Red List habitat classification > RLE - Grasslands > RLE5.5 Subalpine moist or wet tall-herb and fern fringe

Subalpine moist or wet tall-herb and fern fringe

Quick facts

Red List habitat type	code RLE5.5
Threat status
Europe	Least Concern
EU	Least Concern
Relation to	Annex I habitat types (EU Habitats Directive) Resolution 4 habitat type (Bern Convention)
Source	European Red List habitat factsheet
	European Red List of habitats reports
	European Red List of habitats (Excel table)

Summary

The tall forb communities of Habitat type E5.5 are found at relatively cool and humid places in low and high mountain ranges throughout Europe, with their optimum in the subalpine zone; moreover, they can be found in the arctic regions of Scandinavia. They can be seen as a vicariant of the communities of habitat type E5.4, occurring at lower altitudes. In the mountains of Central Europe, the communities usually occur above 1,000 m altitude, but in Southern Europe they often don’t grow below 1,600 m. The stands occur along streams, between large rocks, under scrub (mainly of Sorbus aucuparia), in mosaic with Alnus and Salix scrub, and on the edge of forests. In spite of the high atmospheric humidity, bryophytes do not play an important role in the vegetation. At all these places, snow may accumulate during winter and the vegetation is unmistakeably chionophilous. Along streams, the communities may form long strips of hundreds of meters, mostly just a few meters wide, at other places they occur in the form of patches. The height of the – generally one-layered – stand reaches up to 1.5-2 m, with tall herbs and grasses as dominants, sometimes with a high cover of ferns. The cover of the vegetation is almost always 100%. The species composition of the plant communities is very diverse, with a high number of endemic species, reflecting the isolated position of these ecosystems, similar to other high-mountain vegetation types. The endemic species belong to genera like Aconitum, Alchemilla, Angelica, Cirsium, Geum and Ranunculus. From a historic-geographic point of view, the occurrence of a number of species that nowadays dominate lowland meadows is interesting, like Arrhenatherum elatius. Widespread species in these conspicuous mountain communities are Adenostyles alliariae, Veratrum album, Lilium martagon and Cicerbita alpina, among others. The plant diversity is reflected in the distinction of various alliances, but they all belong to the class Mulgedio-Aconitetea. Most of the communities are natural, but also the semi-ruderal and eutrophic tall-forb communities near resting places of cattle (assigned to the alliance Rumicion alpini) belong to this habitat type.

Indicators of good quality:

High species richness
Richness of regional endemics and rare species
Lacking of invasive and/or ruderal species
Dominance of tall-herbs, tall grasses or ferns

Characteristic species

Characteristic species:

Vascular plants: Achillea distans, Achillea grandifolia, Aconitum lamarkii, Aconitum lycoctonum subsp. vulparia, Aconitum napellus, Aconitum nevadense, Aconitum tauricum, Aconitum vulparia, Aconogonon alpinum, Adenostyles alliariae, Adenostyles briquetii, Alchemilla glabra, Alchemilla glaucescens, Alchemilla obtusa, Alchemilla plicatula, Allium schoenoprasum, Allium victorialis, Angelica pancicii, Aquilegia bernardii, Aquilegia pyrenaica subsp. cazorlensis, Athyrium distentifolium, Athyrium filix-femina, Aruncus dioicus, Atropa baetica, Betonica jacquinii, Blechnum spicant, Calamagrostis arundinacea, Campanula serrata, Campanula trachelium subsp. athoa, Cardamine raphanifolia subsp. acris, Cardamine rivularis, Carduus personata, Carex frigida, Carex vulpina, Carum carvi, Chaerophyllum byzantinum, Chaerophyllum villarsii, Cerinthe glabra, Cicerbita alpina, Cicerbita plumieri, Cicerbita pancicii, Cirsium appendiculatum, Cirsium erisithales, Cirsium helenioides, Cirsium flavispina, Cirsium spinosissimum, Cirsium tymphaeum, Chaerophyllum aureum, Crepis paludosa, Dactylorhiza cordigera, Dactyorhiza saccifera, Delphinium elatum, Digitalis grandiflora, Doronicum austriacum, Doronicum columnae, Doronicum corsicum, Doronocum grandiflorum, Draba nemorosa, Dryopteris dilatata, Epilobium alpinum, Epilobium montanum, Erica terminalis, Eryngium alpinum, Heracleum elegans, Heracleum pyrenaicum, Heracleum ternatum, Heracleum transsilvanicum, Heracleum verticillatum, Hypericum corsicum, Hypericum tetrapterum, Festuca carpatica, Gagea fragifera, Gentiana asclepiadea, Gentiana lutea, Gentiana punctata, Geranium asphodeloides, Geranium palustre, Geranium phaeum, Geranium sylvaticum, Geum coccineum, Geum rivale, Lactuca alpina, Laserpitium latifolium, Laserpitium longiradium, Leucanthemum waldsteinii, Leuzea rhapontica, Lilium martagon, Lunaria rediviva, Molopospermum peloponesiacum, Myositis alpestris, Myosotis soleirolii, Narcissus nevadensis, Narthecium reverchonii, Oreopteris limbosperma, Pedicularis foliosa, Peucedanum ostruthium, Pinguicula balcanica, Pinguicula corsica, Phleum alpinum, Phyteuma ovatum, Poa supina, Polygonatum verticillatum, Prenanthes purpurea, Ranunculus aconitifolius, Ranunculus lanuginosus, Ranunculus platanifolius, Rhodiola rosea, Rumex alpinus, Rumex arifolius, Rumex pseudoalpinus, Salix helvetica, Salix lapponum, Saxifraga rotundifolia, Scrophularia auriculata, Scrophularia scopolii, Senecio alpinus, Senecio elodes, Senecio nemorensis, Senecio subalpinus, Telekia speciosa, Thalictrum aquilegifolium, Tozzia alpina, Trichophorum cespitosum, Trisetum fuscum, Trollius europaeus, Valeriana pyrenaica, Valeriana rotundifolia, Veratrum album, Viola biflora.

