Plant Conservation in Spain

(See also Canary Islands)

National Red Data Books

Atlas y Libro Rojo de la Flora Vascular Amenazada de España. Taxones Prioritarios. A. Bañares, G. Blanca, J. Güemes, J.C. Moreno & S. Ortiz, eds. 2003. Pp. 1067. Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente. Madrid. [In Spanish.] (Covers 478 taxa, mainly those with EX, EW, CR and EN categories in the 2000 Red List (below), but not the 700 plants listed as VU.) Plant Talk review by Professor V.H. Heywood. 2nd edition with corrections and some new data, published 2005, pp. 1069. The web version of the Spanish Red Data Book offers the option of downloading separately every threatened species and the introductory and concluding chapters.

Lista Roja de Flora Vascular Española (Red List of Spanish Vascular Flora). I. Aizpuru et al. 2000. Pp. 39. Conservación Vegetal, número especial 6, Madrid. [In Spanish, with English summary.] (List of 1414 threatened plants for Spain, including Balearic and Canary Islands, to post-1994 IUCN categories for degree of threat.) PDF version on the web (2.4 mb).

Lista Vermelha dos Briófitos da Península Ibérica [Red List of Bryophytes of the Iberian Peninsula]. C. Sérgio, C. Casas, M. Brugués & R.M. Cros. 1994. ICN, Lisbon, Portugal. 45 pp. Lists 1 (out of 5) hornworts, 115 (out of 259 liverworts) and 264 (out of 757) mosses for Spain, excluding the Balearic and Canary Islands.

Libro Rojo de la flora canaria contenida en la Directiva Hábitats europea. E. Beltrán Tejera, W. Wildpret de la Torre, M.C. León Arencibia, A. García Gallo & J. Reyes Hernández. 1999. 694 pp. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente. La Laguna. (Deals only with EU Habitats Directive species)

Not a Red Data Book but vitally important for plant conservation is the following atlas of invasive plants:

Atlas de las Plantas Alóctonas Invasoras en España. M. Sanz Elorza, E.D. Dana Sánchez & E. Sobrino Vesperinas, eds. 2004, distributed 2005. Pp. 378. Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente. Madrid. [In Spanish.] (Includes 123 invasive taxa, of the 937 alien plants recorded in Spain so far. Every taxon is covered by a data sheet. Preliminary and final chapters update information about the effects of alien plants in natural and semi-natural plant communities.)

Regional Plant Red Data Books

Albacete: Plantas vasculares endémicas, amenazadas o raras de la provincia de Albacete. P. Sánchez Gómez & cols. 1997. 224 pp. Instituto de Estudios Albacetenses. Albacete. Covers the flora of the province of Albacete, the most eastern province of La Mancha, bordering with Valencia and Murcia. All endemics are listed, and data on 37 select species are outlined with maps and drawings.

Almería: Flora amenazada de la provincia de Almería. J.F. Mota, M. Cueto & M.E. Merlo, eds. 2003. Pp. 329. Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, Universidad de Almería, Almería. Includes 20 red data sheets of the most endangered Almerian plants, preceded by preliminary chapters on conservation biology and with case studies.

Andalucía: Libro Rojo de la flora silvestre amenazada de Andalucía. Tomo I: especies en peligro de extinción. G. Blanca, B. Cabezudo, J.E. Hernández-Bermejo, C.M. Herrera, J. Molero-Mesa, J. Muñoz & B. Valdés. 1999. 302 pp. Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía. Sevilla. Contains red data sheets on 70 endangered species in Andalusia.

Libro Rojo de la flora silvestre amenazada de Andalucía. Tomo II: especies vulnerables. G. Blanca, B. Cabezudo, J.E. Hernández-Bermejo, C.M. Herrera, J. Muñoz & B. Valdés. 2000. 375 pp. Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía. Sevilla. Contains sheets on 121 vulnerable taxa.

Aragón: Estrategias para la conservación de la flora de Aragón. 221 pp. H. Sáinz-Ollero, F. Franco & J. Arias. 1996. Consejo de Protección de la Naturaleza de Aragón. Zaragoza. Covers 97 threatened species (7 E, 22 V, 44 R, 16 I, 8 K); 72 ones are listed as interested taxa due to their scientific value. Includes proposed recovery plans for Borderea chouardii and Vella pseudocytisus ssp. paui. Reviewed in Plant Talk 9: 37 (1997).

Balears: Llibre vermell de la flora vascular de les Illes Balears. Ll. Sáez & J.A. Rosselló. 2001. 232 pp. Conselleria de Medi Ambient, Govern de les Illes Balears. Palma de Mallorca. [In Catalan] Includes 145 red data sheets on threatened Balearic species and the list of endemic, rare and threatened taxa of the archipelago.

Cádiz: Flora amenazada del litoral gaditano. I. Sánchez García. 2000.279 pp. Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía, Jerez. Contains information about 71 species at risk in the coast of Cádiz province.

Murcia: Libro rojo de la flora silvestre protegida de la Región de Murcia. Pedro Sánchez Gomez, MMiguel Angel Carrión Vilches, Antonio Hernández González & Juan Guerra Montes. 2003. 2 vols. 670 pp. Consejería de Agricultura, Agua y Medio Ambiente, Región de Murcia - Universidad de Murcia.

Segovia: Aproximación al catálogo de la flora amenazada y de interés especial de la provincia de Segovia. S. Arce Castilla, J.M. Postigo Mijarra & H. Sainz Ollero.1997. 115 pp. Caja Segovia, Segovia. Covers 67 threatened or rare taxa of the province of Segovia, at the northwestern border of Madrid.

Valencia: Flora endémica, rara o amenazada de la Comunidad Valenciana. E. Laguna (coordinator). 1998. 445 pp. Conselleria de Medio Ambiente. Generalitat Valenciana. Describes 350 endemic vascular species with pictures and maps. Other additional chapters deals with the rare but non-endemic vascular plants (365 taxa listed), threatened cultivated plants (105 taxa listed) and rare or threatened non-vascular plants (62 bryophytes, 94 lichens and 16 fungi listed). 225 vascular taxa are proposed to form part of the regional red list (7.4% of the regional size of flora), using the IUCN ’94 criteria: 12 EW, 37 CR, 28 EN and 148 VU. (Reviewed in Plant Talk 19: 42, 1999).

Distribución de la flora vascular rara o amenazada en la Comunidad Valenciana. L. Serra Laliga, C. Fabregat Llueca, J.J. Herrero-Borgoñón & S. López Udias. 2000. 230 pp. Conselleria de Medio Ambiente. Generalitat Valenciana. This atlas presents the distributions of those Valencian taxa not mapped in the regional red data book – rare species or species not endemic to Valencia.

Sierra Nevada: Flora Amenazada y Endémica de Sierra Nevada. G. Blanca & collaborators. 2002. 410 pp. Universidad de Granada - Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía. Granada. Introduction, origin of the flora, vegetation of Sierra Nevada. 132 red data sheets including threatened and protected species; also sheets about 17 doubtful taxa and 44 for endemic species not jeopardized. Synthesis and dicussion. References, indexes and superb photographs.

Floras

Flora Iberica, 11 vols so far, in 12 books – Vols 1–6, 7(1), 7(2), 8, 10, 14 and 21. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid. 4 vols also available on CD-ROM (1996). First 10 vols covered some 50% of the Spanish and Portuguese flora. Note: Does not cover the Canary Islands. Website (includes Vols. 1, 5, 6, 7(1), 7(2), 8, 10, 14 & 21 in PDF form).

Anthos is a web-based information system on all vascular plants in peninsular Spain and the Balearic Islands, with distribution maps, chorological records, common names, chromosome counts, risk status and pictures when available for each taxon. It is implemented by the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid.

