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Latvia is located in the mixed forest zone, between the taiga
coniferous forests to the North and the deciduous forests to the
South. The transitional zone is characterized by high biological
diversity. The distribution ranges of many plant species cross
Latvia, and the area hosts both oceanic and continental species. As
a result, there are many rare plant species.
The main vegetation type is forest, but there are only a few
areas (East Latvia Lowland, Mid Gauja Depression, western part of
the Coastal Plain, the Venta-Usma Depression) with continuous cover
where forest stands have not been fragmented by other vegetation
type. Mire habitats are still relatively common in Latvia. The
coverage of ecologically valuable meadows has declined rapidly in
recent years due to their decreasing use as meadows and for hay
cutting.
Several plant species have become extinct in Latvia during the
past 50 years, mainly due to destruction of their habitats. For
example, construction of hydroelectrical dams on the Daugava
destroyed unique habitats, causing loss of the only sandwort
Moehringia lateriflora location, and the most northern location of
lousewort Pedicularis kaufmanni. Several locations of rare plants
have become destroyed by drainage of wet meadows. For example, the
populations of marsh saxifrage Saxifraga hirculus and knotgrass
Polygonum viviparum have reached critical levels.
Of the plants, mosses and vascular plants are the most endangered,
with 18% and 17%, respectively, of all endangered species listed in
the Latvian Red Data Book.
Numbers of plant species and
fungi in Latvia, and the proportion of these species in the
Latvian Red Data Book
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