For full habitat description, please download the habitat factsheet.

Threat status

Synthesis of Red List assessment

This habitat type is not threatened in both EU28 and EU28+.

EU
Red List Category	Red List Criteria
Least Concern	-

Europe
Red List Category	Red List Criteria
Least Concern	-

Confidence in the assessment

medium

Red List of habitat categories and criteria descriptions

European Red List of Habitats categories

Based on Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems

European Red List of Habitats criteria

Reduction in quantity (area of distribution)	A	A1 Present decline (over last 50 years) A2a Future decline (over the next 50 years) A2b Future/present decline (over a 50-year period inclunding present and future) A3 Historic decline
Restricted geographic distribution	B	B1 Restricted Extent of Occurrence (EOO) B2 Restricted Area of Occupancy (AOO) B3 Present at few locations
Reduction in abiotic quality	C	C/D1 Reduction in quality over the last 50 years C/D2 Reduction in quality in the future or in a period including present and future C/D3 Historic reduction in quality
Reduction in biotic quality	D
Quantitative analysis of probability of collapse	E

From Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems

Pressures and threats

Agriculture

Intensive grazing

Human intrusions and disturbances

Mountaineering & rock climbing

Habitat restoration potential

These natural communities are well protected. Only at a local level and at low scale, direct destrucion of the habitat by the construction of tourist facilities may take place, whereas - more generally - overgrazing may lead to some losses in quality. In that case, lowering the intensity of grazing may lead the habitat restoration within a reasonable time-span.

Trends in extent
Average current trend in quantity
Increasing	Decreasing
EU28	EU28+

Trends in quality
Average current trend in quality
Decreasing	Decreasing
EU28	EU28+

Conservation and management needs

The natural conditions under which these eye-catching and species-rich communities occur are hardly effected by human interaction. Locally, the effects of mountaineering and construction of buildings and ski pistes for tourism may rise some concern, but overall the habitat type is well-preserved.

List of conservation and management needs

No measures

No measures needed for the conservation of the habitat/species

Distribution

For each habitat a distribution map was produced from a wide variety of sources indicating known and potential occurrences of the habitat in 10x10 km grids within Europe. Occurrences in grid cells were given in two classes: actual distribution from relatively reliable sources (surveys, expert knowledge), and potential distribution based on models or less reliable indicators. Please download the fact sheet to see the map.

