Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km² or Area of Occupancy <2,000 km² combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Population justification
This species is generally uncommon to locally common and is known from a fairly small number of localities (Kirwan et al. 2004, del Hoyo et al. 2020), although its behaviour renders it inconspicuous in denser forests, so it may be more common than records suggest (Kirwan et al. 2004). The species was found to be common during surveys at Jequitaí, Minas Gerais (Vasconcelos and D'Angelo Neto 2018), but the species has not been detected with such frequency elsewhere. The population size is unknown.
Trend justification
Remote sensing data indicate that approximately 8% of tree cover was lost from the species's range over the past decade (Global Forest Watch 2021). Although the species is not found solely in forest, the population size is tentatively inferred to be declining as forest within its range is lost and degraded. Additionally, a model projected that the species may lose 53-66% of its 1990 range by 2070 as a result of climate change (Da Silva 2017), which may equate to a loss of 9-13% over ten years, assuming exponential decline. The species's population size is therefore suspected to be declining at a rate of less than 20% per decade.
Knipolegus franciscanus occurs in central eastern Brazil, in the São Francisco Valley in southwest Bahia, northern and central Minas Gerais, southeast Tocantins (Pacheco and Olmos 2006), northeast Goiás and Distrito Federal.
It occurs in well-preserved caatinga dry forest patches, usually associated with limestone or sandstone outcrops (except at the São Tomé locality). It has also been recorded in gallery forest and in shrubby vegetation on rocky outcrops (Lima 1999, Vasconcelos and D'Angelo Neto 2018). Seasonal movements to forested areas away from rocky outcrops have been noted outside the breeding season (J. F. Pacheco per F. Olmos in litt. 2004; de Vasconcelos et al. 2006). It is occasionally found near habitation (Kirwan et al. 2004). It is able to persist in degraded habitats, and may be found in pasture adjacent to dry forests (da Silva and Oren 1992, del Hoyo et al. 2020).
Limestone-derived soils are the most fertile in the region, so clearance for pasture and irrigated cultures has been widespread. The destruction of dry forest has been extensive since the early 1960s (T. Dornas in litt. 2013). Around São Felix do Coribe in western Bahia, remaining dry forest patches are very small (all areas less than 200 ha) and this is the case throughout the limestone region. Remaining forest is exploited for timber, mostly for fence poles (Olmos et al. 1997). Satellite imagery from the Paranã valley in Goiás has shown that dry forests declined from 15.8% of the region in 1990 to only 5.4% in 1999, and less than 1% of the remaining fragments are over 100 ha, although they make up 48% of the remaining forest (Andahur 2001). Most of the remaining forest is associated with rocky outcrops where cultivation or pastures are not viable, and vegetation composition there differs to that of forest on flatter ground. There are intentions by mining companies to explore the potential extraction of agricultural products from limestone outcrops in the future (T. Dornas in litt. 2013). The species may also be at risk from habitat alteration as a result of climate change (Borges et al. 2019). A model projected that the species may lose 53-66% of its 1990 range by 2070 as a result of climate change (Da Silva 2017).