Life form classification follows the system of Raunkiaer (1934), which is based on the position of the buds that survive the unfavourable season. Macrophanerophytes are woody plants that bear the surviving buds at least 2 m above the ground, usually trees; nanophanerophytes are woody plants with surviving buds 0.3–2 m above the ground, usually shrubs; chamaephytes are herbs or low woody plants with surviving buds above the ground, but not more than 30 cm above it; hemicryptophytes are perennial or biennial herbs with surviving buds on aboveground shoots at the level of the ground; geophytes are perennial plants with surviving buds belowground, usually with bulbs, tubers or rhizomes; hydrophytes are plants with surviving buds in water, usually on the bottom of water bodies; therophytes are summer- or winter-annual herbs that survive the unfavourable season only as seeds germinating in autumn, winter or spring.
The data on life forms were taken from the Key to the Flora of the Czech Republic (Kaplan et al. 2019). Newly added alien taxa were assigned to the categories of life forms based on the FloraVeg.EU database (Dřevojan et al. 2022). Some taxa can belong to more than one life form. In such cases, the dominant life form is listed first.
Kaplan Z., Danihelka J., Chrtek J. Jr., Kirschner J., Kubát K., Štěpánek J. & Štech M. (eds) (2019) Klíč ke květeně České republiky [Key to the flora of the Czech Republic]. Ed. 2. – Academia, Praha.
Dřevojan P., Čeplová N., Štěpánková P. & Axmanová I. (2022) Life form. – www.FloraVeg.EU.
Raunkiaer C. (1934) The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. – Clarendon Press, Oxford.
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.
Period of introduction is divided into categories from the Neolithic to the present time. The assessment is based on archaeobotanical and also floristic data where applicable. For taxa without precise dating, only merged categories of longer time periods are provided.
Data were extracted from the third edition of the Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic (Pyšek et al. 2022).
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.
This information is available for alien taxa only. Taxa are classified according to the mode of introduction, with the distinction made between an intentional (deliberate) and unintentional (accidental) pathway (Hulme et al. 2008). A taxon can be assigned to more than one introduction pathway. The pathway classification and data for individual taxa follow the third edition of the Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic (Pyšek et al. 2022).
The classification includes the following introduction pathways:
Intentional introduction: 1 ornamental – cultivation for ornamental purposes in a garden or public green space; 2 collection – cultivation for scientific or collection purposes in a garden or park; 3 nature – ornamental planting in natural habitats, including deceptive enrichment of regional flora or inclusion of alien plants in seed mixtures sold as “wild meadows”; 4 crops – cultivation of crops such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, spices; 5 forest – forestry and wildlife management, e.g. planting trees in forestry plantations or cultivation of crops in forests as a fodder for game; 6 landscaping, e.g. afforestation, land reclamation, roadside tree belts, tree alleys; 7 other – cultivation for other purposes, e.g. forage crops, plants for basketry, beekeeping and pharmacy.
Unintentional introduction: 8 agriculture – introduction associated with agriculture: weeds in fields (e.g. cereals, flax), vegetable beds and vineyards; 9 plantation – introduction associated with fodder crop cultivation, sowing meadows and planting forest trees; 10 horticulture – introduction associated with the horticultural sale of ornamental plants, i.e. weeds of ornamental gardens; 11 traffic – dispersal by vehicles, trains, shipping, urban tourism; 12 industry – dispersal through mining or production/distribution of commodities, e.g. ores, wool; 13 humans – other unintended vectors associated with anthropogenic habitats; 14 nature – other unintended vectors associated with natural habitats, e.g. dispersal by wind, water, animals.
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.
Hulme P. E., Bacher S., Kenis M., Klotz S., Kühn I., Minchin D., Nentwig W., Olenin S., Panov V., Pergl J., Pyšek P., Roques A., Sol D., Solarz W. & Vilà M. (2008) Grasping at the routes of biological invasions: a framework for integrating pathways into policy. – Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 403–414.