Regional floras

The most important are:

Flora dels Països Catalans. 4 vols (complete). O. Bolòs & J. Vigo, J. (Eds). 1986-2001. Ed. Barcino. Barcelona. The volumes cover the Catalan, Valencian and Balearic Flora. A reduced version, with data on 3580 taxa, was published as: Flora manual dels Països Catalans. O. Bolòs, J. Vigo, R.M. Masalles & J.M. Ninot. 1990. 1248 pp. Ed. Pòrtic. Barcelona.

Flora vascular de Andalucía Occidental. 3 vols. B. Valdés, S. Talavera & E. Fernández-Galiano (Eds). 1987. Ed. Ketres. Barcelona. Covers all the vascular flora of Western Andalucia (provinces of Huelva, Cádiz, Sevilla and Córdoba). It deals with 2332 species, all of them well illustrated, and with very concise taxonomic descriptions.

Flora of Macaronesia. Check list of vascular plants. 4th Ed. A. Hansen and P. Sunding. 1993. Sommerfeldia 17. Oslo, Norway.

Flores silvestres de las Islas Canarias. D. & Z. Bramwell. 1990. 376 pp. Ed. Rueda. Madrid. English Edition (revised): Wild Flowers of the Canary Islands. 2nd ed. David Bramwell & Zoë Bramwell. Editorial Rueda, Sl. Pp. 570. 2001. €33.06. Available from Editorial Rueda, Porto Cristo 13, 28924 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain (fax +34-91-610-2855, e-mail ed_rueda@infornet.es). (Reviewed in Plant Talk 29: 41)

Balearic Islands. The Virtual Herbarium prepared by the Laboratori de Botànica, Dep. de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, describes and illustrates on the web all the wild vascular plants of the Balearic Islands.

Other useful databases include the database of the flora of Catalunya, by the University of Barcelona, and the Natural Digital database of images of plants of Catalunya.

Vegetation (peninsular Spain)

Original sclerophyllous forest has long been removed or degraded into stunted woods and maquis scrub. Today about 20% of Spain is forested, including conifer plantations (C. Gómez-Campo, 1984, pers. comm.). In the wetter north-west, from Galicia to the Pyrenees, including the coastal strip of Cantabria, scattered areas of mixed woodland (Central European type) are present with oak, beech and Scots Pine.

Within the Mediterranean zone, 2 main vegetation types are present: original coastal vegetation of Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis), Stone Pine (P. pinea), Holm and Kermes Oak (Quercus ilex ssp. rotundifolia and Q. coccifera respectively), grossly modified in many areas, where it forms secondary scrub (maquis) with many introduced exotics, including cacti and century plants. Inland, Holm Oak, Pyrenean Oak (Q. pyrenaica), Portuguese Oak (Quercus faginea) and Cork Oak (Q. suber) become more widespread. On the two large, dry central tablelands, orginal Holm Oak woodland now largely degraded to Q. coccifera scrub and garigue. Open forests of Juniperus thurifera cover the dry centre of the Ebro basin, as well as the plateaux of the Sistema Ibérico, where Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Black Pine (Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii) form the mountain vegetation belts of this chain. Large expanses of dry grassland survive on southern slopes of Pyrenees and Cantabrian Mts and to a lesser extent on sub-Mediterranean calcareous mountains in eastern Spain. The southeastern strip has semi-desert shrub communities with Chenopodiaceae, ‘esparto’ grass (Stipa tenacissima) and tamarisk (C. Gómez-Campo, 1984, in litt.; Ozenda, 1979; Juan Carlos Moreno, 2001; paragraph updated from Davis, S.D. et al. (1986). Plants in Danger: What do we know? IUCN, Gland, Switzerland).

Vegetation (Balearic Islands)

Mosaic landscapes predominate, with patches of cultivated land and of Mediterranean sclerophyllous scrub or forest. On Ibiza and Formentera, there is abundant forest of Pinus halepensis with Juniperus. In the south of Majorca and Minorca, there is maquis of Olea europaea rich in Mediterranean shrubs, often with Pinus halepensis; Quercus ilex forest occurs in the centre and on mountains. Majorca and Minorca have littoral communities rich in endemics including Launaea and Limonium, and all islands have rocky endemic communities. (Juan Rita, in litt.)

