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Background: Biological invasions pose an increasing risk to nature, social security and the economy, being ranked amongst the top five threats to biodiversity. Managing alien and invasive species is a priority for the European Union, as outlined in the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Alien plant species are acknowledged to impact the economy and biodiversity; thus, analysing the distribution of such species provides valuable inputs for the management and decision-making processes. The database presented in the current study is the first consolidated checklist of alien plant species that are present in Romania, both of European Union concern and of national interest. This database complements a prior published distribution, based only on records from literature, bringing new information regarding the occurrence of alien plants in Romania, as revealed by a nationwide field survey. We consider this database a valuable instrument for managing biological invasions at both national and regional levels, as it can be utilised in further research studies and in drafting management and action plans, assisting stakeholders in making informed decisions and implementing management actions. New information: We present the results of the first nationwide survey of alien plant species in Romania, conducted between 2019 and 2022, in the framework of a national project coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests and the University of Bucharest. The present database complements and updates the database published by Sirbu et. al (2022), which included occurrence records published until 2019. The new database includes 98323 occurrence records for 396 alien plant species in 77 families, with most species belonging to the Asteraceae family. One alien plant species in our database, the black locust Robiniapseudoacacia L., had more than 10,000 occurrence records. The distribution database also includes information on newly-reported invasive alien plant species of European Union concern in Romania (i.e. the floating primrose-willow Ludwigiapeploides (Kunth) P.H.Raven) and documents the presence of plants in 44 additional families compared to Sirbu et al. (2022). Each entry includes information on species taxonomy, location, year, person who recorded and identified the alien plant, geographical coordinates and taxon rank.
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In this article we present and discuss the main factors that threaten natural populations of Cypripedium calceolus (lady's slipper orchid) in Europe, and we propose conservation strategies and directions for protective actions of its population on a regional scale. European C. calceolus populations have decreased significantly in the last two decades, in both number and size. A key result of the present study is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network across the European Union (EU) countries. Northern and/or mountainous countries present higher percentages of potentially suitable areas within the Natura 2000 network. Finland and the United Kingdom are the exceptions to this rule. It is predicted that, due to global warming, the coverage of niches suitable for C. calceolus will decrease in countries in which now-healthy colonies exist. However, as plant species can occur in micro-sites with suitable environmental conditions (e.g., microclimate, vegetation, soil factors) which cannot be predicted as suitable at coarser spatial resolutions, conservation efforts should be focused on management of local healthy populations. For the effective protection of C. calceolus in Natura 2000 sites, the participation of experts in botany, including orchid biology, is necessary at several stages.
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Epipactis greuteri is an obligate autogamous orchid species. Due to large differences in the interpretation of the diagnosis of this species, it is often mistakenly identified by botanists, which results in erroneous information provided in the literature about its distribution in Europe. In the present paper we review its description, including flower details, gynostemium features, and papillae morphology and compare it to E. helleborine, with which it is often confused. Based on thorough study of herbarium material (including holotype and isotype) and field research in Greece, Romania, and Poland, we confirm that gynostemium of E. greuteri has strongly reduced clinandrium and does not produce viscidium. We also discuss taxonomic treatment of E. preinensis and E. flaminia, two recently described taxa related to E. greuteri. The results of genetic analyses, as well as the range of phenotypic variability of E. greuteri individuals from various regions of Europe were presented and discussed. The analysis based on the ITS (internal transcribed spacer) nuclear marker showed no differences among E. helleborine, E. purpurata, E. albensis, and E. greuteri, which probably indicates their close relationship. Based on the analysis of plastid regions, six haplotypes were detected in all investigated samples. An exhaustive description of morphological features of E. greuteri is provided.