Taxa are classified according to whether they are native or alien to the Czech Republic. Following the definitions used in invasion ecology, native taxa are those that have evolved in the area of the Czech Republic or immigrated there without human assistance from the area where they had evolved. Alien taxa are those whose presence is a result of intentional or unintentional introduction by human activity and can be divided based on their residence time. The alien taxa are divided based on their residence time into archaeophytes and neophytes. Archaeophytes are taxa occurring in the wild that were introduced between the beginning of Neolithic agriculture and the year 1500, i.e. the beginning of intercontinental overseas trade after the discovery of the Americas. Neophytes are taxa occurring in the wild that were introduced after 1500 (see Richardson et al. 2000 for detailed definitions). Some taxa introduced in the Late Middle Ages or Early Modern Period, but with no exact information on the introduction date, were assigned to a joint category of Archaeophyte/neophyte. Additionally, some frequently cultivated taxa that are not known to have escaped from cultivation are listed as a separate category Cultivated. Category Lack of evidence of occurrence in the wild includes taxa for which spontaneous occurrence in the wild is doubtful. Taxa assigned to the category Absent in Czechia are not sufficiently supported by reliable records or occurred just once and disappeared.
The data included in the database follow the third edition of the Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic (Pyšek et al. 2022 and references related to individual taxa therein).
Pyšek P., Sádlo J., Chrtek J. Jr., Chytrý M., Kaplan Z., Pergl J., Pokorná A., Axmanová I., Čuda J., Doležal J., Dřevojan P., Hejda M., Kočár P., Kortz A., Lososová Z., Lustyk P., Skálová H., Štajerová K., Večeřa M., Vítková M., Wild J. & Danihelka J. (2022) Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic (3rd edition): species richness, status, distributions, habitats, regional invasion levels, introduction pathways and impacts. – Preslia 94: 447–577.
Richardson D. M., Pyšek P., Rejmánek M., Barbour M. G., Panetta F. D. & West C. J. (2000) Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. – Diversity and Distributions 6: 93–107.
Invasion status is a classification of alien taxa into three categories reflecting their position in the invasion process. Alien taxa that only occasionally reproduce in the wild in the Czech Republic, do not form self-replacing populations, and rely on repeated introductions for their persistence are termed casual. Naturalized taxa are alien plants that reproduce in the wild and sustain populations over many life cycles without direct intervention by humans (or despite human intervention). Invasive plants are naturalized plants that produce reproductive offspring, often in large numbers, at considerable distances from parent plants and thus have the potential to spread over an extensive area (Richardson et al. 2000, 2011). This classification does not apply to native taxa, which are reported as separate categories. The data were taken from the third edition of the Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic (Pyšek et al. 2022 and references related to individual taxa therein).
Pyšek P., Sádlo J., Chrtek J. Jr., Chytrý M., Kaplan Z., Pergl J., Pokorná A., Axmanová I., Čuda J., Doležal J., Dřevojan P., Hejda M., Kočár P., Kortz A., Lososová Z., Lustyk P., Skálová H., Štajerová K., Večeřa M., Vítková M., Wild J. & Danihelka J. (2022) Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic (3rd edition): species richness, status, distributions, habitats, regional invasion levels, introduction pathways and impacts. – Preslia 94: 447–577.
Richardson D. M., Pyšek P. & Carlton J. T. (2011) A compendium of essential concepts and terminology in biological invasions. – In: Richardson D. M. (ed.), Fifty years of invasion ecology: the legacy of Charles Elton, p. 409–420, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
Richardson D. M., Pyšek P., Rejmánek M., Barbour M. G., Panetta F. D. & West C. J. (2000) Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. – Diversity and Distributions 6: 93–107.
This information is given for alien taxa only. These taxa are classified according to their geographic origin (native range) at the level of continents; those with a native range encompassing more than one continent are assigned to two or more categories. Origin in Europe refers to the non-Mediterranean parts of this continent other than the Czech Republic. The Mediterranean region comprises parts of southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia from Turkey and Israel to Afghanistan, which are characterized by the Mediterranean-type climate and the occurrence of sclerophyllous evergreen vegetation. Conversely, records of origin in Africa, Asia and Europe do not relate to the Mediterranean part of these continents. Hybrids and species that originated through recent hybridization are listed as a separate category. Anecophytes are taxa for which native range is unknown or highly uncertain. The data were taken from the third edition of the Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic (Pyšek et al. 2022 and references related to individual taxa therein).
Pyšek P., Sádlo J., Chrtek J. Jr., Chytrý M., Kaplan Z., Pergl J., Pokorná A., Axmanová I., Čuda J., Doležal J., Dřevojan P., Hejda M., Kočár P., Kortz A., Lososová Z., Lustyk P., Skálová H., Štajerová K., Večeřa M., Vítková M., Wild J. & Danihelka J. (2022) Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic (3rd edition): species richness, status, distributions, habitats, regional invasion levels, introduction pathways and impacts. – Preslia 94: 447–577.
National Red List categories were taken from the 2017 edition of the Red List of Vascular Plants of the Czech Republic (Grulich 2017). These categories, introduced in the previous editions of the Czech Red List, are different from the IUCN Red List categories. The main category “A” includes extinct or missing taxa, while the main category “C” includes endangered, near threatened and data deficient taxa.
Grulich V. (2017) Červený seznam cévnatých rostlin ČR [The Red List of vascular plants of the Czech Republic]. – Příroda 35: 75–132.
International Red List categories defined by the IUCN were taken from the 2017 edition of the Red List of Vascular Plants of the Czech Republic (Grulich 2017). Taxon assignments to these categories follow the internationally accepted rules (IUCN 2012, 2014). To some extent, the definitions of these categories differ from the national categories used in the previous Czech Red Lists. The national Red List included only threatened or possibly threatened taxa, implying that the non-included taxa are not threatened. Therefore, the non-included taxa are classified here as LC(NA) – least concern (taxon is not on the Red List).
Grulich V. (2017) Červený seznam cévnatých rostlin ČR [The Red List of vascular plants of the Czech Republic]. – Příroda 35: 75–132.
IUCN (2012) Guidelines for application of IUCN Red List criteria at regional and national levels. Version 4.0. – IUCN, Gland.
IUCN (2014) Guidelines for using the IUCN Red List categories and criteria. Version 11. – IUCN, Gland.
Legal protection in the Czech Republic concerns the specifically protected species, i.e. rare taxa, threatened taxa and taxa significant from a cultural or scientific point of view that are listed in Annex II of the Decree of the Ministry of the Environment no. 395/1992. They comprise 487 taxa of vascular plants divided into three categories according to their vulnerability: critically threatened, endangered and vulnerable.
Decree no. 395/1992 of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic.