Ferrantia, Volume 35: Liste Rouge des Bryophytes du Luxembourg: Mesures de Conservation et Perspectives [Red List of Bryophytes of Luxembourg: Conservation Measures and Perspectives]

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Language: French, with trilingual abstract in English, French and German, bilingual figure legends and table headings, and long English summary

An entirely revised first update of the Red List of the Bryophytes of Luxembourg (published in 1987) is submitted. It is based on IUCN categories and criteria, and takes into account recent taxonomic and floristic research, notably fieldwork and bryophyte mapping. The introduction stresses the rapid changes in our vegetation, the difficulties of drawing a Red list of bryophytes in a small country and recent international developments in conservation science. Some special difficulties arise from bryophyte ecology and life strategies, as well as from their insufficiently known distributions. Four new species are added to the check-list for Luxembourg (Riccia subbifurca, Grimmia dissimulata, Orthotrichum patens, Ulota macrospora) and one species is deleted (Schistidium confertum).

Out of 587 taxa, 316 (53.8%) are considered to be Lower Risk (lc = least concern), 63 taxa (10.8%) are Near Threatened (nt), whereas 198 taxa (33.7%) are “Red Listed”. Among these, 8 are Extinct (EX), 61 taxa are Critically Endangered (CR) or have vanished recently (EV), 52 are Endangered (EN) and 77 are considered vulnerable (VU). A short comparison is made with the previous red list and with other recent red lists for European countries. Luxembourg is in an intermediate position at a European level. The Red List is broken down to 19 ecological groups. Acid and calcareous mires, as well as sites with exposed mud and wet sands, host the highest proportion of threatened species. Twenty-three examples of assessment are given in detail. Most bryological “hot spots” are located in the Petite-Suisse sandstone area. A comment on bryophyte conservation policy and legislation concludes the paper.

A long summary in English is given at the end of the paper.

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