A new Red List for Great Britain’s vascular plants has shown that while a quarter of species are threatened, there have been success stories, including some rare orchids.
It has been produced by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), providing a comprehensive revision of the previous list produced in 2005.
Scientists evaluated 1,720 vascular plants, a diverse group of species that covers seed-bearing plants including conifers, as well as ferns. Of these, 26% (434 species) are assessed as threatened (either Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable), compared to 20% in the previous list. A further 140 are Near Threatened.
Some of our rarest species, such as Fen Orchid, have a potentially brighter future thanks to the targeted efforts of conservation organisations, and others, for example Bee Orchid and Pyramidal Orchid, are more common than they once were,
However, many plants once widespread in our countryside have continued to decline to the point where they are now assessed as threatened. These include:
● Wild flowers that are positive indicators of unimproved, species-rich habitats, such as Common Milkwort, Common Restharrow and Betony.
● Species of wetlands and waterbodies, for example Marsh-marigold and Shining Pondweed.
● Plants of arable fields, such as Venus's-looking-glass and Rough Poppy.
● Arctic-alpine plants such as Alpine Gentian.
Declines are linked to many factors, including agricultural intensification, long-term neglect of habitats, developments and pollution. Some declines of arctic-alpine plants, found in some mountainous areas, are linked to global warming.
The list is based on around 50 million plant records collected by thousands of volunteers since 1930, and coauthors included Dr Oliver Pescott and Dr Colin Harrower of UKCEH. It includes information on locations where threatened species are found.
Dr Harrower, a spatial data analyst, said: “The Red List enables us to better understand which species are at risk of being lost, which will provide essential evidence to prioritise future conservation action.”
The Red List, funded by Natural England, is available as a downloadable spreadsheet and has been published as a special issue of BSBI’s open access journal British & Irish Botany.