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https://padlet.com/sami_zhioua2/5mrpeu7e1bei
Personally, I think that

Sami's BioArea CH is looking excellent. This padlet icludes everything (biotic and abiotic information) and it is excellently organised. Well done!

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https://padlet.com/taveira_anna/Ana_Paula_Taveira_BioArea_PT
I believe that Ana's BioArea PT is looking really good. She has included information about the Mediterranean Basin hotspot, the flora and fauna of her country (with photos) and  so the visitor gets a good idea of the biodiversity of Portugal.

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https://padlet.com/joscrocha/3e1loornb6mt
In my opinion, JCRocha's-BioBeiraPT is also looking good. She has included information about the landscape and the habitat types, apart from photos of plant and animal species. Personally, what I would have done differently is add a caption with the species name for every photo, so that the visitor can learn the species name. Nevertheless, is a very good padlet that attracts the visitor with the amount of photos it contains.

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A possible sign of climate change could be the extreme winter we had these last years. As I remember, the snowfall has lasted for many days and it has snowed in almost everywhere (including islands and coastlines). Also, this year the snow was so much, that many people were trapped in their homes or hotels and even whole villages were trapped, despite the efforts of the snowploughs

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An endemic plant species, listed as Endangered.
Photo taken from:
https://www.arkive.org/fritillaria/fritillaria-epirotica/

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According to IUCN, the major threats in Greece related with changes in habitats, are natural system modifications, agriculture and aquaculture, residential and commercial development, human intrusions and disturbance, transportation and service corridors. (For more information in the threats Greece's biodiversity is facing, you can look at the first collumn, named Greece's biodicersity and threats).

In the image below, you may see these threats among others and the number of greek species they affect.
Also, in the collumn about the species that appear on the IUCN red list, you can see that some of them are threatened by habitat loss, like: Canis aureus, Plecotus auritus, Neophron percnopterus, Gypaetus barbatus, Pelophylax cerigensis, Centaurea niederi etc.

Information and images for all the posts in this column were taken from:
IUCN Red List. Greece's biodiversity at risk, a call for action (fact sheet). 2013.

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The major threats are agriculture and aquaculture, residential and commercial development, natural system modifications, human intusions and disturbance, transportation and service corridors.

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Νέα εικόνα (11)

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The major threats are natural system modifications, agriculture and aquaculture, residential and commercial development.

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Νέα εικόνα (4)

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The major threats for the reptiles, related to thei habitat, are natural system modifications, residential and commercial development, agriculture and aquaculture, roads and railroads, logging and wood harvesting and recreational activities.

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Νέα εικόνα (3)

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For the mammals of Greece the major threats are human intusions and disturbance, natural system modifications, agriculture and aquaculture and residential and commercial development (see image).

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Νέα εικόνα (1)

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The major threats are dams and water management/use, shipping lanes, human intrusions and disturbance, turism and recreation areas.

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Νέα εικόνα (5)

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Concerning fauna, S.carolinesnsis is a species of squirrel, native of North America, that has been introduces in Greece (and other European countries).
It competes with the native squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) and it is also trasmitting diseasesand thus the population of the local S.vulgaris has been declining.

In the photo you can see S.carolinesnsis.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_gray_squirrel

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Animal and plant species can be listed in categories, depending on the extinction risk they face. These categories are (in orden of increasing risk): Least Concern (LC), Near Threatened (NT), Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN), Critically Endangered (CR), Extinct in the Wild (EW), Extinct (EX) and if the data are not suficient, it is categorised as Deficient Data (DD).
The category a species belongs to can be different in national and global level.
Below are presented some plant and animal species -many of them endemic of Greece- that appear on the IUCN Red List.

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Established in 1964, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.

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In Greece, a variety of animals are being hunted (oftenly illegally), such as:
the wild boar (Sus scrofa) (NE), the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (VU),
the red deer (Cervus elaphus) (CR),
the northern chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) (NT),
the European hare (Lepus europaeus) (LC),
the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) (NT),
the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (CR),
the rock partridge (Alectoris graeca) (CR).
Also many fish species may be threatened by overfishing.

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Not many species face the threat of becoming pets instead of living in the wild and these are: Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) (VU), the  Cyclades blunt-nosed viper (Macrovipera schwizeri)  (EN), the common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) (EN) and the African chameleon (Chamaeleo africanus) (CR).

