SPECIES DIVERSITY

SPECIES DIVERSITY

II. THE STATE OF BIODIVERSITY

II.2 SPECIES DIVERSITY

Information on biodiversity in Albania is generally lacking. There are still flora and fauna taxonomic groups, which are unknown or have not been studied. The information on well-known taxonomic groups is lacking in terms of species. The number of species shown in Table 2 is larger, and in some groups several times larger, from that known to date.

TABLE 2

THE NUMBER OF SPECIES IN ALBANIA

Group	Species in Albania	Species in Europe	World Species
Bacteri Viruses Protozoa Algae Fungi Ferns Bryophytes Lichens Flowring plants Mollusca Insects Crustaceans (Decapoda) Echinodermata Fish Marine Fish Freshwater Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Mammals	Unknown Unknown Unknown 600 800 45 500 400 3200 520(700) 4,000(14,000) 115 46 313(350) 249 64 15(16) 36(38) 323(335) 70(84)	Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 16,000 145 10,000 1200 11415 Unknown 40,000 150( Adriatic sea ) 94 (Mediterranean) 618 (Mediterranean) Unknown Unknown 32 123 450 200	>4,000 >5,000 >40,000 >40,000 >70,000 >12,000 >14,000 >17,000 250.000 80,000 1,000,000 8,000 5,600 32,000-40,000 23,000-30,000 8,500 4,000 6,500 9,881 4,327

Note: The number in patentheses indicates the number of the expected species to occur in Albania.

Taking into account the existing information, Albania has a rich diversity of flora and fauna with about 3,200 flora species and 756 fauna species, respectively. Approximately 30% of European flora occur in Albania, and the high forests of Albania are the habitat for large game such as the brown bear, wild boar, and others, and also of fowl species, which flourish in virgin forests. The rich marine flora and fauna communities are an indicator of the high level of preservation and quality of these communities in Albania.