Threat Degree Classification According to Habitat Quality: A Case Study from the Czech Republic

Important sources of information in the field of nature protection are red lists, which define the degree of threat to individual species. In practice, an assessment of the quality of the habitats in which a species occurs is used to a very limited extent in the preparation of red lists of vascular plants. At the same time, this parameter is usually essential to determine their degree of threat. At present, habitat quality data are available for the territory of the Czech Republic; these were obtained during Natura 2000 habitat mapping in the years 2000–2019. In this paper we propose the use of habitat quality data to determine the degree of threat to selected species of vascular plants and to compile a national red list. Nine plant species from three habitat types were selected for this study: meadows and wetland habitats in the alluvium of large rivers (Cardamine matthioli Moretti, Gratiola officinalis L., Teucrium scordium L.), fen habitats (Carex appropinquata Schumach., C. cespitosa L., C. lepidocarpa Tausch) and ecotone shrub habitats (Rosa agrestis Savi, R. micrantha Borrer ex Sm., R. spinosissima L.). For these species, the quality of the habitats in which they occur was analysed and grid maps were created, which present (1) the level of knowledge of habitat quality and (2) the average habitat quality. The results were compared with the degree of threat in the current national red list. Habitat quality analysis should also be used in the future to detect threatened species, which today are outside the red list and this assessment may be useful in compiling another updated red list of vascular plants of the Czech Republic.