Also, some species of butterflies/moths are threatened  by collectors, like: Erebia cassioides (CR), Turanana endymion (CR), Hemaris tityus (EN), Saturnia spini (CR), Proserpinus proserpina (EN), Sphinx ligustri (EN), Carterocephalus palaemon (VU), Coenonympha glycerion (VU).

Apart from the collection of animal species, plant species also face the same threat, especially the endemic ones, like Centaurea niederi (VU), Globularia stygia (VU).

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An edemic plant of Crete, listed as Vulnerable.
Photo taken from: https://www.west-crete.com/flowers/myosotis_solange.htm

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An endemic plant of Peloponnese, listed as Vunerable. Collection is the main threat it faces.
Photo taken from: http://www.europeangeoparks.org/?page_id=544

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An endemic species of Crete, listed as Vulnerable. Its main threat is agriculture
Photo taken from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tulipa_doerfleri.jpg

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An endemic plant, found only in Lakonia, Peloponnese, is listed as Vulnerable.
Photo taken from: http://koulentia.blogspot.com/2011/06/linum-hellenicum.html

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An endemic plant species, listed as Vulnerable. It is threatened by collectors and the expansion of roads.
Photo taken from: https://strofylianationalpark.gr/gallery/

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Κενταύρια-του-Nieder_ΦΔΥΚΣΚΚ.JPG

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A plant species found in Greece and Bulgaria. In Greece it is listed as Vulnerable.
Photo taken from: https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9A%CF%81%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%82_%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%A1%CE%BF%CE%B4%CF%8C%CF%80%CE%B7%CF%82

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The golden jackal is encountered in Greece and listed as Endangered, meanwhile globally is listed as Least Concern. The main threat is habitat loss.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_jackal#/media/File:Golden_jackal_(Canis_aureus_indicus)_male.jpg

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A bat species ancouneted in Greece, islisted nationally as Vulnerable and globally as Least Concern. The main threat is habitat loss.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/17596/7154745

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An endemic lizard of Peloponnese, listed as Least Concern.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/61551/12514581

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This species, encountered in Greece, is listed as Critically Endangered nationally and globally as Endangered. Some of the threats facing are fishing, pollution and disturbance in tourist and recreation areas.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/13653/117647375

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A species of bird, encountered in Greece, listed as Critically Endangered in Greece and Endangered globally. N. percnopterus faces threats, such as urbanisation and habitat loss.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22695180/118600142

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A species encountered in Greece, which has a small population and id listed as Critically Endangered, meanwhile globally is listed as Near Threatened. The threats in Grerece are mainly the habitat loss and its small populations.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22695174/118590506

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A venomous endemic species of snake, found olny in some of the islands of Cyclades. It is listed as Endangered.
Photo taken from: https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9F%CF%87%CE%B9%CE%AC_%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%9C%CE%AE%CE%BB%CE%BF%CF%85

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An enemic species of Crete that is listed as Endangered, due to the competition with an alien species (Rana catesbeiana). Also, R.catesbeiana has transmitted diseases to the endemic frog.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58581/11788512

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The African chameleon is a native species of Africa, but it has been introduced in Greece and has a small population in Pilos, Peloponnese. The general status of the species is listed as Least Concern, but the population of Greece is listed as Critically Endangered.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_chameleon#/media/File:Benny_Trapp_Chamaeleo_africanus_sitzt_auf_fertigem_Nest.jpg

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An endemic frog of Karpathos, which is listed as Critically Endangered. It occupies an area of no more than 10km2 and it faces threat due to habitat loss and degradation of its aquatic habitats.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58567/11787309#assessment-information

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An endemic lizard of Crete, which is endagered.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/157252/5060934

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Image taken from: https://strofylianationalpark.gr/gallery/

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Δάσος-Στροφυλιάς_Μ.-Γούλα-Γ.-Πάρχας.JPG

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In the map below you can see the different climates in Greece. THe cliamte is mostly Meditarranean, but near the Balkans it turns to continental.

Image taken from: https://el.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%91%CF%81%CF%87%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF:Greece_map_of_K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification.svg

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Greece compared to Belgium, the Isa's BioArea BE (Example) 

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Greece compared to Belgium, the Isa's BioArea BE (Example) 

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According to the infromation provided in my colleague's BioArea, Belgium has an extremely low number of endemic species (plant and animal), not even 10. Meanwhile, Greece has 1278 endemic plant species and 3956 endemic animal species.

