A practical framework for identifying genetic subpopulations and ESUs: Insights for IUCN assessments and broader management

Abstract

Species conservation assessments evaluate extinction risk, and recovery potential, advancing species persistence through guiding resource prioritization and planning. Assessment frameworks, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and Green Status of Species, typically focus on species as a whole. Importantly, they do not routinely account for genetically distinct units or do not have standardized methods of unit delineation. This limits the representation of genetically distinct components, including adaptive genetic diversity that underpins long-term resilience and recovery. Incorporating standardized within-species units like subpopulations and Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) into species assessments could help address this oversight. However, identifying and delineating such units remain challenging, particularly when molecular data are limited. Here, we propose a flexible framework that integrates molecular and non-molecular evidence to identify both subpopulations and ESUs across taxa, providing a practical tool to incorporate within-species diversity into conservation assessments.