EUNIS habitat classification 2012 amended 2019 > E - Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens > E1 - Dry grasslands > E1.4 - Mediterranean tall-grass and Artemisia steppes

Mediterranean tall-grass and Artemisia steppes

English name: Mediterranean tall-grass and wormwood (Artemisia) steppes

Description (English)

Meso-, thermo- and sometimes supra-Mediterranean formations of the Mediterranean basin, physiognomically dominated by tall grasses, between which may grow communities of annuals or sometimes chamaephytes. They include silicicolous as well as basiphile formations. In the Mediterranean region proper, they are most characteristic of the Iberian peninsula and of the Mediterranean rim of Anatolia, with local representations in southern Provence, Sardinia, southern peninsular Italy, Sicily and Greece. In the semiarid regions between the Mediterranean and the deserts of western Asia, they dominate the landscape, forming a major steppe belt in which low scrub of Artemisia may be prominent.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification

Quick facts

EUNIS habitat type	code E1.4

Legal status

Vegetation types

Relation to vegetation types (syntaxa)

Name	Definition	Alternatives	Reftext
Hyparrhenion hirtae Br.-Bl. et al. 1956	Cirsum-mediterranean tall tussock thermophilous pseudosteppes of subtropical affinity	Avenulo cincinnatae-Ampelodesmion mauritanici Minissale 1995; Aristido coerulescentis-Hyparrhenion hirtae S. Brullo et al. 1997; Micromerio graecae-Hyparrhenion podotrichae O. de Bolòs 1962 corr. Rivas-Mart. et al. 1992; Saturejo-Hyparrhenion hirtae O. de Bolòs 1962; Hyparrhenion sinaicae Br.-Bl. et al. 1956 corr. J.C. Costa et al. 2001; Panico repentis-Hyparrhenion hirtae S. Brullo et Siracusa 2000; Micromerio graecae-Hyparrhenion hirtae O. de Bolòs 1962; Dauco criniti-Hyparrhenion hirtae (Br.-Bl. et al. 1956) O. de Bolòs 1962	Schaminee et al, 2012
Moricandio-Lygeion sparti S. Brullo et al. 1990	Southern Italian-Ionian thermo- and mesomediterranean relict edaphic steppes on clayey soils	Polygonion tenoreani S. Brullo et al. 1990	Schaminee et al, 2012
Stipion parviflorae De la Torre et al. 1996	Ibero-Levantine thermo- to supramediterranean sub-nitrophilous pseudosteppes on shallow calcareous soils		Schaminee et al, 2012
Reichardio maritimae-Dactylidion hispanicae Biondi et al. 2001	Thermomediterranean subhalophilous perennial grasslands in wind-swept habitats along Tyrrhenian, Ionian and Aegean coasts		Schaminee et al, 2012
Stipion tenacissimae Rivas-Mart. 1984	Southern Iberian thermomediterranean relict edaphic steppes on deep loamy-clayey soils	Stipion tenacissimae Rivas-Mart. 1978	Schaminee et al, 2012
Cymbopogono hirti-Brachypodion ramosi Horvatic 1963	Pseudosteppes on calcareous and sandy soils in eastern Mediterranean and coastal areas of Balkan Peninsula	Alyssion muralis Konstantinou 1992; Alyssion muralis Konstantinou et Babalonas 1996; Alyssion muralis Konstantinou in Carni et al. 2000; Cymbopogono-Brachypodion ramosi Horvatic 1957; Hyparrhenio-Brachypodion ramosi Horvatic 1963 nom. mut. propos.; Cymbopogono hirti-Brachypodion ramosi Horvatic 1958	Schaminee et al, 2012
Scorzonero creticae-Lygeion sparti S. Brullo et al. 2002	Cretan thermomediterranean relict edaphic steppes on clayey soils		Schaminee et al, 2012
Triseto velutini-Brachypodion boissieri Rivas-Mart. et al. 2002	Perennial grasslands on dolomitic and ultramafic soils in thermo- to supramediterranean belts of southern Spain	Triseto velutini-Brachypodion boissieri Rivas-Mart. et al. 2001	Schaminee et al, 2012
Festucion scariosae Martínez-Parras et al. 1984	Betic upper meso-supramediterranean semiarid pseudosteppes on deep calcareous soils		Schaminee et al, 2012
Leontodono tuberosi-Bellion sylvestris Biondi et al. 2001	Thermo-mesomediterranean secondary pseudosteppes on deep calcareous soils of Central and Eastern Mediterranean		Schaminee et al, 2012
Thero-Brachypodion retusi Br.-Bl. 1925	Western Mediterranean thermo- to supramediterranean semi-arid pseudosteppes on calcareous substrates	Scabioso turolensis-Brachypodion retusi Rossellò 1994; Phlomidi lychnitis-Brachypodion retusi Mateo 1983; Bupleuro baldensis-Brachypodion distachyi (Br.-Bl. 1925) de Foucault 1999; Thero-Brachypodion Br.-Bl. 1931; Teucrio pseudochamaepitys-Brachypodion retusi Rivas-Mart. In Rivas-Mart. et al. 2011; Thero-Brachypodion ramosi Br.-Bl. 1925 nom. mut. propos.; Asphodelo aestivi-Brachypodion retusi de Foucault 1999	Schaminee et al, 2012
Agropyro pectinati-Lygeion sparti Br.-Bl. et O. de Bolòs 1958 corr. Rivas-Mart. et al. 1999	Central Iberian relict edaphic steppes on clayey soils	Eremopyro cristati-Lygeion sparti Br.-Bl. et O. de Bolòs 1958	Schaminee et al, 2012

Species mentioned in habitat description

Other classifications

Classification	Code	Habitat type name	Relationship type
Palaearctic Habitat Classification 200112	34.6	Mediterranean tall-grass and wormwood steppes	same
CORINE Land Cover	3.2.1.	Natural grassland	n/a

For relation to plant communities (syntaxa), see Vegetation types

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