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Magazine article2014

Hur går det för de svenska kärlväxterna i EU:s art- och habitatdirektiv?

Sundberg, Sebastian; Aronsson, Mora

Abstract

We summarise the main results of the Article 17 report 2013 on status and trends of the Swedish vascular plants in EU's Species and Habitats Directive. This was the second report on species (the first in 2007) which thus enables comparison between the two reports. Sweden includes three biogeographical regions: the alpine (along the north-west), the boreal (most of the area) and the continental (in the extreme south). In Sweden, the Directive includes 42 vascular plant species of Annexes II and IV, and additionally one species and a species group (Lycopodium, clubmosses) of Annex V. In Sweden we have also reported three nationally red listed clubmoss species separately. All except three vascular plant species are nationally red listed, and for 16 species Sweden has a large proportion (25-100%) of the known European or global population. For 29 (69%) of the 42 Annex II species, the conservation status is favourable. These include all the species in the alpine region. On the other hand, in the boreal and continental regions 44% and 75% of the species have an unfavourable status, respectively. Species judged as unfavourable include mainly freshwater aquatic, wetland and semi-natural grassland species. When comparing the assessments of 2007 and 2013, the status has improved for 11 species (mainly because of better data quality) while it has worsened for seven species (mainly because of declining populations or habitat quality). The situation with such good data on the vascular plants, is quite unique with European standards. This is because of the intense efforts by the Flora Guardians, several national species action plans, and the existence of a citizen science-based database, The Species Gateway.

Published in

Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift
2014, Volume: 108, number: 3-4, pages: 168-187