percent for the entire population of Dupont’s lark in Spain.
In Andalusia and Castilla y León, the species has fallen by 68.5 percent and 58.4 percent respectively over the last decade, translating to average annual declines of 10.9 percent and 8.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the bustard (Tetrax tetrax) has suffered due to intensive farming practices and major habitat changes in grasslands and herbaceous steppes. The expansion of agricultural fields, the removal of natural hedgerows, and homogenization of crops have eroded the bird’s natural habitat.
The Mar Menor asparagus (Asparagus macrorhizus) and Androsella (Androsace rioxana) in Rioja are also listed as endangered, while the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis), a reptile, is moving to a vulnerable category.
Expanded catalog of invasive species
The same order plans to amend another addendum to Royal Decree 630/2013 to include a plant, myopic (Myopella laetum), and several invertebrates: palm lace bugs (Diocalandra spp.), red fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), Pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis), and Nylanderia jaegerskioeldi, commonly known as crazy ant.
The amendment will also list other vertebrates as invasive: fish Paramesogurnus dabryanus and all mongooses and meerkats in the Herpestidae family except for the mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon).
The ordinance emphasizes that both the Endangered Species List and the Invasive Species Catalogue are dynamic tools, subject to regular updates based on proposals from multiple institutions.
Changes to the threatened species list have been proposed by the Autonomous Community of La Rioja, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the University of Valencia, the Bearded Vulture Conservation Foundation, the Spanish Herpetology Society, the Recovery Society, Cartagena Autochthonous Forest, and the Spanish Ornithological Society. Similar suggestions were submitted by the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Catalonia, and the Iberian Myrmecological Society to expand the list of invaders.
The processing of these proposals has received approval from the State Commission on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity.
…
Environment department contact address: [redacted for privacy]