Hybrid species/populations

[cegr...@gmail.com]

Hi all,

In our last meeting, the question was raised: What to do with populations that may include hybrids, between species, natural hybrids, hard to identify, counts hard to determine?

To summarise the discussion:

This situation may apply to plants, fishes and other species too. Taxonomic confusion is grounds for exclusion, so hybridization could qualify for exclusion. It is acknowledged that some species have well-known hybrid zones, it may be appropriate to ignore those populations. The Mexico team has encountered this problem for several species – they are following the Red List assessment as to whether species/populations are considered a unit (where RL assessments exist). Overall this situation is likely to be a case-by-case decision; where necessary, add notes to the form to clarify the decisions made.

Please comment if you have further ideas on this topic!

Catherine