Geographic occurrence and trends

EU28	Present or presence uncertain	Current area of habitat (Km²)	Recent trend in quantity (last 50 years)	Recent trend in quality (last 50 years)
Austria	Present	250	Stable	Stable
Bulgaria	Present	47	Decreasing	Decreasing
Croatia	Present	35	Stable	Stable
Czech Republic	Present	8	Decreasing	Decreasing
Finland mainland	Present	1	Stable	Stable
France mainland	Present	750	Stable	Increasing
Germany	Present	10	Decreasing	Decreasing
Greece (mainland and other islands)	Present	8	Unknown	Unknown
Ireland	Present	1	Stable	Stable
Italy mainland	Present	160	Decreasing	Decreasing
Poland	Present	6	Decreasing	Decreasing
Romania	Present	30	Decreasing	Decreasing
Slovakia	Present	4	Stable	Stable
Slovenia	Present	90	Stable	Stable
Spain mainland	Present	30	Stable	Stable
United Kingdom	Present	23	Stable	Stable

EU28 +	Present or presence uncertain	Current area of habitat (Km²)	Recent trend in quantity (last 50 years)	Recent trend in quality (last 50 years)
Albania	Present	2	Decreasing	Stable
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Present	20	Decreasing	Decreasing
Kosovo	Present		Stable	Stable
Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)	Present		Decreasing	Unknown
Switzerland	Present	1250	Decreasing	Decreasing
Kaliningrad	Present		-	-
Montenegro	Present		-	-
Norway Mainland	Present		-	-
Serbia	Present		-	-

Extent of Occurrence, Area of Occupancy and habitat area

	Extent of Occurrence (EOO) (Km²)	Area of Occupancy (AOO)	Current estimated Total Area	Comment
EU28	6752000	4257	1453
EU28+	4458		2725

AOO = the area occupied by a habitat measured in number of 10x10 km grid cells.
EOO = the area (km2) of the envelope around all occurrences of a habitat (calculated by a minimum convex polygon).

Characteristic species

The full list of characteristic species and genus are available above from the Summary. The species available in the EUNIS database are shown here.

Ferns Athyrium filix-femina

Ferns Oreopteris limbosperma

Flowering Plants Adenostyles alliariae

Flowering Plants Arrhenatherum elatius

Flowering Plants Aruncus dioicus

Flowering Plants Atropa baetica

Flowering Plants Carduus personata

Flowering Plants Chaerophyllum villarsii

Flowering Plants Cicerbita alpina

Flowering Plants Lilium martagon

Flowering Plants Lunaria rediviva

Flowering Plants Narcissus nevadensis

Flowering Plants Phyteuma ovatum

Flowering Plants Sorbus aucuparia

Flowering Plants Veratrum album

Species scientific name	English common name	Species group
Athyrium filix-femina		Ferns
Oreopteris limbosperma		Ferns
Adenostyles alliariae		Flowering Plants
Arrhenatherum elatius		Flowering Plants
Aruncus dioicus		Flowering Plants
Atropa baetica		Flowering Plants
Carduus personata		Flowering Plants
Chaerophyllum villarsii		Flowering Plants
Cicerbita alpina		Flowering Plants
Lilium martagon		Flowering Plants
Lunaria rediviva		Flowering Plants
Narcissus nevadensis		Flowering Plants
Phyteuma ovatum		Flowering Plants
Sorbus aucuparia		Flowering Plants
Veratrum album		Flowering Plants

Legal status

Relation to other habitat types mentioned in legal instruments

Legal text	Annex	Name in legal text	Code in legal text	Habitat type relationship	More information
Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora - consolidated version 01/01/2007	Annex I: natural habitat types of community interest whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation	Hydrophilous tall herb fringe communities of plains and of the montane to alpine levels	6430	Narrower	http://ec.europa.eu/environm...rective/index_en.htm
Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats	Revised Annex I of Resolution 4 (1996) of the Bern Convention on endangered natural habitats types using the EUNIS habitat classification (year of revision 2010)	Subalpine moist or wet tall-herb and fern stands	E5.5	Same	https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc....ckColorLogged=FDC864 Resolution No. 4 (1996) of the Bern Convention lists endangered natural habitats requiring specific conservation measures [and the designation of Areas of Special Conservation Interest (ASCIs) forming the Emerald network]

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Subalpine moist or wet tall-herb and fern fringe

Quick facts

Summary

Threat status

Synthesis of Red List assessment

Confidence in the assessment

European Red List of Habitats categories

European Red List of Habitats criteria

Pressures and threats

Habitat restoration potential

Trends in extent

Average current trend in quantity

Trends in quality

Average current trend in quality

Conservation and management needs

List of conservation and management needs

Distribution

Geographic occurrence and trends

Extent of Occurrence, Area of Occupancy and habitat area

Characteristic species

Legal status

Relation to other habitat types mentioned in legal instruments

Vegetation types

Relation to vegetation types (syntaxa)

Other classifications