Supramediterranean garrigue
Quick facts
| Red List habitat type | code RLF6.6 |
|---|---|
| Threat status | |
| Europe | Least Concern |
| EU | Least Concern |
| Relation to |
|
| Source | European Red List habitat factsheet |
| European Red List of habitats reports | |
| European Red List of habitats (Excel table) |
Summary
Open scrub on calcareous substrata formed by ligneous plants of Mediterranean floristic character which represent degradation seral stages in the supra levels of the Mediterranean region. They replace basically Quercus rotundifolia, Quercus ilex, Quercus faginea and Juniperus thurifera forests. This habitat type is found in the base-rich mid elevation terrains in the Baetic mountains, central Iberian high plateau (meseta), Pyrenees piedmonts, southern France and southern Alps piedmonts, Apennine. It is present also in Portugal and Greece. These garrigues have been historically expanded by fire, a common practice of traditional sheepherding which has been the main land use along centuries. This is in apparent contradiction with the abundance of narrowly distributed species, but this is probably due to the fact that, in their primary stations, the patches of this habitat were isolated and distant from each other, favoring speciation. After the arrival of the Neolithic period (about 8 to 7000 years BP in western Mediterranen areas), humans transformed the landscape completely reversing the relative abundance of the previously existing habitats as they needed open large areas for their herds causing that the formerly restricted scrub areas became general in the landscape. Nowadays, with the abandonment of traditional sheepherding, of firewood collection and charcoal fabrication, forests and woodlands are recovering and this habitat, some decades ago extensively represented, is in clear regression, although still far from being in danger. Structural similar communities in siliceous sites of the supramediterranean zones of the mountains of Sardinia and Corse, with Genista salzmanni as an important species, are considered part of the oro-mediterranean hedgehog heaths of habitat F7.4b.
Indicators of good quality:
Optimal conditions for this type entail that the typical structure of the vegetation to be represented, i.e. scrub of low height and low cover in a matrix of open soil. The following characteristics may be considered as indicators of good quality, but these indicators differ in different regions:
• Presence of dwarf ligneous plants, particularly endemics, including threatened species
• High to medium cover of vascular plant vegetation, particularly chamaephytes
• Low cover of encroaching tall grasses and shrubs
• Absence of nitrophilic and alien species indicating heavy human influence
Threat status
Synthesis of Red List assessment
| EU | |
| Red List Category | Red List Criteria |
| Least Concern | - |
| Europe | |
| Red List Category | Red List Criteria |
| Least Concern | - |
Confidence in the assessment
Pressures and threats
- Agriculture
- Abandonment of pastoral systems, lack of grazing
- Sylviculture, forestry
- Artificial planting on open ground (non-native trees)
Habitat restoration potential
Trends in extent |
|
Average current trend in quantity |
|
Decreasing  |
Decreasing |
| EU28 | EU28+ |
Trends in quality |
|
Average current trend in quality |
|
| Decreasing |
Decreasing |
| EU28 | EU28+ |
Conservation and management needs
List of conservation and management needs
- Measures related to spatial planning
- Establish protected areas/sites
Distribution
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain mainland | Present | 10009.22 | Decreasing | Decreasing |
| Balearic Islands | Present | 10009.22 | Decreasing | Decreasing |
| Sardinia | Present | 16,59 | Decreasing | Decreasing |
| Sicily | Present | 16,59 | Decreasing | Decreasing |
| France mainland | Present | Stable | Stable | |
| Corsica | Present | Stable | Stable | |
| Greece (mainland and other islands) | Present | - | - | |
| Crete | Present | - | - | |
| Portugal mainland | Present | - | - | |
| Italy mainland | Present | 16,59 | Decreasing | Decreasing |
| EU28 + | Present or presence uncertain | Current area of habitat (Km2) | Recent trend in quantity (last 50 years) | Recent trend in quality (last 50 years) |
|---|
Extent of Occurrence, Area of Occupancy and habitat area
| Extent of Occurrence (EOO) (Km2) | Area of Occupancy (AOO) | Current estimated Total Area | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU28 | 575050 | 2299 | >10000 | Largely distributed in central and nortehrn Spain, southern France and W Italy |
| EU28+ | 2299 | >10000 | Largely distributed in central and nortehrn Spain, southern France and W Italy |
EOO = the area (km2) of the envelope around all occurrences of a habitat (calculated by a minimum convex polygon).