A good explanation for that is that Belgium does not belong in a hotspot, meanwhile Greece does, so it is expected for Belgium to have less biodiversity.
Also, Greece is almost four times Belgium's size (30.528 km² VS 131.957 km²) and it is a biodiversity pattern, that a larger area has more species than a smaller area. Moreover, perhaps Belgium does not have so many different habitat types and does not offer many ecological niches and so it is not rich in biodiverrsity
Unfortunately, I did not notice any data on the number of species generally (not the endemic ones) to make a comparison based on that.

https://padlet.com/isa_vandevelde/raiduitjkial

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Another National Park near by Patras is Strofylia-Kotyxhi National Park.

It is almost a flat wetland and it is a very important site for bird species, both migratory and native. It is protected by the Ramsar Convention and is the only Ramsar site in Peloponnese.
Of course it also belongs in the ''Natura2000'' network.

Apart from birds, there exist invertabrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals (small and large).

The area is quite famous for its pine forest, consisting of Pinus pinea and Pinus halepensis. It is the biggest in Greece and one of the bigger in Europe.

Here is the website of the Management Body: http://strofylianationalpark.gr/home/

In the photo below you can see P.pinea from Strofylia-Kotyxhi National Park.

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Photos taken from:
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A6%CE%B9%CE%B4%CE%B1%CE%B5%CF%84%CF%8C%CF%82

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguis_fragilis#/media/File:Anguidae.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_machaon

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Photos taken from:
http://www.acdb.ro/key-specis/otter-lutra-lutra

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/157256/5062170

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly

https://www.123rf.com/photo_43593372_blossoming-flowering-rush-butomus-umbellatus-l-about-water.html

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Νέα εικόνα (1)

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Photos taken from:
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/62774969/86473701

http://www.fishbase.se/photos/ThumbnailsSummary.php?Genus=Aphanius&Species=fasciatus
https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/purple-loosestrife

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Νέα εικόνα (2)

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A frog species introduced from North and Central America, encountered in Crete. It shares the same habitat with the endemic frog Pelophylax cretensis, for which it poses a threat due to disease transmission and competition.

In the photo you can see Lithobates catesbeianus.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58565/53969770

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Both species depend on water, so they are found in lagoons or seas. In Strofylia-Kotychi National Park they share the same lagoon (niche partitioning). P.carbo mostly feeds on fish, which they catch while diving, meanwhile A.crecca on aquatic invertabrates of seeds. That way there is no competition between them.

In the photo below you can see P.carbo.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_cormorant

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Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_teal

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Both species are birds of prey and eat small mammals. The way they handle preying on the same food is by foraging at different hours. S.aluco is a nocturnal animal, meanwhile F.tinnunculus is diurnal, so they do not encounter each other and there is no competition.

In the photo you can see S.aluco.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawny_owl

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In Greece, we do exploit animals for the fashion industry, for the production of fur coats.
Unfortunately, there are some industries in Northern Greece that use minks (Neovison sp.) in order to make fur coats.
Photo taken from:
http://el.ozonweb.com/media/fur-farms-in-greece

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Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_kestrel

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3) Ablepharus kitaibelli - Lacerta trilineata

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3) Ablepharus kitaibelli - Lacerta trilineata

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Both of them are lizard species and they are encountered in the same area. A.kitaibelii feeds on small insects, larvae and other small invertebrates. L.trilineata also feeds on insects and other invertabrates, but it can also eat smaller lizards or rodents. Their main food choice is the same, but they do nt compete, since A.kitaibelii is much smaller than L.trilineata, so it searches for smaller prey. So, both may eat invertabrates but they opt for different species, according to their size.

In the photo you can see A.kitaibelii.
Photo taken from: http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Ablepharus&species=kitaibelii

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Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/61529/12506037

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A. alba is a species of water-bird, so it depends on water in order to feed. That means that it is always found near water, where it can find fish, frogs, small mammals and occasionally small reptiles and insects, that spears with its bill.
It is diurnal, forms colonies and it needs warm to temperate climates to live. The colonies from north areas migrate to warmer ones during winter.

The species is calssified as Vulnerable in Greece.

Photo taken from: https://strofylianationalpark.gr/gallery/

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Αργυροτσικνιάς-Ardea-alba_Μ.-Γούλα-Γ.-Πάρχας

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Lutra lutra is a big mammal that lives in fresh-water ecosystems, so it can only be found in lakes, streams, rivers, and ponds. Its presence suggests that the water is unpolluted. It is an apex predator, who lives alone and it marks its area by defecating on rocks. It is diurnal and its diet consists mainly of fish.