Vegetation (Canary Islands)

In the western and central islands extensive woods; in the eastern islands mostly xerophytic scrub, reflecting the more arid climate of North Africa. Bramwell (1974) lists 6 vegetation types, which show striking altitudinal zonation: semi-desert succulent scrub (0-700 m); juniper scrub (south slopes, 400-600 m); tree heath and evergreen forest, the former of Erica arborea, the latter of Lauraceae, forming the famous and species-rich laurel forests, of which only small areas remain (400-1300 m); savanna of Pinus canariensis (800-1900 m); montane scrub (1900-2500 m); and subalpine scrub (only on Pico de Teide, Tenerife, c. 2600 m). In Gran Canaria, the laurel forest is now less than 1% of its original extent; in Tenerife about 10%. (Paragraph reproduced with permission from Davis, S.D. et al. (1986). Plants in Danger: What do we know? IUCN, Gland, Switzerland).

Plant Conservation Programmes

Funded by the Ministry of Environment and managed by the Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza, the Threatened Flora Atlas project (2000–3) involved 29 teams and more than 200 botanists to create a database of threatened Spanish flora, to census the 478 most endangered species and to monitor demographic parameters of 40 selected plants. A new Spanish Red Data Book was published in 2004 (see above), including a preliminary survey of the alien taxa threatening the native flora and a detailed and ordered selection of important areas for the conservation of the Spanish flora at risk. The project will now cover the 700 Vulnerable taxa excluded in this first phase.

The National Catalogue of Threatened Species, which uses similar but not identical categories to IUCN, lists 132 plant species. Legal plans of action for the recovery of the species are required for all species in the Catalogue, but only 13 have been officially approved so far.

Other than national parks, the Red List programme (above) and participation in international agreements, most conservation actions in Spain are carried out by the 17 Autonomous Communities.

Regions are in different stages of developing work on plant conservation. All but three (Galicia, Cantabria and Castilla y León) have approved a regional catalogue of protected plant species. However, so far only Andalucía, Aragón, Valencia and Canary Islands have important projects and region-wide strategies on plant conservatino supported by their regional governments; Castilla-La Mancha (four recovery plans have been started, and a micro-reserve for plants was passed some years ago), Navarra (a regional strategy is about to be passed), La Rioja (a large group of new protected areas have been declared to protect some select plant habitats) and Balearic Islands (by the efforts of Universities, Sóller Botanic Garden, and some administrative departments) are moving in a similar direction. In contrast, some very important floristic areas have no regional or national strategies to conserve their flora, namely Catalonia, Murcia, Cantabria and Madrid.

Andalucía: The Spanish Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología funded a programme by the Depto Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla, to evaluate risks and prepare recovery plans for five rare plants from the Sierra de Grazalema Nature Park (details in Plant Talk 11: 29, 1997). Two LIFE projects focus on the conservation of the priority plant species on the EU Habitats Directive and on the plant-rich Sierra Nevada National Park. Over 200 closed or fenced areas for plants have been created in the Sierra de Cazorla Nature Park and the approach is now being extended to the Sierra Mágina Nature Park. The Córdoba Botanic Garden also plays an important part and has been officially declared the Andalucian plant gene bank.

Aragón: In 1996 the Consejo de Protección de la Naturaleza de Aragón published an Action Plan for conservation of endangered plants (cited above). It includes all the information needed for conservation of endangered plants and recovery plans for species such as the interesting yam-relative Borderea chouardii. Under a LIFE project, the risk status of 13 Aragonian species on the Habitats Directive and on the regional decree of protected plants has been evaluated.

Balearic Islands: A LIFE project for the protection of endangered plants in Minorca has been developed for the regional government. The main goal is to eradicate Carprobrotus to protect the endemic coastal flora. The project will also develop action plans for the most endangered species and design microreserves for them.

