Our soils are teeming with life. Little-known and yet ecologically important groups of organisms are the centipedes and bipeds. They hunt small animals in the leaf litter or decompose the remains of dead plants. A new survey by the Red List now shows how the 182 species native to Germany are doing. The good news: Almost 70 percent of the species are currently considered safe. However, some species are extremely rare or even threatened with extinction. In some cases, Germany also has a special responsibility: four species no longer occur anywhere else in the world.
The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) uses nationwide red lists to record the endangerment situation of animal, plant and fungal species in Germany. They offer a kind of inventory list for the various groups of organisms native to Germany and provide information about how the populations are developing, which species are endangered and how they can be protected. This makes them early warning systems for the development of biological diversity in Germany. The lists are created under the coordination of the Red List Center by experts in collaboration with volunteers.
Inventory of biodiversity
A new Red List of centipedes and bipeds native to Germany has now been published, two subgroups of the millipedes (Myriapoda). “Centipedes and bipeds make a significant contribution to the functionality of soils and to maintaining an intact natural balance,” explains Sabine Riewenherm, President of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Bipods feed primarily on dead organic material and thus contribute to the decomposition of rotting plants and animals. As predators, centipedes regulate the populations of small prey in the ground litter. “Nevertheless, soil organisms like these are often overlooked and have so far been insufficiently researched. The improved data base of the Red List is therefore an important step towards including soil fauna more closely in nature conservation.”
The new overview includes all 182 species and subspecies that occur in Germany, including 62 centipede and 127 biped taxa. The positive news: According to the current survey, most of them are considered safe. However, the populations of six species of centipedes and 15 species of bipeds are threatened; three other species of centipedes and 17 species of bipeds are extremely rare. A species of bipeds called Mastigophorophyllon saxonicumwhich once occurred in Saxon Switzerland and Usedom, was last seen in 1974 and is now classified as “extinct or lost”.
Compared to the last survey in 2016, the populations of ten species have stabilized, while 20 species have now had to be classified in a worse category. “The new Red List of centipedes and bipeds shows that the biodiversity of our soils is also coming under increasing pressure,” says Riewenherm. However, in many cases the changed classification is based on improved data and does not necessarily reflect actual changes in the distribution of the species.
Special responsibility for protection
According to the updated Red List, Germany has a special responsibility for twelve species of bipeds. The populations of these species in this country are either highly isolated from other populations or even limited exclusively to Germany. Four species are found nowhere else in the world. Pyrgocyphosoma titianum, Rhymogona verhoeffi, Rhymogona wehrana and Xylophageuma vomrathi are very rare to extremely rare and almost only live in the Black Forest.
In order to ensure the continued existence of these and other species, according to the experts involved, led by the multipedal expert Peter Decker, it is crucial to preserve and promote structurally rich habitats and to ensure better networking of such habitats through connecting corridors. “The main causes of endangerment for centipedes and bipeds are the loss and fragmentation of suitable biotopes, especially dry grasslands, heaths, moors, swamp and floodplain forests as well as (sub)alpine habitats,” explains the team. “Centipedes and bipeds are particularly affected by habitat changes due to their low mobility and ability to spread, as they are hardly able to colonize newly created and renatured habitats.” It is therefore all the more important not to further destroy their existing habitats.
Source: Peter Decker et al., Red List and complete species list of centipedes and bipeds (Myriapoda: Chilopoda et Diplopoda) in Germany; Nature conservation and biological diversity 170 (12).