Species richness

The following maps do not represent actual species richness but reflect how active member states were in including their species in the annexes of the policy instruments and how much data were available for these plants. However, Spain has the highest number of species assessed per country, followed by Italy, Portugal, Greece, and France. This coincides with the fact that the Mediterranean countries, in particular the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Greece are the countries with the highest species richness in Europe and the EU 27. Further areas flagged up on the map below are the Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. There are caveats regarding the interpretation of the following three maps – please consult the report for more information.

Species richness of European policy plants
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Endemic species

Particularly high numbers of endemic species are found in the Mediterranean, the Macaronesian Islands and Central Europe. The Macaronesian Islands also host a variety of species that are not only endemic to Europe but often endemic to the islands: 93 species are only found in the Canary Islands and 41 only in Madeira. The number of species endemic to only one country is high overall with 460 out of 891 assessed. Here again, the Iberian Peninsula hosts the highest number of single country endemics with 63 species found only in mainland Portugal and 51 only in mainland Spain. It is followed by mainland Greece (40 species), mainland Italy (34) and Cyprus (18).

Distribution of endemic policy plants in Europe
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Threatened species

The distribution of threatened vascular plants in Europe reveals that in particular the Macaronesian Islands with their unique flora host many threatened species. It is furthermore interesting that a high concentration of threatened species is found along coasts (southern and western Iberian Peninsula, northern Norway, Greece, south Crimea) and on Mediterranean islands (Corsica, Cyprus, the Greek islands, and Sardinia). Another area that flagged up as being of concern is the centre of the Pannonian Plain in Hungary.

Distribution of threatened policy plants in Europe
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