Canary Islands: The regional government (Viceconsejeria de Medio Ambiente) prepares lists of species to be included in the Regional and National Catalogue of Endangered Taxa (containing 64 Canarian endemic plants so far, also included in the National Catalogue) and coordinates the drafting and implementation of recovery plans. The Jardín Botánico Viera y Clavijo, Las Palmas, provides a gene bank of Canarian threatened plants and works on the conservation biology of Canarian plants. The Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales implements Special Recovery Plans through the Master Plans of the Canary Island's National Parks and has established the Jardín Botánico del Parque Nacional del Teide to facilitate active conservation programmes for endangered Canarian plants (see Planta Europa Proceedings, 1998 conference, pp. 198-204).

Valencia: With EU funding, the Consellería de Medio Ambiente of the Generalitat Valenciana (Regional Government) is establishing a series of micro-reserves across the region to protect the many rare and endemic plants of this plant-rich region. Over 150 have been designated so far, out of a planned 250. So far they cover all of the 56 priority habitats in Annex 1 of the EU Habitats Directive occurring in Valencia and of the threatened species listed in Annex II. The programme, supported by LIFE Nature, is described in Plant Talk 14: 20-23, 33 (1998) and has its own website, currently viewable only in Spanish, or visit their Microhabitat site which is in English and Spanish.

Twelve Spanish botanic gardens are joined in the Spanish section of the Asociación Ibero-Macaronésica de Jardines Botánicos, founded in 1985, which organizes symposia and workshops.

Key Institutions

National

Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza, Subdirección General de Conservación de la Biodiversidad, Gran Vía San Francisco, 4, E-28005 Madrid.

NGOs

Sociedad Española de Biología de la Conservación de Plantas. (Chair: Jaime Güemes), Jardí Botànic de la Universitat de València, Quart, 80, E-46008 Valencia, Spain. (Created in 2003 as a new NGO for plant conservation in Spain, from the former IUCN Commission of Flora, of the Spanish Committee for IUCN).

ARBA (Association for the Auctoctonous Forest Recovery). Albergue Juvenil “Richard Schirrmann”, Casa de Campo s/n. E-28011 Madrid.

Fundacion Enrique Montoliu, Plaza Mariano Benlliure 5-29, E-46002 Valencia. (Private foundation established in 1996 in Valencia that supports nature conservation).

Other useful information

The website of the Spanish nature and conservation magazine Quercus

The website of IUCN’s Spanish Plant Commision magazine Conservación Vegetal

A website hosted by the University of Valladolid provides information on plant conservation in Castilla y León.

References cited

Blanco, E. (1993). Bosques españoles, Natura Nº extr.: 2.

Bramwell, D. & Z.I. (1974). Wild Flowers of the Canary Islands. Stanley Thornes, London, 261 pp.

Machado, A. (1998). Biodiversidad. Un paseo por el concepto y las Islas Canarias. Ed. Cabildo Insular de Tenerife.

Ozenda, P. et al. (1979). Vegetation Map (Scale 1:3,000,000) of the Council of Europe Member States. Nature and Environment Series No 16. Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France. 99 pp. (3 colour maps).

Ruíz de la Torre, J. (1990). Distribución y características de las masas forestales españolas. Ecología (Madrid) No Extr.: 11-30

Quézel, P. (1985). Definition of the Mediterranean region and the origin of its flora. In Gómez-Campo, C.: Plant conservation in the mediterranean area: 9-24. Dr. W. Junk Publ. Dordrecht.

Sáinz-Ollero, H. (1992). La conservación de la flora española: libro rojo de las especies vegetales. In: Documentos Seminario sobre conservación de la Naturaleza, Cuenca 5-9 octubre 1992. Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo. Cuenca.

Simón, J.C. (1994). La flora vascular española: Diversidad y conservación. Ecología (Madrid) 8: 203-225.

Acknowledgement

Based on material prepared by Hugh Synge for the Council of Europe, 1999-2000, and subsequently extended and updated regularly by Juan Carlos Moreno, with additional information from Emilio Laguna, Angel Bañares and Juan Rita, Spain.

Last updated January 2006.