Eastern Mediterranean spiny heath (phrygana)

This habitat includes low, thorny and chamaephytic communities of hemispherical shrubs, widespread at low and middle altitudes in the eastern Mediterranean and Anatolian regions. These phrygana communities occur at the coastal thermo-, meso- and the supra-Mediterranean zones of the Aegean islands, of mainland Greece and the Ionian islands, of coastal Anatolia and Crete (up to 1200 m a.s.l.), and are much more widespread and diverse than the western Mediterranean spiny shrub communities (F7.1-2). The Sarcopoterium spinosum-dominated communities, by far the commonest phrygana facies, are widespread in the Aegean archipelagos and Crete, with local outposts in continental Greece, the Ionian islands and coastal Anatolia. In this habitat are also included varied communities of supra- and oro-Mediterranean levels of Crete resulting from the broad contact between phryganas and hedgehog-heaths, with Euphorbia acanthothamnos, Verbascum spinosum, Berberis cretica, Phlomis cretica, Satureja thymbra, Sideritis syriaca, Hypericum empetrifolium, Origanum microphyllum, Micromeria juliana, Helichrysum italicum subsp. microphyllum, Genista acanthoclada and Astragalus angustifolius. Here are also included phrygana communities rich in Cistus, Erica and Genista species which  occur on calcareous (Hyperico empetrifolii-Micromerion graecae, Micromerion julianae, Helichryso sanguinei-Origanion syriaci), as well as on non-calcareous substrates (Helichryso barrelieri-Phagnalion graeci, Hyperico olympici-Cistion cretici, Helichryso sanguinei-Origanion syriaci), such as granite, gneiss and phyllitic schists, on serpentine, on hard and soft marls, on volcanic soils, and on sand. The distribution range of the Helichryso barrelieri-Phagnalion graeci includes Peloponnesus and Crete, the Ionian and the Aegean sides of the Greek mainland, the Central and South Aegean islands and the Aegean coast of Anatolia northward to approx. 39^o N (Barbero & Quezel 1989, Mucina et al. 2009), i.e. a region where vegetation linked to the thermo-mediterranean belt is widely distributed (Quezel & Barbero 1985), although the communities of the alliance are not strictly limited to low altitudes (also vegetation relevés from the Pilion peninsula middle altitudes are placed in the Helichryso barrelieri-Phagnalion graeci). The distribution range of the Helichryso sanguinei-Origanion syriaci includes Cyprus, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, where it occurs on calcareous and marl substrates as well as on serpentines and metamorphic substrates, at altitudes ranging from the sea level to 1200 m (thermo-, meso- and supra- Mediterranean vegetation belts). The distribution range of the Hyperico olympici-Cistion cretici and the Micromerion julianae includes Northern Greece (Central Macedonia, Thrace), Central Greece (Thessaly), where the phrygana communities occur on non-calcareous and calcareous substrates respectively. Included here are also the thorny cushion communities of the Thracian wooded steppe zone enclaved between the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean, with Sarcopoterium spinosum and Astragalus thracicus. These are distributed in northeastern Greece and Turkey-in-Europe, with local representatives in the xerothermic oak belt of the hills and rim of the Northern Thracian plain (East Rumelian plain) of southeastern Bulgaria, in particular, in the Bakadzicita hills of the Yambol Tundzja basin and in the foothills of the eastern Rhodopes. Finally, the cushion-forming thermo-mediterranean summer-deciduous phrygana communities of Cyprus are assigned to the Sarcopoterio spinosi-Genistion fasselatae alliance. They are mostly characteristic of the Cyprian central plains (thermo- and meso- Mediterranean altitudinal levels: 0-800 m a.s.l.), with a semi-steppic batha appearance (Irano-Turanian affinities) formed by Sarcopoterium spinosum, Thymbra capitata, Lithodora hispidula, Onosma fruticosum, Galium suberosum. They are distributed on sandy and loamy soils. This habitat can be of primary origin or having a climax character especially in the islands of the Aegean, as well as in the coastal zones of Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon. It is often the result of retrogressive succession of evergreen sclerophyllous vegetation.

Indicators of quality

• Low levels of soil compactness
• Absence of active secondary succession
• Low degree of shrub and grass encroachment
• Mosaics of the phyrgana communities with screes, rocks, boulders
• Patchiness of shrubs with herbs/grasses, and potentially arborescent shrubs (e.g. Pistacia lentiscus, Quercus coccifera, Juniperus phoenicea) or single trees
• Natural, undisturbed relief
• Absence or low cover (<5%) of invasive and/or ruderal species

Synthesis of Red List assessment

Confidence in the assessment

Pressures and threats