Mediterranean closely grazed dry grassland

These grasslands consist of heavily grazed pastures, mostly by sheep. They are usually found on fine clay/silt soils and on flat areas, often at low elevations, which are intensively grazed and trampled by livestock. Due to grazing, their soils are often eutrophic, although they contain low abundance of nitrophilous plant species, probably due to the xerothermic conditions of these areas and to the effect of soil compaction by trampling. These anthropogenic grasslands are dry in early summer, but with the first autumn rains sprout and grow rapidly, remaining green and fertile during the winter. The dominating species, usually hemicryptophytes and chamaephytes such as Poa bulbosa and clovers, are characterized by grazing-tolerant mechanisms (e.g. rosettes) and low height. Such grasslands are found mostly in the Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean zone of the western and central Mediterranean basin, including N-W Africa; their eastern distribution limit lies within the Balkan Peninsula. Depending on the environmental conditions and the geographic location, these grasslands include:

(a) Communities on acidic soils that tend to create uniform turfs with grasses and legumes adapted to grazing (e.g. Poa bulbosa, Aira caryophyllea, Trifolium subterraneum, Trifolium nigrescens). In Portugal these grasslands, among others, serve as very important food resources for wild rabbit populations and consequently for the diet of several important birds of prey, such as Aquila adalberti.

(b) Communities on clay soils of the western Mediterranean dominated by low hemicryptophytes and therophytes adapted to very intensive grazing, such as species with rosettes. The most common species of these grasslands are Plantago serraria and Trifolium subterraneum, while some of the diagnostic species are Paronychia echinulata, Erodium primulaceum and Biscutella baetica.

(c) Mesophilous grasslands of southern Italy which are usually the result of forest degradation. The most common species of these grasslands are Bellis perennis, Barbarea bracteosa, Trifolium repens, Poa bulbosa, Plantago cupanii and several others, some of which are endemic to Sicily.

(d) Communities of the southern Balkan Peninsula on fine clay soils (sometimes also in humid salty soils) around intensively grazed areas. In these early spring communities typical species develop from February to the end of March gradually drying out until summer, and only some C4 (drought-resistant species) plants can be found afterwards (e.g. Achnatherum bromoides). The most common species of these grasslands are Romulea spp., Hedypnois rhagadioloides, Hypochoeris cretensis.

Indicators of good quality:

·       Presence of traditional grazing regime without signs of abandonment

·       Absence of indication of significant, crevice-like, erosion

·       Absence (or very low cover) of nitrophilous species

·       No signs of secondary succession (e.g. encroachment of chamaephytes or shrub species)

Synthesis of Red List assessment

Confidence in the assessment

Pressures and threats