A quantitative approach for conservation of endangered and endemic plants from Kosovo, SE Europe

Abstract Basic patterns of most priority biodiversity areas of Kosovo that shall be considered for conservation studies are offered here. On this work, all plant taxa that are included in the Kosovarian Red list are analysed and their analogy is interpreted to conservation priority hotspots. Kosovo represents an important centre for Balkan biodiversity; therefore a quantitative evaluation of the importance of different priority areas for conserving plant diversity of Kosovo is very much needed. This study provides a detailed quantitative approach concerning the identification of priority areas for biodiversity conservation, using threatened and endangered plant taxa in well-known grid squares system. Used grid squares (20 × 20 km) were classified into four different groups in terms of their conservation importance. Valuation factors taken into account are IUCN based risk category, endemism as well as ecological and distributional attributes. The results indicated that there are four grid squares – D4 (0.4300), G7 (0.3910), G8 (0.2750) and E4 (0.2860), that have remarkable conservation importance. These grid squares are all located along mostly high-elevation areas of two National Parks in Kosovo. These national scale data should prove to be very appropriate and easy to follow evidence for environmental decision-making bodies as well as be used for further research.