The species is calssified as Endangered in Greece.

In the photo you can see L.lutra.
Photo taken from: http://www.acdb.ro/key-specis/otter-lutra-lutra

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FRANK PASMANS In recent decades, large populations of frogs, toads, and salamanders in disparate regions of the world have been succumbing to the deadly chytridiomycosis disease caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. The sudden and dramatic die-offs have prompted a large-scale research effort to pinpoint the source of the deadly fungus, and now the results of that research are in.

After analyzing the genomes of hundreds of B. dendrobatidis samples collected from wild and captive amphibians in Australia, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, an international team of scientists reports in Science today (May 10) that the pathogen likely emerged from East Asia at the beginning of the 20th century.

"It's the sort of study that we've needed for quite some time in the amphibian-chytrid world," says ecologist Jason Rohr of the University of South Florida who was not involved with the study. "There's been a lot of debate regarding the origins of the pathogen and a global analysis of this scope and scale was needed to resolve that."

"They have done years of work to gather and culture chytrid [specimens] from around the world, and to sequence all of them," adds biologist Karen Lips of the University of Maryland who also did not participate in the research. "This is a very impressive paper."

That's one of the most ironic things. In the wild, [the fungus] takes off like wildfire, but in the lab it's very delicate.-Karen Lips,
University of Maryland

Since 1998, chytridiomycosis-an infection of the skin that can lead to osmotic imbalance, organ failure, and death-has been pinned as the cause of mass die-offs and even extinctions of amphibian species. But there has been a debate, says Rohr, regarding whether the chytrid fungus has become problematic because of changes to the environment (such as climate change or pollution), because novel strains of the fungus have been introduced to populations lacking evolutionary experience with the pathogen, or because of a combination of these two factors.

While this paper doesn't fully resolve that particular issue, says Rohr, "it does suggest that, at least in certain parts of the world, some [ B. dendrobatidis] isolates are completely novel-they have been introduced somewhat recently."

Tracking down the origin of the fungus should have been a simple case of collecting samples from around the globe and comparing their genomes-in much the same way that genetic studies of HIV-1 revealed the virus's likely origin as central Africa. But epidemiologists Simon O'Hanlon and Matthew Fisher of Imperial College London who led the B. dendrobatidis research say it wasn't as straightforward a task as it might seem.

The fungus is "fantastically difficult to culture," says Fisher. "For instance, we'd go to the French Guiana rainforest and spend a couple of weeks crawling through the undergrowth catching poison dart frogs and taking biopsies [of toe-web skin], and in that particular trip I think we sampled 450 animals and we got three isolates of the fungus."

"That's one of the most ironic things," concurs Lips, "in the wild, [the fungus] takes off like wildfire, but in the lab it's very delicate."

Because of the assorted technical challenges of culturing B. dendrobatidis, it's taken more than a decade to generate the panel of 234 isolates used in this research, 177 of which were newly collected for this paper, says Fisher.

The team sequenced the genomes of the 177 new isolates and, with the 57 previously decoded ones, performed DNA comparisons. These analyses identified known lineages of B. dendrobatidis-including BdGPL the predominant strain found around the globe and responsible for the panzootic disease-as well as two lineages present in new Asian isolates- BdASIA-1 and BdASIA-2. Importantly, the results strongly indicated that BdASIA-1, identified in samples from Korea, is the ancestral population that gave rise to Bd GPL.

From assessments of the mutation rates of the pathogen's nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, the team went on to estimate that it emerged from Asia between 120 and 50 years ago. This time frame, say the authors, coincides with an expansion of the global amphibian trade.

Knowing the origin of B. dendrobatidis is important, says Lips. "If we know it's probably coming out of Asia in shipments of live animals . . . then that's where we need to focus our conservation efforts and our policy efforts," she explains. "If it was flying around by itself in the air, then that would need a whole different set of approaches to try and mitigate the impact."

The results suggest "we should probably take action to slow or halt the movement of the pathogen around the planet," says chytridiomycosis researcher Jamie Voyles of the University of Nevada who was not involved in the study. Such action could include "limiting the movement of the animals, or at least having a screening process," she suggests.

