Assessing the national red lists of European vascular plants

Autor(en)

Peter Glasnovic̈, Edy Fantinato, Gabriella Buffa, André Carapeto, Snežana Dragićević, Živa Fišer, Michael Kiehn, Tiiu Kull, Marcin Klisz, Udayangani Liu, Martina Lužnik, Detlev Metzing, Anastasia Stefanaki, Nina Lončarević

Abstrakt

The diversity of vascular plant taxa in Europe is threatened. National red lists are valuable biodiversity conservation tools that provide us with information on the proximity of a taxon to extinction. However, there are still differences in the methods and implementation of these assessments across European countries, indicating gaps in conservation efforts at national and regional levels. To address these disparities, we conducted a study in which we compiled data from the most recent national red lists of vascular plants in European countries, including some countries from the eastern part of the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot. Our results confirm concerns that the conservation status of European vascular flora is not fully mapped. We also found that this knowledge is not evenly distributed across European regions. There were differences in the availability of red lists, the regularity of updates, and the implementation of assessment methods. Countries that assessed their entire flora had a higher proportion of threatened taxa than countries that assessed only a portion of the flora. This highlights the risk of overlooking the conservation status of less known taxa when assessments are limited to specific taxa. Financial capacity was found to be a critical factor influencing the extent of these shortcomings. Our study has shown that countries that assess their entire flora have, on average, higher national spending on environmental protection within their overall economies. This information is critical for developing effective biodiversity conservation strategies across Europe and for addressing the threats faced by vascular plants in the region.

Organisation(en)

Core Facility Botanischer Garten, Department für Botanik und Biodiversitätsforschung, Dekanat der Fakultät für Lebenswissenschaften

Externe Organisation(en)

Universita Ca' Foscari, Venezia, University of Primorska, Sociedade Portuguesa de Botânica, Alverca, Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Forest Research Institute, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Bundesamt für Naturschutz, University of the Aegean, Utrecht University

Journal

Biological Conservation

Band

293

Anzahl der Seiten

11

ISSN

0006-3207

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110568

Publikationsdatum

05-2024

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

107006 Naturschutz

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Nature and Landscape Conservation

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/adf13c87-bc59-4b21-b36b-d4fabb78f801