Assign Targets by IUCN Red List Categories — splnr_targets

The splnr_targets_byIUCN() function assigns conservation targets for species based on their IUCN Red List categories. This allows for prioritizing species at higher risk of extinction with more stringent conservation goals.

Usage

splnr_targets_byIUCN(dat, IUCN_target, IUCN_col = "IUCN_Category")

Arguments

dat

A dataframe or sf object containing species information, including a column with IUCN categories.

IUCN_target

Either:

A single numeric value (e.g., 0.3) to apply this target to all threatened IUCN categories ("EX", "EW", "CR", "EN", "VU").
A named numeric vector (e.g., c("EX" = 0.8, "CR" = 0.6)) to apply specific targets to particular IUCN categories.

IUCN_col

A character string specifying the name of the column in dat that contains the IUCN category information. Defaults to "IUCN_Category".

Value

A dataframe or sf object identical to the input dat, but with an updated or newly added target column reflecting the assigned conservation goals.

Details

This function is crucial for integrating species' extinction risk into conservation planning. It allows you to specify targets either as a single numeric value (applied to all 'threatened' IUCN categories) or as a named numeric vector for specific categories.

Species can be extracted based on IUCN categories using the spatialplanr function splnr_get_IUCNRedList().

Important: To access the IUCN database (e.g., via splnr_get_IUCNRedList()), you need an API login token. This token, obtained from rredlist::rl_use_iucn(), must be set as an environment variable named IUCN_REDLIST_KEY (e.g., Sys.setenv(IUCN_REDLIST_KEY = "[Your Token]")).

The function checks if a 'target' column already exists in dat. If not, it creates one. If it exists, new targets are coalesced with existing ones, allowing for sequential application or refinement of targets.

The "threatened" IUCN categories considered for target assignment (when a single IUCN_target is provided) are: "EX" (Extinct), "EW" (Extinct in the Wild), "CR" (Critically Endangered), "EN" (Endangered), and "VU" (Vulnerable).

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Example 1: Assigning specific targets to categories
# Create a dummy dataframe resembling output from splnr_get_IUCNRedList
df_species_iucn <- data.frame(
  Species = c("Diomedea exulans", "Hippocampus kuda",
              "Squatina squatina", "Common Dolphin"),
  IUCN_Category = c("VU", "EN", "CR", "LC")
)

iucn_specific_targets <- c("EX" = 0.9, "EW" = 0.8, "CR" = 0.75, "EN" = 0.6, "VU" = 0.5)

df_with_iucn_targets <- splnr_targets_byIUCN(
  dat = df_species_iucn,
  IUCN_target = iucn_specific_targets,
  IUCN_col = "IUCN_Category"
)
print(df_with_iucn_targets)

# Example 2: Assigning a single target to all threatened categories
df_single_target <- splnr_targets_byIUCN(
  dat = df_species_iucn,
  IUCN_target = 0.4, # Apply 40% target to all threatened species
  IUCN_col = "IUCN_Category"
)
print(df_single_target)

# Example 3: When 'dat' already has a 'target' column
df_pre_targets <- data.frame(
  Species = c("A", "B", "C"),
  IUCN_Category = c("CR", "LC", "EN"),
  target = c(0.1, 0.2, 0.1) # Existing targets
)
iucn_update_targets <- c("CR" = 0.7) # Only update CR
df_updated_targets <- splnr_targets_byIUCN(df_pre_targets, iucn_update_targets)
print(df_updated_targets)
} # }