Mediterranean montane Cedrus woodland

To describe the habitat, we refer at first to the native Cedrus species in the Mediterranean: Cedrus atlantica  and Cedrus libani. The latter species includes two subspecies: libani and brevifolia. Cedrus atlantica is distributed in Morocco (Rif, Middle Atlas and north-east of the High Atlas) and Algeria (Aurés, Belezma, Hodna, Djbel Babor, Djurdjura, Blida and Ouarsenis). Cedrus libani subsp. libani is distributed in Lebanon, Syria and Asiatic Turkey. In Turkey and especially on the Taurus Mountains it forms extensive forests, while in the other two countries it is represented by small populations.

Within the geographical scope of the Red List project only the woodlands with Cedrus libani subsp. brevifolia are of relevance. Cedrus libani subsp. brevifolia is endemic to Cyprus, growing in a restricted area of the Paphos forest. It is found in the meso-Mediterranean to the mid supra-Mediterranean zone (altitude 900–1.400 m a.s.l.) in areas with sub-humid climate. It forms pure forests or mixed ones with Pinus brutia or Quercus alnifolia and it grows mainly on serpentine (diabase) substrates and on shallow to deep soils.

Indicators of quality:

• No forest exploitations
• Natural composition of canopy, canopy of woodland species not fragmented and competitive dominance of Cedrus species against other tree species;
• Structural diversity/ complexity with (semi)natural age structure or completeness of layers
• Typical flora and fauna composition of the region
• Presence of old aged trees with spreading crown, large height and basal area and a variety of dead wood (lying or standing) and the associated flora, fauna and fungi
• Presence of natural disturbance such as treefall openings with natural regeneration
• Survival of larger stands of forest without anthropogenic fragmentation and isolation (to support fauna which need large undisturbed forests)
• Absence of non-native species in all layers (flora & fauna)
• No signs of disturbance (e.g. grazing, unregulated logging) or regressive succession;
• No man-induced very high population levels of ungulates

Synthesis of Red List assessment

Confidence in the assessment

Pressures and threats