data deficient

American  

[dey-tuh di-fish-uhnt, dat-uh, dah-tuh] / ˈdeɪ tə dɪˌfɪʃ ənt, ˈdæt ə, ˈdɑ tə /

adjective

Biology, Ecology.

1. (of a plant or animal species) lacking a properly assessed conservation status due to insufficient information on population and distribution, as categorized by the IUCN Red List: DD

   We are tracking the populations of data deficient fishes and mollusks.

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Etymology

Origin of data deficient

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

Currently, about one in seven species are classified as data deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

From Science Daily • Oct. 26, 2023

They trained an algorithm to predict the extinction risk of data deficient species.

From The Verge • Aug. 4, 2022

That’s a little over a third of all data deficient species, but Borgelt and his colleagues could only work with species for which they knew the geographic distribution of the animals.

From The Verge • Aug. 4, 2022

But the numbers of many data deficient species and sub-species continue to dwindle – and how do you save a species if it hasn’t even been recognised?

From The Guardian • Nov. 5, 2020

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the viper dogfish as "data deficient" because so little is known about their populations.

From National Geographic • Jan. 11, 2018