The aim of these pages is to provide an introduction to plant conservation in the country concerned, with emphasis on work done on threatened plants.
The pages may be seen as an updated version of the book Plants in Danger: What do we know? (IUCN Threatened Plants Unit, 1986), taking advantage of the web to keep the information up to date and to provide access to more detailed information through web links.
Prospective authors are invited to view several of the pages to get a feel of how they are constructed. Most authors write and submit their page to Plant Talk in ‘Word’ rather than attempting to copy the html formats used on the web site. A few colour pictures of interesting plants and plant communities in portrait (rather than landscape) format make an attractive addition to the left-hand column.
The country units used follow those in Plants in Danger. Where an island has a substantially different flora from its parent country, it is treated separately.
Notes follow on the contents of each of the sections. These are guidelines, not instructions, and the contents of each section may differ from the outline below .
PLANT DATA PANEL (LEFT HAND COLUMN)
This aims to provide figures on species numbers.
Size of Flora
The numbers of native plant species in the country, ideally separated for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, algae and fungi. (Note that while recognizing that fungi are not plants, Plant Talk does include fungi so as to make sure they are not forgotten in conservation.)
Where there are different figures, both may be listed. Essential references can be done at the end of the Plant Data Panel (see Albania, for example) or cited at the end of the page (as with Spain).
Species in this context is usually taken to include subspecies but not varieties. If the figures follow a different convention, this should be mentioned.
Where a flora has a large introduced element, as with say the Canary Islands, this may be mentioned too. (e.g. “2010 native species of vascular plants plus 456 introduced species”).
Endemic species
This has not yet been included but should be as it was included in the Floristics section of the ‘Plants in Danger’ book. By endemic we mean species confined to the island, island group or country concerned, not plants of a narrow endemic nature.
Number of Globally Threatened Species
This was originally designed to provide the figures from the UNEP-WCMC database on threatened plants but the situation is now very confused with only a small proportion of the species formerly listed by IUCN and then UNEP-WCMC as threatened now on the IUCN Red List. The best option is probably to use the figures from Table 5 in The 1997 IUCN Plant Red Data Book (WCMC, 1998) unless there is a more up to date source. The intention is simply to list the number of species in each of the IUCN Red Book categories.
Number of nationally threatened species
This repeats the previous item using the figures from the latest national Red Data List or book. Follow the categories used nationally - do not try to convert them to the latest IUCN version if they are different.
Where it is possible to provide this figures not only for vascular plants, this may be best done as a table at the top of the wider right-hand column, as for example has been done for Sweden.
Where there is a national or other database on the threatened species, provide a web link to it.
MAIN TEXT (RIGHT HAND COLUMN)
National Red Data Books
Citations of the Red Data Books or Lists for Plants, with the most recent at the top. If there are also regional ones, cite these below (see Spain, for example). If a Red Data Book is entirely superseded by a more recent one, do not cite the earlier one, but include both if each is needed to give the full picture.
Don’t forget Red Data Books or Lists for lower plants where they occur.
Do not include papers that list only one or two threatened species, unless they give valuable background on threatened species in the area concerned.
Follow the Plant Talk citation style as far as possible. This is in the form of:
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Title (in Italic). Authors. Date. Pp. ##. Publisher. Availability if appropriate.
Notes.
Where a title is in a little known language, it is helpful to include a literal translation in English (do this in square brackets after the title). Notes may list how many species are covered and (very briefly) what data are provided. Where Plant Talk has reviewed the book on its Red Data Books page, we put that review on the web site and add a link.
If there is a database on threatened plants, please provide a link to it if it is on the web or details of how to contact it if not.
Floras
Please cite those works that conservationists would use, taking a selective view of the botanical literature. Where a comprehensive Flora has been published, it is not therefore necessary to cite older works as well, but if the new Flora is incomplete, then the older works may be needed to fill the gaps. It may also be useful to add Checklists where up-to-date Floras have not been written. Where good Floras that botanists can use are not available, then it may be worth adding some Field Guides as well.
Don’t forget to add floristic accounts of lower plants and fungi as well.
Vegetation
A succinct account of the principal vegetation types , outlining the mosaic they form. The aim is to give a birds-eye picture of the natural and semi-natural vegetation that remains. This is no easy task, even for the professional phytosociologist, but we have been fortunate in that IUCN has given us permission to use the accounts from the printed ‘Plants in Danger’ book provided suitable acknowledgement is given. Please use the ‘Plants in Danger’ accounts as your starting point.
Plant Conservation Programmes
Short concise paragraphs on each of the main programmes for plant conservation, ideally with web links to the institutes concerned.
Key institutions
They may include conservation agencies, NGOs that work on plant conservation and botanic gardens. Where the numbers of these organizations is relatively few, give all of them, but where it is long, like the 40 or so botanic gardens in the UK, then just give the major institutes. If there are other web sites with more detailed information, then it is worth citing them at the end.
The form for each entry is:
Institute’s name (in its own language) [Translation to English if appropriate]. Postal address (without the country name). (Notes).
If the institute has a web site, make the link to it from the institute’s name.
It is often useful to add a short note in brackets at the end of the citation outlining what the institute does, if it is not obvious, e.g.
“(The government conservation agency)”
“(Private foundation established in 1996 in Valencia that supports nature conservation)”
“(An independent scientific and teaching institution of the Estonian Agricultural University)”
In institutionally rich countries, it may be useful to separate the various components out. For the UK, for example, the headings used are:
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Key institutions
Specialist botanical societies
Other relevant NGOs.
In some cases it may be worthwhile separating out the botanical gardens.
Other useful information/Other useful links
A catch-all section which means exactly what it says.
Include botanical bibliographies here, really useful especially if they are on the web.
References cited
References cited in the text above.
Acknowledgement
The author of the page and date last updated.
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