Causes of threat (past) and current threat factors

Causes of threat that have led to a species’ current situation were distinguished from future threats. In many cases, causes of threat and future threat factors may be the same. On the other hand, due to trapping or earlier changes in habitat, a population may have reduced to the extent that its extremely small size exposes the species to random factors. This constitutes a major, current threat factor.

P = trapping, hunting, fishing and illegal killing, including non-target animals being caught in fishing gear

Ke = picking and collecting, including transfers into gardens

H = disturbance and traffic

Ku = mechanical wear: mechanical wear of soil and bedrock, e.g. due to trampling, driving in the terrain, rock climbing or over-grazing

R = construction (on the land): construction relating to housing, business, traffic and recreation, road construction, earthmoving and disposal operations relating to construction

Ks = sand and gravel quarrying, mineral aggregate extraction, mining

Pm = changes in arable land: subsoil drainage, changes in cultivation practices and animal husbandry (excluding the overgrowing of pastures), use of machinery and changes of cultivated crop species (excluding pesticides)

Pr = clearing of areas for arable land: conversion of forests, peatland and meadows into arable land

N = overgrowing of meadows and other open habitats: e.g. the overgrowing of meadows and wooded pastures after grazing and mowing has ceased, the reforestation and overgrowing of gravel pits and other open areas

M = forest management activities: activities not included in the threat factors listed below e.g. soil preparation. Cause of threat = the use of forests. Further specified in the assessment work documentation.

Mp = changes in the tree species composition of forests: e.g. the decreasing number of deciduous trees and the takeover of herb-rich forests by spruce

Mv = reduction of old-growth forests and the decreasing number of large trees

Mk = reduction of burnt forest areas and other young stages of natural succession

Ml = decreasing amounts of decaying wood: decreasing amounts of decaying wood, decreasing number of dead or dying trees or branches, rotten or hollow trees

O = peatland drainage for forestry and peat harvesting (excluding clearing of brooks and streams): including ditch cleaning and later impact of drainage

Vr = construction of waterways: power plants, sawmill and mill dams, water-level regulation, dredging and clearing (including that of brooks and streams), structural changes in the riparian zone (e.g. embankments), water level reductions in lakes, construction of reservoirs, groundwater abstraction and utilisation of ponds, e.g. changes caused by lower groundwater level

Kh = chemical disturbances: environmental toxins, pesticides, air and water pollutants, oil spills and eutrophicating deposition

I = climate change: predicted global warming, increased precipitation and more frequent occurrence of extreme weather phenomena during the next 20–30 years (only applied in cases where there are specific grounds for assuming effects on the species in question)

S = random factors: threat posed by random factors when the population or area of occupancy is extremely small, including short-term climatic changes

Kil = competition: interspecific competition

Ris = hybridisation: hybridisation with other species

Kv = extreme fluctuations in population size

U = changes in other countries: e.g. transformations in habitats in the wintering areas or migration staging areas of birds, trapping or hunting abroad

Vie = threats caused by alien species (competition, hybridisation, diseases, changes in ecosystems)

Muu = other known reason: a known reason not included in the threat factors listed above, further specified in the assessment work documentation

? = cause unknown