But if the disease is already across the globe, wouldn't such policies be equivalent to closing the stable door once the horse has bolted? Not entirely, says Lips. Aside from the known lineages, the researchers identified three hybrid strains of the fungus, indicating that different varieties could readily swap genes. They also found representatives of all lineages in samples taken from amphibian species that are known to be traded. "What this paper shows is that [ B. dendrobatidis] is not one thing. It's a whole portfolio of pathogens," says Lips. "So yeah, maybe one horse got out, but there are other horses in the barn that we want keep there."

S.J. O'Hanlon et al., "Recent Asian origin of chytrid fungi causing global amphibian declines," Science, 360:621-27, 2018.

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Origin of Frog-Killing Chytrid Fungus Found

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FRANK PASMANS In recent decades, large populations of frogs, toads, and salamanders in disparate regions of the world have been succumbing to the deadly chytridiomycosis disease caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. The sudden and dramatic die-offs have prompted a large-scale research effort to pinpoint the source of the deadly fungus, and now the results of that research are in.

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1) Pelophylax epeiroticus - Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

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1) Pelophylax epeiroticus - Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

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For years, there has been a fungus infecting and killing frogs worldwidely, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or simply the amphibian chytrid fungus. In 2015, a study (Azmanis et al., 2015) revealed that the fungus has made its way to Greece. Out of the 59 frogs examined, it was found only in 5, one of them being Pelophylax epeiroticus from Strofylia-Kotychi National Park.

You can read for youself the study, by clicking below.

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1) Circaetus gallicus  - Elaphe quatuorlineata

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1) Circaetus gallicus  - Elaphe quatuorlineata

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Circaetus gallicus or the short-toed snake eagle, is a raptor and its diet consists mainly of snakes, as its name suggests.
It also eats lizards and small mammals.

A species of snake found in Strofylia-Kotychi National Park is Elaphe quatuorlineata or four-lined snake and, among others, its being predated by Circaetus gallicus.

In the photo you can admire C.gallicus.
Photo taken from: https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A6%CE%B9%CE%B4%CE%B1%CE%B5%CF%84%CF%8C%CF%82

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Elaphe quatuorlineata, also named the four-lined snake, because of the two dark lines you can see in its side.
Photo taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-lined_snake

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2) Natrix natrix - Pelophylax kurtmuelleri

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2) Natrix natrix - Pelophylax kurtmuelleri

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Natrix natrix is a species of water snakes. It is not venomous and it mostly preys on amphibians, since they also are found near water.

A frog species, among others, on which N.natrix preys, is Pelophylax kurtmuelleri.

In the photo you can see N. natrix.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_snake

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Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_frog

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In Greece we do not kill any animal for traditional medicine.
Regarding plants, we do use many for beverages, like Chamomilla matricaria, Lavandula stoechas, Sideritis clandsestina, Salvia officinalis, Tilia tomentosa or for their therapeutic properties, like Hypericum perforatum, Euphorbia characias,Calendula officinalis, Juniperus oxycedrus, Malva sylvestris but not in a degree that can damage their population.

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An endemic plant of Peloponnese, which is found in Chelmos mountain.
Photo taken from: http://www.europeangeoparks.org/?page_id=544

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An endemic lizard of Peloponnese.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/61551/12514581

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I strongly believe that the reason was the 3rd option:
The wolves were brought in because the increased elk population was overgrazing the deciduous, woody species such as aspen and cottonwood.

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When a species goes extinct, many more will follow

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When a species goes extinct, many more will follow

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Each species has a role in the ecosystem, which is a part of, and when its population changes (increases, declines, goes extinct) so does the population of other species. The species most affected are the ones on which the other species predated. With its predator long gone, the prey has the chance to grow into big populations. That means that it will consume more food, in this case, plants. Over-consumption of plants (deciduous and woody species) means that other herbivorous animals with smaller populations may need to migrate. Those species might have been the prey for other species, so their migration means the migration or perish of other species too and so on, the so-called trophic cascade.

To sum up, each species is vital for the existence of others and if one goes extinct, sooner or later the ecosystem will be facing problems.

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The Mediterranena Basin Hotspot is the 2nd largest of all 36, covering an area of about 2.5km² and includes 34 countries, from Europe, Africa and Asia. (1),(2)

It is also the 3rd richest concernig plant diversity, with around 13.000 species out of 25.000-30.000 being endemic. (1),(2).

