Assessing the national red lists of European vascular plants: Disparities and implications

Peter Glasnović, 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

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number110568
JournalBiological Conservation
Volume293
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2024

Keywords

  • Conservation gaps
  • Europe
  • Plant conservation
  • Red lists
  • Threatened taxa
  • Vascular plants

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