28 April 2010
Grassland on a coastal slope at Ulbjerg
Hoved near Hjarbæk Fjord north of
Viborg in Jutland. One of the plant species
that grows here
is Common Pasque Flower (Anemone pulsatilla),
a species of special international responsibility.
Common Pasque Flower thrives on the slope
thanks to the preservation status of the
area of Ulbjerg Hoved, because the area
is grazed and neither fertilisers nor pesticides
are applied. Photo: NERI/Peter Wind
By Jens C. Pedersen
and Peter Wind
The National Environmental
Research Institute (NERI), Aarhus University,
has launched the status of 2,702 species
of Danish insects, fish, mammals, fungi,
lichens and vascular plants in total. The
results indicate that 99 species have become
regionally extinct since 1850, while 427
species are threatened. Particularly within
the group of lichens there are many regionally
extinct or threatened species.
On the Danish Red List
is shown which species of animals, fungi
and plants have become regionally extinct,
which species are threatened to a greater
or lesser degree and which species are not.
Specialists dealing with the different groups
of species have assessed that 99 species
of insects, fish, mammals, fungi, lichens,
and vascular plants have become extinct
in Denmark since 1850. Besides, 427 species
are threatened to a greater or lesser degree.
874 species are included in the category
‘least concern’ while the remaining 1,325
species have not been assessed, mainly because
a large proportion of Danish vascular plants
species have either been imported or are
casuals. The species are usually grown in
gardens, forests, and on arable land, or
the species have been introduced to Denmark
via crops. This applies to e.g. poppies
(Papaver ssp.), ground elder (Aegopodium
podagraria), giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum),
white dead-nettle (Lamium album), and groundsel
(Senecio vernalis) of which some have proved
to be invasive.
42 of the regionally
extinct species also had the status as regionally
extinct in the previous Red List 1997. That
the list of regionally extinct species has
increased by 57 species is mainly attributable
to three facts: that the species have not
been recorded in Denmark for more than 30
years, that the groups of species in question
have been assessed for the first time and
that three species have been included on
the list as they have not been recorded
in Denmark as breeding since the 1800s.
They were omitted from the 1997 Red List.
Half of the assessed lichens are threatened,
thereby becoming the group with the largest
proportion of threatened species. At the
same time almost half of the lichens have
disappeared in Denmark since 1850.
Why do some species
not fit well?
Deterioration or destruction of habitats
is the main reason that some species are
under threat. Besides, many of the non-fit
species live in small isolated populations,
and an incidental event such as the cutting
down of trees may prove critical. In addition
some animals, fungi, and plants are under
pressure from indirect impact in terms of
climate change, deposition of man-made nitrogen,
changes in farming and forestation practices
etc. or directly from deforestation and
removal of dead wood.
How is the Danish Red
List compiled?
Danish specialists dealing with the individual
groups of animals, fungi, and plants process
the compiled information of the species.
They assess the individual species according
to guidelines launched in 2001 by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN.
The international guidelines are adapted
to Danish conditions. The specialists abide
extensively to a precautionary principle
when assessing the status of a species.
Before declaring a species as regionally
extinct they must make sure that it cannot
be found anywhere or at any time of the
year in Denmark. Correspondingly, a new
species must be established and proved to
breed for a consecutive period of 10 years
before it can be assessed according to the
guidelines of IUCN. In this way it is avoided
that vagrants blur the picture.
The Danish Red List
is the official name for the web-based list
of Danish plants, fungi, and animals examined
according to the IUCN guidelines. The list
shows the status of the species included
and provides the documentation for the status.
The end of the revision
period 2003-2009 marks also the onset of
the next revision for the period 2010-2015.
The Danish Red List
is part of NERI’s advisory services on biodiversity
for the Danish Ministry of Environment.
Contact: Senior biologist
Peter Wind, +45 8920 1544 pwi@dmu.dk
Specialised species
in forests and grassland most threatened
(news article)
Scientific elaboration
(in Danish)
The Danish Red List
(in Danish)
Scarlet tiger (Callimorpha
dominula) inhabits forest meadows on the
Danish island Sjælland. The adult
moth flies during the day around mid-summer.
The species has been assessed as ”vulnerable”
because it seems to have vanished from a
number of sites on southern Sjælland.
Photo: Per Stadel Nielsen