There is also high endemism concerning its fauna, with 35.5% of reptiles, 34.2% of Amphibian, 29.2% of freshwater fish and 11.6% of mammal species being endemic. (2)

Information taken from: (1)https://www.cepf.net/sites/default/files/resources/Donor%20Council/DC_Draft_Mediterranean_EP_Rev_27_July.pdf

(2) https://www.birdlife.org/cepf-med/hotspot

Photo taken from: https://www.iucn.org/theme/species/our-work/freshwater-biodiversity/what-we-do/mediterranean-hotspot

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A greek endemic salamander (Amphibian).
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/61918/12572637

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A greek endemic plant.
Photo taken from: https://www.west-crete.com/flowers/tulipa_goulimyi.htm

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Photo taken from: http://www.fdchelmos.gr/el/geopark/taftotita.html

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Greece has a variety of habitats, since there are mountains (even up to 2917 meters-Mount Olympus), lowlands, wetlands, islands etc. Having many habitat types (increased habitat diversity) means being able to host a number of different species, who have different necesities (increased number of ecological niches). This is a reason explaing Greece's rich biodiversity.

Also, during the glacial periods Greece acted as a shelter for species from Central Europe. Greece did not suffer severe glacial periods, compared to the countries of Central Europe.
This fact enabled species to find shelter in Greece and many of them, stayed here even after the glacial periods were over, also adding to Greece's current rich biodiversity.

Information taken from:
Dimopoulos, P., 2018. Plant and Habitats diversity in Greece: the case study of Mt Parnon. Summer University “Integrated Approaches for Sustainable Development Management, Tourism and Local Products in Biosphere Reserves (BRs)” 8 - 15 July 2018, Parnon, Greece.

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Regarding Greece’s fauna, until now 23130 animal species have been recorded in the country’s terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, of which 3956 are characterised as Greek endemics.

Furthermore, 3500 animal species have been recorded in the Greek marine environment.
''CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, 5th NATIONAL REPORT OF GREECE, Executive Summary, 2016''

You can admire some of the animals of Greece, by clicking the link below:
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/greece/articles/16-photos-of-wonderful-animals-youll-find-in-greece/

In the photo you can see the endemic frog Pelophylax cretensis.
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58581/11788512

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Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_machaon

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A species of newt (Amphibian):
Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/59472/11946568

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A greek endemic species of lizard.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyros_wall_lizard

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A venomous endemic species of snake, found olny in some of the islands of Cyclades. Its more common colour is grey, but also a reddish colour, like this of the photograph, can be encountered.
Photo taken from: https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9F%CF%87%CE%B9%CE%AC_%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%9C%CE%AE%CE%BB%CE%BF%CF%85

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Photo taken from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Parus_major

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Photo taken from: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22688927/113569670

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Photo taken from: http://mammals.myspecies.info/?type=All

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The endemic Kri-Kri.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kri-kri

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Here is a really nice site to find out the mammlas of Greece:

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Welcome! Thank you for visiting our site! Here you can find information about the ecology, morphology, behaviour and distribution of any mammal that lives in Greece. You can also use a guide about the recognition of the species. We will enrich the material with many photos. Thank you very much and have fun!

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A protected area, close by Patras, is the National Park of Chelmos-Vouraikos. Chelmos is the name of the mountain and Vouraikos is the river flowing through it. Apart from a protected area, it has been recently designated as Geopark.

Its extent is about 54.400 ha and it was caracterized as a National Park in 2009. It contains species and habitats, which need to be protected by Directives and it also includes the Special Protection Area on the Conservation of Wild Birds.

As mentioned before, is an endemic hotspot for Peloponnese.

For more information about Mount Chelmos and images, don't hesitate to visit the oficial page of the Management Body:
http://www.fdchelmos.gr/en/

In the photo below, you can see Chelmos mountain.
Photo taken from: http://www.naturagraeca.com/ws/122,184,184,1,1,%CE%A7%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BC%CF%8C%CF%82-(%CE%91%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CE%8C%CF%81%CE%B7)?fb_comment_id=864278600300864_1985220114873368

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Panachaikon mountain is another mountain which is near Patras and is important for biodiversity, since it constistutes an endemic hotspot in Peloponnese.

The vascular native flora of Panachaikon cosists of 757 taxa, 95 of which are Greek endemics (12.55%) and 79 are Balkan endemics.

22.10% of the endemics are protected and/or evaluated as Near Threatened to Endangered.

