IBEROATLANTICA

Description

Thorny cushion-forming scrub on deforested, recurrently burnt and heavily pastured siliceous slopes or plateaus in inland areas of the submediterranean southwestern sector of the ecoregion. Also in ample ledges of exposed windy rocky outcrops, the presumable ancestral, pre-Neolithic habitat of Echinospartum lusitanicum, the dominant, definitory species of the unit. Locally, the physiognomically and biogeographically similar and phylogenetically close Genista hystrix may gain preponderance.

Protection

Protected under the code 4090 ("Endemic oro-Mediterranean heaths with gorse") by the EU Habitat Directive.

Floristic Composition

Frequent species

Echinospartum lusitanicum 100%, Sedum brevifolium 70%, Neoschischkinia truncatula 57%, Festuca summilusitana 53%, Helictochloa marginata 47%, Erica arborea 43%, Dianthus langeanus 33%, Sedum hirsutum 30%, Halimium alyssoides 30%, Rumex acetosella 30%, Genista tridentata 27%, Erica australis 27%, Micropyrum tenellum 27%, Filago minima 23%, Jasione sessiliflora 23%, Ornithogalum concinnum 23%, Armeria ciliata 20%, Anarrhinum bellidifolium 20%, Plantago holosteum 20%, Cytisus oromediterraneus 20%, Dianthus laricifolius 17%, Arnoseris minima 17%, Genista hystrix 17%, Quercus pyrenaica 13%, Aira caryophyllea 13%, Jasione montana 13%, Festuca queriana 13%, Phalacrocarpum oppositifolium 13%, Juniperus communis 13%, Conopodium majus aggr. 13%, Tuberaria guttata 13%, Erica umbellata 13%, Festuca elegans 10%, Cytisus multiflorus 10%, Digitalis purpurea 10%, Teesdalia nudicaulis 10%, Agrostis castellana 10%, Halimium umbellatum 10%, Armeria caballeroi 10%, Filago pygmaea aggr. 10%, Linaria saxatilis 7%, Thymelaea coridifolia aggr. 7%, Genista sanabrensis 7%, Simethis mattiazzii 7%, Andryala integrifolia 7%, Hypericum linariifolium 7%, Scleranthus annuus 7%, Agrostis capillaris 7%, Ranunculus nigrescens 7%, Quercus rotundifolia 7%, Hypochaeris radicata 7%, Fritillaria pyrenaica 7%, Avenella flexuosa 7%, Agrostis curtisii 7%, Koeleria crassipes 7%, Orobanche rapum-genistae 7% view more...

Indicator species

Echinospartum lusitanicum 1, Sedum brevifolium 0.69, Neoschischkinia truncatula 0.56, Festuca summilusitana 0.53, Helictochloa marginata 0.4, Dianthus langeanus 0.33, Sedum hirsutum 0.3, Rumex acetosella 0.28, Micropyrum tenellum 0.26, Ornithogalum concinnum 0.23, Jasione sessiliflora 0.23, Filago minima 0.22, Armeria ciliata 0.2, Plantago holosteum 0.19, Anarrhinum bellidifolium 0.18, Halimium alyssoides 0.17, Arnoseris minima 0.17, Dianthus laricifolius 0.16, Erica arborea 0.14, Festuca queriana 0.13, Cytisus oromediterraneus 0.13, Genista hystrix 0.13, Aira caryophyllea 0.13, Tuberaria guttata 0.13, Filago pygmaea aggr. 0.1, Armeria caballeroi 0.1, Jasione montana 0.09, Phalacrocarpum oppositifolium 0.09, Teesdalia nudicaulis 0.09, Conopodium majus aggr. 0.08, Halimium umbellatum 0.07, Scleranthus annuus 0.07, Fritillaria pyrenaica 0.07, Hypericum linariifolium 0.06, Linaria saxatilis 0.06, Ranunculus nigrescens 0.06, Digitalis purpurea 0.05, Andryala integrifolia 0.04, Hypochaeris radicata 0.04, Agrostis castellana 0.04, Orobanche rapum-genistae 0.04, Festuca elegans 0.04, Koeleria crassipes 0.03, Spergula morisonii 0.03, Aphanes arvensis 0.03, Armeria transmontana 0.03, Aira praecox 0.03, Linaria elegans 0.03, Thymelaea coridifolia aggr. 0.03, Anthemis alpestris 0.03, Molineriella laevis 0.03 view more...

Phytosociology

Festuco summilusitanae-Echinospartetum pulviniformis
Genisto hystricis-Echinospartetum iberici
Teucrio salviastri-Echinospartetum pulviniformis

Relations with other habitat types

Despite the too narrow geographical demarcation in its name, our communities fit comfortably in the accepted level IV EUNIS unit. Most of the areas occupied by this unit (which may be interpreted as an acidophilous analogue of S73x less orophilous than S73y) were originally covered by T19A. In deeper, not so eroded soils, it tends to be replaced by S33w.

Regional distribution

Known occurrences and potential area of occupancy of the habitat type in the study region.

S732 Cordilleran hedgehog-heaths