Hobbies And Interests
Plants
Five plant species in Europe's deciduous forests are in danger of extinction, according to the IUCN. Bryoxiphium madeirense, a moss, grows exclusively on moist volcanic rocks in shaded streams of Laurus forests in Portugal. Distichophyllum carinatum, also a bryophyte, or nonvascular plant, is declining due to air pollution. Cerastium sventenii, a perennial herb native to the Canary Islands, has dwindled to fewer than 2,000 individuals, due in large part to grazing by livestock. Also native to Spain and Portugal, Radula jonesii grows on wet shaded rocks in forests. Deforestation has claimed much of the species' habitat, as well as that of the critically endangered Zelkova sicula, a small tree discovered in Italy in 1991 and featured as one of IUCN's 50 most threatened Mediterranean plant species.
Invertebrates
Of the 19 invertebrates listed as endangered, 13 are saproxylic beetles -- beetles dependent on wood decay. A 2010 study of Europe's 436 saproxylic beetle species found that 11 percent are threatened. The main drivers for this decline are loss of habitat related to logging and wood harvesting. Many of these endangered beetles once lived across Europe but now are very rare and continue to decline; included among them is the iridescent green Goldstreifiger beetle (Buprestis splendens). Other endangered invertebrates include four species of butterflies: the Madeiran speckled wood (Pararge xiphia), the Madeiran brimstone (Gonepteryx maderensis), Canary Islands large white (Pieris cheiranthi) and the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) -- all decreasing largely due to loss of habitat. Two species of snails are also endangered: Tacheocampylaea tacheoides and Caseolus subcalliferus.
Amphibians and Reptiles
The Appenine yellow-bellied toad (Bombina pachypus), native to Italy, is dying out in almost all of its range due to loss and fragmentation of its wetland habitat. Many of the wetlands the toad depends on for spawning and larval development have been drained for agricultural purposes. The population of the critically endangered Montseny brook newt (Calotriton arnoldi), native to northeastern Spain, declined by about 15 percent between 1998 and 2008 to fewer than 1,500 individuals. The Sardinian brook salamander (Euproctus platycephalus), native to Italy, is losing ground due to habitat loss and pollution. In the 1950s, the pesticide DDT killed whole populations of these salamanders. Five species of lizards are endangered due to habitat loss, primarily from deforestation: the Spanish algyroides (Algyroides marchi), Carpetane rock lizard (Iberolacerta cyreni), Pena de Francia rock lizard (Iberolacerta martinezricai), Carbonell's wall lizard (Podarcis carbonelli) and the Lilford's wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi).
Mammals
The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), the largest of Europe's endangered temperate deciduous forest mammals, lives only in southwestern Spain and is likely extinct in Portugal. With only 84 to 143 individuals surviving, the species is critically endangered. Lynx populations began dropping with the increased scarcity of their only prey -- rabbits -- due to outbreaks of myxomatosis and rabbit hemorrhagic disease in the late 20th century. Other endangered mammal species include the Bavarian pine vole (Microtus bavaricus) and two species of bats, the Azores noctule (Nyctalus azoreum) and Madeira pipistrelle (Pipistrellus maderensis), all declining due to habitat loss. The European bison (Bison bonasus), whose populations shrank to the point of existing only in zoos, was reintroduced into its former habitat. It has recovered to the point of being listed as threatened instead of endangered.