Vegetated snow-patch
English name:
Vegetated snow-patch
Description (English)
Vegetated areas that retain late-lying snow. Dominants may be mosses, liverworts, macrolichens, graminoids, ferns and small herbs. Snow patches are well developed in boreal and arctic mountains and in subarctic lowlands; they are well represented, though of much smaller extent, above the tree limit in the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians and Caucasus. They are found very locally in the Paeonian mountains, Sierra Nevada, Cordillera Central, Monti Sibillini, Abruzzi, Scottish Highlands and Sudeten.
Source: EUNIS habitat classification
Quick facts
| EUNIS habitat type | code E4.1 |
|---|
Vegetation types
Relation to vegetation types (syntaxa)
| Name | Definition | Other names | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salicion herbaceae Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl. et Jenny 1926 | Snow-bed communities on siliceous substrates of alpine and nival belts of mountains of nemoral zone of Europe | Luzulion spadiceae Rübel 1933; Nardo-Salicion herbaceae Englisch 1999 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Festucion picturatae Krajina 1933 corr. Dúbravcová 2007 | Snow-bed tall grasslands of stabilised silicolous scree gullies irrigated by melt waters of alpine belt of Alps and Carpathians | Festucion pictae Krajina 1933 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Salici herbaceae-Caricion lachenalii Béguin et Theurillat 1982 | Vegetation of sandy-gravely siliceous alluvia dominated by arctic-alpine species in alpine belt of Alps | Schaminee et al, 2012 | |
| Ranunculo-Oxyrion didynae Nordhagen 1943 | Vegetation of base-rich water-saturated solifluction herb-rich snowfields from alpine belt of Scandinavia and middle arctic zone | Saxifrago-Ranunculion nivalis (Nordhagen 1943) Dierßen 1984; Saxifrago stellaris-Oxyrion digynae Gjaerevoll 1956; Luzulion arcuatae Elvebakk 1985; Ranunculo-Oxyrion digynae Nordhagen 1936; Saxifrago stellaris-Oxyrion digynae Gjaerevoll 1950 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Hyalopoion ponticae Rabotnova et Onipchenko in Onipchenko 2002 | Snow-bed communities on siliceous substrates in alpine belt of Caucasus | Colpodion variegati Korotkov 2006; Saxifragion sibiricae Onipchenko 2002; Sibbaldion semiglabrae Rabotnova in Onipchenko et al 1987 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Ranunculion crenati Lakušic 1968 | Snow-bed communities on siliceous substrates in alpine belt of central and southern Balkan Peninsula | Ranunculion crenati Lakušic 1970 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Arabidion caeruleae Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl. et Jenny 1926 | Vegetation of snow-beds on stabilised calcareous screes of alpine-subnival belts of European mountains | Salici herbaceae-Arabidion caeruleae Englisch 1999; Salicion retusae Horvat 1949; Soldanello alpinae-Salicion retusae Englisch 1999 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Sedion candollei Rivas-Mart., Fernández González et Loidi in Rivas-Mart. et al. 2011 | Snow-bed communities of cryo-oromediterranean belt of Iberian Peninsula | Sedion candollei Rivas-Mart., Fernández-González et Loidi 1999 nom. mut. propos.; Mucizonion sedoidis Rivas-Mart., Fernández-González et Loidi 1999 | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Cassiopo-Salicion herbaceae Nordhagen 1943 | Arctic and boreo-arctic snow-bed dwarf-scrub communities on siliceous substrates of Scandinavia, Svalbard, Iceland and Greenland | Herbaceion Du Rietz 1950 (orig. form); Herbaceion Gjaerevoll 1956 (orig. form); Luzulion arcticae (Nordhagen 1936) Gjaervoll 1956; Luzulion nivalis Nordhagen 1936; Salicion herbaceae Du Rietz 1942; Cassiopeto-Salicion herbaceae Nordhagen 1936 (orig. form) | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
| Ranunculo hyperborei-Drepanocladion revolventis Philippi 1973 | Moss-rich hygrophilous tundra of Svalbard | Schaminee et al, 2012 |
Species mentioned in habitat description
Not available
Other classifications
| Classification | Code | Habitat type name | Relationship type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 200112 | 36.1 | Snow-patch communities | wider |
| CORINE Land Cover | 3.3.3. | Sparsely vegetated areas | n/a |
| Ramsar Wetland Types | Va | Alpine wetlands | overlap |
| Phase 1 habitat classification (UK) 1993 | D4 | Montane heath/dwarf forb | wider |
| Biodiversity Broad Habitat Classification (UK) | 15 | Montane habitats | wider |
| Milieux Naturels de Suisse 1998 | 4.4 | Combes à neige | wider |
| Biotopes of the Czech Republic 2001 | A3 | SNĚHOVÁ VYLEŽISKA (Snow beds) | overlap |
| Biotopes of Slovakia 1996 | 9400000 | Snehové výležiská | n/a |
History
| Classification | Code | Habitat type name | Relationship type |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 200410 | E4.1 | Vegetated snow-patch | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 200308 | E4.1 | Snow-patch grassland | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 200202 | E4.1 | Snow-patch grassland | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 199910 | E4.1 | Snow-patch grassland | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 199811 | E4.1 | Snow-patch grassland | same |
| EUNIS Habitat Classification 199712 | E4.1 | Snow-patch grassland habitats | same |
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 199905 | 36.1 | Part of Snow-patch communities | wider |
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 1997 | 36.1 | Part of Snow-patch communities | wider |
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 1996 | 36.1 | wider | |
| Palaearctic Habitat Classification 1993 | 36.1 | wider | |
| CORINE Biotopes Classification 1991 | 36.1 | wider | |
| CORINE Biotopes Classification 1989 | 36.1 | wider |
