When a list warns: More plant species under threat

Biodiversity crisis - When a list warns: More plant species under threat

From the summer adonis (Adonis aestivalis) to the Palatinate cinquefoil (Potentilla schultzii) - every third plant species in Rhineland-Palatinate is considered extinct or endangered to varying degrees. This sad message comes from the now updated Red List of ferns and flowering plants in Rhineland-Palatinate. Of the approximately 2000 native species included in the list, only around 900 were classified as endangered. In turn, 652 are classified as extinct, threatened with extinction, critically endangered, endangered or endangered to an unknown extent.

The remaining 2,000 species were either not assessed in the list, or there was insufficient data, or they are considered extremely rare with no significant losses expected in the short term, or they are on the early warning list. The latter includes species whose populations are declining noticeably but which are still not endangered. Environment Minister Katrin Eder (Greens) is quoted as saying that the status of many wild plant species has seriously deteriorated.

Many once common species have become rare, some habitats have disappeared completely - with far-reaching consequences for the respective ecosystem. "This shows us that the biodiversity crisis is alarming and there is an urgent need for action," emphasizes Eder.

The new Red List of ferns and flowering plants in the state, which was commissioned by the State Office for the Environment (LfU), compares populations with those on the nationwide list from 1996. Native species are categorized according to defined categories - the spectrum ranges from "extinct or lost" to "endangered". Species whose populations are noticeably dwindling, but which are at least not yet endangered, are included in an early warning list. This includes the well-known yellow marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), for example.

The Red List is important as a working basis for nature conservation, as Lisa Tippelt from the Biodiversity and Species Conservation Department at the LfU explains. It is the basis for planning conservation measures, for the designation of protected areas and represents a kind of species inventory. In addition to ferns and flowering plants, there are also red lists for large butterflies, dragonflies and breeding birds, among others.

Tippelt speaks of a negative trend in endangered species, which can be observed nationwide. According to the list, many arable wild herbs are on the retreat, for example the herbaceous dwarf lesser burnet (Anagallis minima), the yellow-flowering lesser lamb's lettuce (Arnoseris minima) or the field toothwort (Odontites vernus) with its pink flowers are threatened with extinction.

"A lot depends on how we treat the landscape," explains Dennis Hanselmann, lead author of the list. The way agriculture is practiced has a very strong influence on the plant world. "A lot depends on our intervention." It depends on the use of fertilizers, for example. Or the intensity of agricultural land use, Tippelt adds.

In contrast to earlier times, there is more mowing than grazing on grassland areas, for example, she says. If nutrients are introduced through the use of fertilizers, for example, this pushes back so-called lean indicators. These are plants that need nutrient-poor soils. Incidentally, these are not poor in species, as Hanselmann explains. On the contrary: nutrient-poor soils offer an enormous variety of wildflowers. "Poor soil opens up many niches," he says. A single species cannot spread so widely there, leaving room for others.

Despite all the alarming figures, the Red List also offers glimmers of hope. For example, 20 species that were thought to be extinct or lost have been rediscovered. These include the common carnation (Armeria maritima subsp. elongata), which was recently named "Flower of the Year 2024" by the Loki Schmidt Foundation. According to the foundation, this carnation is a real all-rounder: it tolerates both poor and salty soils or soils contaminated with heavy metals and is an important source of food for insects.

Another species rediscovered in Rhineland-Palatinate is the pink-flowered marsh gladiolus (Gladiolus palustris). According to the Ministry of the Environment in Mainz, it is also protected under a European nature conservation directive. Following its rediscovery, this in turn means that monitoring is required for such species, as Tippelt explains. Corresponding contracts have already been awarded.

According to Hanselmann, the fact that species that have supposedly disappeared are reappearing is also due to the fact that the seeds of some plants can survive in the soil for a long time - sometimes for decades. If the soil is then loosened up again, whether by animals or humans, a plant can reappear, he explains. "One or two species can be tickled awake from their slumber," he says.

The Red List is based on data from individual publications, articles in specialist journals and reports on species conservation projects by the State Office for the Environment. Local experts and specialists for certain species groups are also consulted. Rediscoveries can be the result of discoveries during walks by interested parties or sightings by experts in specially protected areas.

Some species benefit from changing conditions. These include some orchid species in Rhineland-Palatinate, such as the goat's tongue orchid (Himantoglossum hircinum), which smells like a billy goat and can grow up to one meter high. "It's doing very well at the moment," says Hanselmann.

There are also so-called "responsibility species". Special responsibility must be taken for these in that they only or mostly occur in Rhineland-Palatinate. These include the Bopparder Schleifenblume (Iberis linifolia subsp. boppardensis), which is only found in the Bopparder Hamm wine-growing region on the Middle Rhine. It is still classified as highly endangered and is the focus of particular attention in local conservation efforts.

Red Lists in Rhineland-Palatinate