Diversity of invertebrates in the Republic of Macedonia

Authors

  • Slavčo Hristovski Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences 91000 Skopje, Macedonia, Macedonian Ecological Society
  • Valentina Slavevska-Stamenkovič Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences 91000 Skopje, Macedonia
  • Nikola Hristovski Faculty of Biotechnology, St. Kliment Ohridski University, 7000 Bitola, Macedonia
  • Kiril Arsovski Biology Students Research Society
  • Rostislav Bekchiev National Museum of Natural History, 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Dragan Chobanov National Museum of Natural History, 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Ivaylo Dedov Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Dušan Devetak Department of Biology, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
  • Ivo Karaman Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, Trg D. Obradovića 2, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
  • Despina Kitanova Macedonian Ecological Society, Vladimir Nazor 10, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia
  • Marjan Komnenov Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupoli, Greece
  • Toshko Ljubomirov Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Dime Melovski Macedonian Ecological Society, Vladimir Nazor 10, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia
  • Vladimir Pešić Department of Biology, University of Montenegro, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
  • Nikolay Simov National Museum of Natural History, 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59194/MJEE1517105h

Keywords:

Invertebrates, Macedonia, number of species, diversity, centres of endemism

Abstract

The assessment of the diversity of invertebrates in Macedonia was based on previous assessments and analyses of new published data in the period 2003-2013 (after the first country study on biodiversity). The total number of species was estimated at almost 13400 that represents an increase of more than 3700 species. The largest number of species is in the phyllum Arthropoda (over 11800 species) i.e. the class Insecta with more than 10000 species. In this 10-years period (2003-2013) 64 new invertebrate species have been described for science with its locus typicus in Macedonia or at least part of the type series originates from Macedonia. The highest number of endemic and relict species can be found in the lakes of Ohrid and Prespa as well as the mountainous areas, especially in western Macedonia. Although less known, endogean habitats in Macedonia (including caves) hold significant diversity of species. This paper also deals with the conservation of invertebrates. According to the national legislation there are 35 invertebrates listed as strictly protected and 513 species as protected, however the criteria for selection are vague and taxonomic status of many of these species is doubtful. This situation might be overcome by elaboration of national red list assessment. So far, only daily butterflies were subject to an attempt for assessment according to the IUCN red list criteria. Furthermore, eight Prime Butterfly Areas were designated in Macedonia on the basis of five target species. The information on allochtonous and invasive species of invertebrates in Macedonia is very scarce. The presented list includes about 50 species.

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Published

2015-12-31

How to Cite

Hristovski, S. ., Slavevska-Stamenkovič, V., Hristovski, N., Arsovski, K., Bekchiev, R., Chobanov, D., Dedov, I., Devetak, D., Karaman, I., Kitanova, D., Komnenov, M., Ljubomirov, T., Melovski, D., Pešić, V., & Simov, N. (2015). Diversity of invertebrates in the Republic of Macedonia. Macedonian Journal of Ecology and Environment, 17(1), 5–44. https://doi.org/10.59194/MJEE1517105h

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2015): Macedonian Journal of Ecology and Environment

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2015 Slavčo Hristovski, Valentina Slavevska-Stamenkovič, Nikola Hristovski, Kiril Arsovski, Rostislav Bekchiev, Dragan Chobanov, Ivaylo Dedov, Dušan Devetak, Ivo Karaman, Despina Kitanova, Marjan Komnenov, Toshko Ljubomirov, Dime Melovski, Vladimir Pešić, Nikolay Simov

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Creative Commons License
Macedonian Journal of Ecology and Environment is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.