Red Data Book - a register containing information on rare and endangered species;
Species (in the sense of biology) - a taxonomic unit in which all specimens of animals, plants, fungi, lichens and other living beings have the same characteristics. Representatives of one species can mate with each other and produce fertile offspring;
Species (in the taxonomic sense) - the basic unit of classification and one of the taxonomic rankings. The name of a species is binary, it consists of two words: an epithet of a genus and an epithet of a species;
Taxon - a set of living organisms which have common characteristics and which correspond to a classification category of organisms;
Special protection regime - establishment of special protection areas with a specific protection regime or determination of special measures for the conservation of the Latvian population of the taxon;
Endem - a taxon whose range and origin correspond to a specific (one!) Biogeographical region with a limited area. A narrow (local) range of environmental and biogeographical conditions will be appropriate for such a taxon;
Habitats Directive - Council Directive 92/43 / EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora;
Birds Directive - Directive 2009/147 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
30 November) on the conservation of wild birds;
Favorable conservation status of a habitat - a status in which:
its natural range and areas where it is found are stable or expanding;
it has the characteristic structure and functions necessary for the long-term existence of the habitat and is expected to exist at least in the near future;favorable protection of endemic species is ensured. For the purpose of applying the criteria, the assessments of the status of habitats included in the Latvian report to the European Commission in accordance with Article 17 of the Habitats Directive are used.
Umbrella species - species that can be identified in a simple way, the presence and condition of which in the habitat helps to notice the quality changes taking place in it in time and indirectly indicates the condition of other species in the habitat (Auniņš ed. 2013)
Habitat - A set of specific abiotic and biotic factors in an area where a species exists at each stage of its biological cycle (Anon. 2000);
Habitat type - areas of terrestrial or aquatic origin of natural or semi-natural origin, characterized by certain geographical, abiotic and biotic features (Anon. 2000).
Habitat type (habitat) indicator species - a species whose biological characteristics (functional, population or occurrence) directly reflect the environmental conditions specific to a particular habitat type.
Rare habitat in Latvia - habitat (s), the area (or number) of which forms an insignificant part of the total area (or total number) of natural habitats included in the territory of Latvia.
Population decline - a decrease in the size of a population, the area of occurrence, the area inhabited, a habitat or a type of habitat.
Species conservation objective value or favorable conservation status threshold value - a numerical value of the range or population size at which the conservation status of a species is assessed as favorable, i.e.
its population dynamics data show that the species maintains its long-term existence as a viable component of a characteristic habitat;
its natural range is not declining and is not expected to decline in the near future;
its habitat size is large enough and is likely to remain so to ensure an optimal number of individuals in the population in the long term;
IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) - the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, which has been systematically collecting, compiling and publishing information on the state of species since 1966. Red Lists or Red Books.
Explanations of IUCN categories
RE (Regionally Extinct) - extinct species in the region;
CR (Critically Endangered) - critically endangered species;
EN (Endangered) - highly endangered species (very high risk of extinction in the wild);
VU (Vulnerable) - sensitive species;
NT (Near Threatened) - almost endangered species;
LC (Least Concern) - a safe species (a species that is still abundant in the wild and does not qualify as endangered, near threatened or dependent on conservation measures; assessed with a lower risk of extinction);
DD (Data deficient) - species for which information is lacking to assess their risk of extinction;
NA (Not applicable) - not applicable to the assessment process.