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Seventeen ‘extinct’ plant species back to conservation attention in Europe

Nature Plants volume 7, pages 282–286 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Seventeen European endemic plant species were considered extinct, but improved taxonomic and distribution knowledge as well as ex situ collecting activities brought them out of the extinct status. These species have now been reported into a conservation framework that may promote legal protection and in situ and ex situ conservation.

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Data availability

All data and sources of data (including links) used in the manuscript have been reported in the reference list or in Table 1.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the following colleagues for providing important information on one or more species: S. Sharrock (Botanic Garden Conservation International), M. Nickols (Botanic Garden of Kiel University, Germany), E. von Raab-Straube (University of Berlin, Germany), J.-M. Tison (L’Isle d’Abeau, France), R. Cubey (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland), P. Harvey (Shetland Amenity Trust, Scotland), M. C. Villani (Padua Botanic Garden, Italy), M. Vidali and F. Martini (University of Trieste, Italy), D. Viciani (University of Firenze, Italy), G. Domina (University of Palermo, Italy), G. P. Giusso del Galdo (University of Catania, Italy), E. Banfi (Natural History Museum of Milan, Italy), R. Jaén-Molina (Jardín Botánico Canario ‘Viera y Clavijo’—UA-CSIC, Gran Canaria, Spain), R. Gabriel (University of the Azores, Portugal), S. Sá Fontinha (Regional Secretariat for Environment and Natural Resources, Madeira, Portugal), C. Freitas (Regional Secretariat of Energy, Environment and Tourism, Azores, Portugal), E. J. Gouda (Utrecht University Botanic Gardens, Netherlands), C. Gomes (National Museum of Natural History and Science, Portugal), G. Nieto Feliner (Real Jardín Botánico—CSIC, Madrid, Spain), I. Marques (University of Lisbon, Portugal), S. Bogdanovic (University of Zagreb, Croatia), A. Efremov (Omsk, Russia), V. M. Ostapko (Donetsk Botanic Garden, Ukraine), A. Gnatiuk (M. M.Gryshko National Botanical Garden, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine) and A. Strid (Denmark). We thank the Grant of Excellence Departments, MIUR-Italy (ARTICOLO 1, COMMI 314 – 337 LEGGE 232/2016), for supporting one of the authors (T.A.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Science, University of Roma Tre, Rome, Italy

    Thomas Abeli & Giulia Albani Rocchetti

  2. Budapest, Hungary

    Zoltan Barina

  3. Section of Ecology and Systematics, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Greece

    Ioannis Bazos

  4. Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência/CE3C- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change, Lisbon, Portugal

    David Draper

  5. UBC Botanical Garden & Centre for Plant Research, and Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    David Draper

  6. Tour du Valat, Research Institute for the Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands, Arles, France

    Patrick Grillas

  7. Biodiversity and Conservation Area, ESCET, Rey Juan Carlos University, Móstoles, Spain

    José María Iriondo

  8. Wildlife Service - CIEF (Centre for Forestry Research and Experimentation), Generalitat Valenciana, Valencia, Spain

    Emilio Laguna

  9. Department of Biology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz

  10. Center for Research on Biodiversity and Global Change (CIBC-UAM), Madrid, Spain

    Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz

  11. School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy

    Fabrizio Bartolucci

Authors
  1. Thomas Abeli
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  2. Giulia Albani Rocchetti
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  3. Zoltan Barina
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  4. Ioannis Bazos
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  5. David Draper
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  6. Patrick Grillas
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  7. José María Iriondo
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  8. Emilio Laguna
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  9. Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz
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  10. Fabrizio Bartolucci
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Contributions

T.A. and G.A.R. conceived the idea and wrote the manuscript. Z.B. reviewed the species for Hungary, Ukraine and the Balkans. I.B. reviewed the species for Greece. D.D. reviewed the species for Portugal and revised the material of A. arcuata. P.G. reviewed the species for France. J.M.I., E.L. and J.C.M.-S. reviewed the species for Spain and the Azores. F.B. reviewed the species for Italy, Malta and Croatia and revised the taxonomy. All authors contributed to the several versions of this manuscript, including the design of Table 1.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giulia Albani Rocchetti.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information Nature Plants thanks Richard Olmstead and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Abeli, T., Albani Rocchetti, G., Barina, Z. et al. Seventeen ‘extinct’ plant species back to conservation attention in Europe. Nat. Plants 7, 282–286 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-00878-1

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