Kokkoris, I., Dimitrellos G., Kougioumoutzis K., Laliotis I., Georgiadis T., Tiniakou A., 2014. The native flora of Mountain Panachaikon (Peloponnese, Greece): new records and diversity. Journal of Biological Research, 21:9

Trigas, P., Tsiftsis S., Tsiripidis I., Iatrou G. 2012. Distribution Patterns and Conservation Perspectives of the Endemic Flora of Peloponnese (Greece) Folia Geobotanica 47:421–439.

In this photo you can see Panachaikon mountain.
Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panachaiko

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My hometown, Patras, belongs in the wider area of Peloponnese.

As you can see in the image below, many areas of Peloponnese belong in the ''Natura2000'' network.

Image from: http://natura2000.eea.europa.eu/#

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Νέα εικόνα (1)

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Apart from the biotic characteristics (flora, fauna), Greece has important geosites, which are protected and belong in 5 Geoparks.

As a ''Geopark'' is defined a territory with a geological heritage and the Management Body of this area oughts to protect it.

The Greek Geoparks are:
1) Lesvos Island Geopark
2) Psiloritis National Park
3) Chelmos-Vouraikos Geopark
4) Vikos-Aoos Geopark
5) Sitia Geopark

You can find all the European Geoparks in the link.

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At present, the Network comprises 74 Geoparks from 24 European Countries. The main aim of the network is to support its members to bring sustainable territorial development to the geopark...

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Greek flora includes 5752 species and 1893 subspecies of vascular plants, which cumulatively represent 6600 taxa that belong to 1072 genera and 185 families.

Greece is also one of the world’s hotspots for endemic plants, with 1278 endemic species (22.2% of all species present) and 452 endemic subspecies, which cumulatively represent 1461 taxa (22.1% of all taxa present in Greece).
''CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, 5th NATIONAL REPORT OF GREECE, Executive Summary, 2016''

You can also click the following links, so you can be impressed by the variety and beauty of plants found in Greece:
https://www.greekflora.gr/

http://members.mrtc.com/anvk/greeceturkey06/greekflowers/greekflowers.html

In the photo you can see the greek endemic Hymenonema laconicum.

Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenonema_laconicum

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An endemic plant species of Cephalonia island.
Image taken from: http://www.foreasainou.gr/fusiko_perivallon_drumou/hlorida/i_kefalliniaki_viola_

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An endemic greek plant.
Photo taken from: http://wildgreeceeditions.com/11-colchicum/35-colchicum-pulchellum.html

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An endemic greek plant.
Photo taken from: https://dasarxeio.com/2017/11/08/50882/

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A greek endemic plant and more precisely an endemic of Peloponnese.
Photo taken from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crocus_goulimyi_GotBot_2015_003.jpg#file

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A greek endemic species.
Photo taken from:
http://plant-hunters.blogspot.com/2012/09/campanula-pangea.html

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Photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraea_sisyrinchium

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Greece (located in Southern Europe) belongs in one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots, the Mediterranean Basin Hotspot.

Greece started recognising the importance of its nature and protecting in 1937, by establishing national laws and designating areas as National Parks, Aesthetic Forests etc. Each National Park has a Management Body.

Apart from the national legislation, many areas are also protected under European or International legislation.

There are many areas belonging in the ''Natura2000'' european network, due to the existence of important habitats and taxa.
The importance is defined from the Directive 92/43 for habitat types and taxa not including birds and the Directive 79/409 for bird species. There are 359 ''Natura2000'' sites.
The goal of this network is to ensure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats.

There also areas known as Ramsar Sites, deriving from the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. The sites and the taxa belonging in this Convention are equally important and are being protected, like Natura2000 sites.

Usually, those sites are within the National Parks, so apart from being protected by national and international legislation, in practice they are being protected by each Management Body.

Depending on the importance and endangerment of the species, each area is divided in zones in which there are rules of the activities allowed. In a few zones, all activity is prohibited, meanwhile in the majority a number of activities is allowed. Some of the prohibited activities can be grazing, car driving, collection of plants, hunting etc.

The protected areas of Greece cover 21.1% of all land and 5.5% of sea.

