Vascular Plants

Abstract

This report contains the vascular plant Red List for Ireland. The threat status of native and archaeophyte (pre-1500 introductions) vascular plant species, subspecies and certain hybrids recorded from the wild on the island of Ireland is assessed, following current International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories and criteria, and guidelines for their application. Vascular plants introduced since 1500 (neophytes) are not assessed. Assessments are based on records up to 2014 assembled by a group representing government organisations and biodiversity data centres in both jurisdictions on the island, the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland and the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.

Since publication of The Irish Red Data Book. 1 Vascular Plants nearly 30 years ago, Ireland has undergone considerable economic, social and cultural changes, which have affected, to a greater or lesser degree, the distribution, extent and quality of the semi-natural and other habitats that support its vascular plant flora. At the same time, this period has seen unprecedented levels of recording and study of the Irish vascular plant flora, at a variety of scales (Ireland, regional, county, 10 km x 10 km grid square, site and population) and these data are fully availed of for the current Red List assessments.

In summary, a total of 1211 taxa, comprising 1047 species, 4 species aggregates, 157 subspecies and 3 interspecific hybrids, considered to be native, archaeophyte or of uncertain native/alien status in Ireland are assessed and, of these, 106 (8.8%) are assigned an IUCN Red List threat category: 20 (1.7%) are Critically Endangered, 25 (2.1%) are Endangered and 61 (5.0%) are Vulnerable; these comprise Ireland’s Red-listed taxa. 15 tax (1.2%) are Regionally Extinct, 98 (8.1%) are Near Threatened, 887 (73.2%) are Least Concern and 105 (8.7%) are assigned, for a variety of reasons, to a Waiting List of taxa for which assessments could not be made.