Subcontinental riverine meadows

Description (English)

Meadows of the valleys of great rivers of continental or subcontinental climate regions of Central Europe, submitted to repeated inundation periods in the year, characteristic of the Elbe, the Saale, the Main valleys of Germany and Bohemia, occuring also in Moravia, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia and Serbia, with a disjunct outpost in the arid Rhine graben. They are usually dominated by Deschampsia cespitosa or Alopecurus pratensis, Poa palustris, Poa pratensis, Carex and Juncus species. Characteristic species include Cnidium dubium (Cnidium venosum), Viola persicifolia, Allium angulosum, Clematis integrifolia, Iris sibirica, Oenanthe lachenalii, Oenanthe silaifolia, Gratiola officinalis, Juncus atratus, Leucojum aestivum, Carex praecox var. suzae, Carex melanostachya, Serratula tinctoria, Lythrum virgatum. Because of universal river control schemes, these communities, dependent on natural or near natural flow regemes, are extremely threatened. Vegetation of alliance Cnidion venosi.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification