Does a new locality of Asplenium viride HUDS. found in the Karkonosze National Park change the regional category of threat of this species in the Sudetes? [in Polish with English summary]
Finding a new locality of Asplenium viride in the £omniczka Cirque in the Karkonosze Mts allowed us to re-examine the current range and category of threat of this fern in the Sudeten Mts, in comparison to 2003 when it was regarded as endangered (category EN) in the region. According to a current analysis Asplenium viride lost 45% of its primary range in the Sudeten Mts and about 60% of its historical sites. About 100% of population occurs in the Stołowe, Bystrzyckie and Orlickie Mts and in the Śnieżnik Massif. Number of specimens decreased to 600-650 across the region, with only 6 localities of single specimens currently known from the western part of the Sudetes. This dramatic decrease causes a real risk of further reduction of the range of the species, which is accompanied by the disappearance of some sub-populations in the Śnieżnik Massif and the Stołowe Mts. Thus Asplenium viride should be considered as endangered in the region, regardless of occasional findings of new sites of this taxon. The scale and range of the current disappearance of the species correspond to its extinction in lowlands, where is reported in the literature sources from the 1980s. The most common reason of the decrease in size
or the loss of populations of Asplenium viride is overgrowing of the rocky slots by mosses or expansive grasses.
