Plant Conservation in Sweden

Number of Nationally Threatened and Red-listed Species

Plant Group	RE	CR	EN	VU	NT	DD	Total threatened
Vascular plants	23	41	124	96	95	3	261
Bryophytes	17	11	24	57	69	38	92
Algae*	3	5	5	10	8	3	20
Lichens	18	34	39	63	64	36	136
Macrofungi	5	23	98	180	226	100	301
Totals	66	114	290	406	462	108	810

RE = Regionally Extinct, CR= Critically Endangered; EN=Endangered, VU=Vulnerable, NT=Near Threatened; DD=Data Deficient.

Source: The 2005 Red List of Swedish Species. U. Gärdenfors (Ed.), 2005. ArtDatabanken, SLU, Uppsala. (See below)

* Only cyanobacteria, red algae, brown algae and charophytes assessed.

National Red Data Books

Numerous, the key ones being:

Rödlistade arter i Sverige 2005- The 2005 Red List of Swedish Species. U. Gärdenfors (Ed.). 2005. Pp. 496. ArtDatabanken, SLU, Uppsala. The second Red List for Sweden with all the Swedish red-listed species, using the IUCN criteria. In all lists 3653 species of plants and animals, of which 1664 are regarded as threatened. For plant figures, see above.

Rödlistade mossor i Sverige – Artfakta [Swedish Red Data Book of Bryophytes]. T. Hallingbäck (Ed.). ArtDatabanken, SLU, Uppsala. 1998. Data sheets and maps for the red-listed species of bryophytes listed in the 1995 RDB above (with a few adjustments with regard to threat categories).

Rödlistade svampar i Sverige – Artfakta [Swedish Red Data Book of Fungi 1997]. G. Thor & L. Arvidsson (Eds). ArtDatabanken, SLU, Uppsala. 1999. Data sheets and maps for the red-listed species of fungi listed in the 1995 RDB above (with a few adjustments with regard to threat categories).

Rödlistade kärlväxter i Sverige – Artfakta [Swedish Red Data Book of Vascular Plants]. M. Aronsson (Ed.) 1999. ArtDatabanken, SLU, Uppsala. Data sheets and maps for the red-listed species of vascular plants listed in the 1995 RDB above (with a few adjustments with regard to threat categories).

Rödlistade lavar i Sverige – Artfakta [Swedish Red Data Book of Lichens]. G. Thor & L. Arvidsson (Eds). 1999. ArtDatabanken, SLU, Uppsala. Data sheets and maps for the red-listed species of lichens listed in the 1995 RDB above (with a few adjustments with regard to threat categories).

Red Data Book of the Baltic Region. Part 1. T. Ingelög, R. Anderson & M. Tjernberg (Eds). 1993. Swedish Threatened Species Unit, Uppsala, Sweden. Includes threatened vascular plants from Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Denmark.

Floras

Den Nordiska floran. B. Mossberg, L. Stenberg, and S. Ericsson. 1992. Wahström & Widstrand.

Flora Nordica, vols 1, 2 and General Volume. Bengt Jonsell (ed.). Pp. 344, 430, 274. 2000, 2001, 2004. (Bergius Foundation, Sweden). Flora Nordica, Department of Phanerogamic Botany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. Covers Denmark and the Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and associated Arctic islands, and Sweden. 15 vols projected. Plant Talk review of Vol. 1; Vol. 2 covers Chenopodiaceae to Fumariaceae. Available from Koeltz Scientific Books.

Illlustrated Flora of Nordic Liverworts and Hornworts. K. Damsholt. 2002. Nordic Bryological Society, Lund, Sweden. (Coverage includes Faeroe Is., Jan Mayen, Svalbard, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland & Denmark.)

Vegetation

Forest, mostly plantations, occupies c. 56% of land area, with Scots Pine and spruce predominant in the northern and central boreal zone, with pockets of deciduous forest. In southern Sweden, broadleaved deciduous forest is the natural climz, dominated by beech (in the far south) and oak, but today mostly replaced by agriculture. Birch forest in mountains of north and west, but south of the tundra of the Arctic/alpine zone. Only 4% of all forests are not or are only slightly affected by forestry activities, and less than 1% is protected by law. In the west, extensive alpine heath with willow, Cassiope and lichens. Marshland, bogs and mires total 5 m ha, mostly in northern Sweden. (Paragraph reproduced with permission from Davis, S.D. et al. (1986). Plants in Danger: What do we know? IUCN, Gland, Switzerland).

Plant Conservation Programmes

Flora Guardians, managed by the Swedish Threatened Species Unit with financial support from WWF Sweden, is a programme in which members of the public monitor individual threatened plants in the wild. Various botanical and nature conservation societies and regional flora projects coordinate the activities regionally or locally. Most of the provinces are covered by the project. 185 Endangered and Vulnerable vascular plants are monitored by mostly annual visits to their sites. Gradually, also cryptogams are being included in the project. More than 5000 sites of red-listed species are covered.

Key Conservation Institutions

ArtDatabanken (Swedish Threatened Species Unit), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), PO Box 7007, S-750 07 Uppsala. Coordinates species experts and compiles the national Red Lists. Collects, stores and assesses information about red-listed species. Functions as a link between the scientific community and the practical and administrative sectors.

Naturvårdsverket (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency). The national authority responsible for environmental issues and nature conservation. Takes the formal decision about the national Red Lists.

Swedish Biodiversity Centre, P.O. Box 7007, SE-750 07 Uppsala. National centre for research on biodiversity.

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm.

Svenska Naturskyddsföreningen (Swedish Society for Nature Conservation), Box 4625, Åsögatan 115, SE-116 91 Stockholm. Sweden’s largest nature conservation and environmental organisation, with 275 local branches and 138,000 members.

WWF Sweden, Ulriksdals Slott, 170 81 Solna

Key Botanical Institutions

Bergianska Trädgården (The Bergius Botanical Garden), Stockholm

Göteborgs botaniska trädgård (The Göteborg Botanical Gardens) (= Gothenburg), Carl Skottsbergs Gata 22 A, 413 19 Göteborg.

Linnaeus’ Garden, Uppsala, Linnégatan 6, S-753 32 Uppsala.

Linnaeus’ Hammarby, S-755 98 Uppsala.

Svenska Botaniska Föreningen (Swedish Botanical Society)

Uppsala University Botanical Garden, Villavägen 8, S-752 36 Uppsala.

Acknowledgement

Originally based on material prepared by Hugh Synge for the Council of Europe, 1999-2000, with information and help from Johan Samuelsson, Roger Andersson and Marianne Wetterin, Sweden. Kept up to date by Johan Samuelsson, ArtDatabanken. Most recent updates September 2005.