Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal shingle beach

This habitat represents beaches with pebbles or small- to medium-sized cobbles (as opposed to sand beaches of type B1.1b). Typically, the stones’ size ranges from 2 mm to 200 mm diameter. The habitat is mainly formed on abrasive coasts, where sea waves (mostly in winter) weather physically the coastal cliffs.The eroded material forms shingle beaches, where different size of stones are mixed with mollusc shells, algae and sea grasses (Zostera spp., Posidonia oceanica) that are washed ashore. These deposits are normally rich in nitrogen due to the high quantity of decaying plant and animal remnants. In most sites there is no vegetation in this habitat, but in some places communities of annual and even perennial plants may occur, most frequent from the class Cakiletea maritimae. Sometimes semi-ruderal and nitrophilic coenoses can be developed as well. All communities have open structure and usually very low cover. The most typical plants are Argusia sibirica, Crambe maritima, Matthiola sinuata, Glaucium flavum, Euphorbia peplis and Salsola kalii. In the thermo-Mediterranean zone, some large coastal gravel banks may be partially colonised by evergreen woodland or riparian thickets dominated by Quercus ilex, Tamarix africana or Vitex agnus-castus. Such habitats are not included in this habitat type, but are considered under the relevant scrub and forest types.

These shingle beaches are rare along the western Black Sea coasts, but more common along the Mediterranean coasts, although sometimes they cannot be clearly distinguished from sand beaches.

Indicators of quality:

Well conserved shingle beaches host mostly annuals, but also by some perennials. Although this habitat is mobile in nature and thus adapted to natural disturbances, intense human disturbances may cause the complete removal of vegetation cover. Indicators of good quality are:

• the persistence of low vegetation cover
• diversity and dominance of annual species and presence of some perennials
• absence of active tourist pressure or anthropogenic structures on the beaches that prevent the drift accumulation
• absence of alien species such as Cenchrus spinifex and C. longispinus.

Synthesis of Red List assessment

Confidence in the assessment

Pressures and threats