Infromation taken from:
Dimopoulos, P., Bergmeir E., Fischer P. 2006. Natura 2000 Habitat Types of Greece Evaluated in the Light of Distribution, threat and Responsibility. Biology & Environment Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 106(3):175-187.
Valavanidis, A., Vlachogianni T. 2015. Ecological Network for Nature Protection and Protected Areas in Greece Problems of Management, Environmental Conservation and Biodiversity.
The Red Book of endangered animals of Greece, 2009.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/index_en.htm
https://www.ramsar.org/

These areas are depicted in the image below (blue areas are the ''Natura2000'' sites fro habitat types and no-birds-taxa and the red ones are the sites for the birds), but you can also explore them in the following link (from which the picture has been taken): http://natura2000.eea.europa.eu/#

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Νέα εικόνα (11) - Αντίγραφο

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The only Geopark in Peloponnese is the Chelmos-Vouraikos Geopark.

It is an important site and a tourist attraction because of the Gorge of Vouraikos river, the Cave of Lakes, Tsivlos and Doxa lakes, the springs of Aroanios river and the mythical waters of Styx.

Find more information and amazing photos here:
http://www.europeangeoparks.org/?page_id=544

http://www.kastriacave.gr/en/%CF%86%CF%89%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%B3%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%86%CE%AF%CE%B5%CF%82-2/the-cave.html

In the photo you can see the gorge of Vouraikos river
Photo taken from: http://www.europeangeoparks.org/?page_id=544

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Photo taken from: https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A3%CF%84%CF%8D%CE%B3%CE%B1

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In the image below you can see (with green colour) the areas protected by Management Bodies.
Image taken from: http://www.oikoskopio.gr/map/

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According to a study from 2012, Peloponnese has 395
species and subspecies of endemic vascular plants.

The Peloponnesian mountains are considered important for plant biodiversity, since they maintain higher endemic species richness compared to lowland areas.

The mountains in Peloponnese that are endemic hotspots are:
Erimanthos, Killini, Panachaikon, Taygetos, Parnon and Chelmos.

Kokkoris, I., Dimitrellos G., Kougioumoutzis K., Laliotis I., Georgiadis T., Tiniakou A., 2014. The native flora of Mountain Panachaikon (Peloponnese, Greece): new records and diversity. Journal of Biological Research, 21:9
Trigas, P., Tsiftsis S., Tsiripidis I., Iatrou G. 2012. Distribution Patterns and Conservation Perspectives of the Endemic Flora of Peloponnese (Greece) Folia Geobotanica 47:421–439.

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Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation are the most significant threats at the European level to species that occur in Greece.

For freshwater species, major threats include the over-extraction of water, which in many cases is further exacerbated by increasing droughts due to climate change, pollution and the introduction of alien species.

Other major threats come from farming and ranching as a result of agricultural expansion and intensification, consumptive use of biological resources, urbanization and tourism.

Infromation taken from: https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/greece_s_biodiversity_at_risk_fact_sheet_may_2013.pdf

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Greece hosts 23% of all European species

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Greece hosts 23% of all European species

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According to IUCN, the number of animal and plant species found in Greece represent 23% of the total species found in Europe.

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Photo taken from: http://www.europeangeoparks.org/?page_id=544

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Photos taken from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_fox

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Canis_aureus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifolium_repens

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Νέα εικόνα (3)

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Concernig flora, an invasive species is Oxalis pes-caprae. It is found in a variety of habitats, taking over the spots of other species.

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Greece compared to Hungary, the Demal Sonia BioArea CH

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Greece compared to Hungary, the Demal Sonia BioArea CH

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Like the case of Belgium, Switzerland is not a hotspot and the number of its endemic species is low (2-5 plant and 33 animal species). Also, Greece is bigger than Switzerland (almost three times bigger), so again for these two factors it is not a surprise that Greece is more rich with regards to biodiversity. Finally, perhaps Switzerland does not offer many diferent ecological niches (like mentioned for Belgium) and that is why it does not have so rich biodiversity.

https://padlet.com/Elvyria/zy19xii2v2pg

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All information taken from:
- The Red Book of endangered animals of Greece, 2009.
- The Red Data Book of Rare and Threatened Plants of Greece, 2009.
- https://www.iucnredlist.org/

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2) Vulpes vulpes - Ancylostomatidae family of parasites

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2) Vulpes vulpes - Ancylostomatidae family of parasites

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A study published in 2017 (Liatis et al., 2017), showed that from a total of 16 red foxes (V.vulpes) from all over Greece, in all of them were found parasites. Most species belonged to Ancylostomatidae family, which includes the common hookworms of carnivores, like Uncinaria stenocephala and Ancylostoma caninum.

You can read the study, by clicking below.

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All things considered and having seen many other BioAreas, I believe my BioArea is looking really good.