S73x Genista hispanica/legionensis scrublands

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Description

Thorny cushion-forming scrub on very steep and rocky or, more frequently, on deforested, recurrently burnt and pastured calcareous slopes.

Protection

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

Floristic Composition

Frequent species

Genista hispanica 84%, Erica vagans 75%, Brachypodium pinnatum 73%, Glandora diffusa 54%, Helianthemum nummularium 43%, Teucrium pyrenaicum 41%, Thymus praecox 29%, Sanguisorba minor 27%, Lotus corniculatus 26%, Bromus erectus aggr. 24%, Helianthemum oelandicum 22%, Helictochloa pratensis 21%, Teucrium chamaedrys 20%, Smilax aspera 19%, Potentilla montana 19%, Koeleria vallesiana 19%, Helictotrichon cantabricum 17%, Carex flacca 17%, Anthyllis vulneraria 17%, Juniperus communis 16%, Carex humilis 16%, Coronilla minima 15%, Briza media 15%, Festuca rubra 15%, Rubia peregrina 15%, Pteridium aquilinum 14%, Calluna vulgaris 14%, Ulex minor aggr. 14%, Potentilla erecta 14%, Scabiosa columbaria 14%, Globularia nudicaulis 13%, Hippocrepis comosa 13%, Euphorbia flavicoma 13%, Aphyllanthes monspeliensis 12%, Stachys officinalis 12%, Dorycnium pentaphyllum 12%, Thymelaea ruizii 12%, Polygala vulgaris 12%, Genista scorpius 11%, Carthamus mitissimus 11%, Erica cinerea 11%, Galium pumilum aggr. 11%, Dactylis glomerata 11%, Asperula cynanchica 10%, Pimpinella tragium 10%, Helianthemum apenninum 10%, Ononis spinosa 10%, Linum appressum 10%, Arenaria grandiflora 10%, Ulex europaeus aggr. 10%, Helichrysum stoechas 9%, Daboecia cantabrica 9%, Seseli cantabricum 9%, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 9%, Daucus carota 8%, Serratula tinctoria 8%, Cistus salviifolius 8%, Plantago lanceolata 8%, Leucanthemum ircutianum 8%, Pilosella officinarum 8%, Dianthus hyssopifolius 8%, Danthonia decumbens 7%, Asphodelus albus 7%, Sideritis hyssopifolia 7%, Eryngium bourgatii 7%, Galium verum 7%, Helictochloa marginata 7%, Pimpinella saxifraga 6%, Schoenus nigricans 6%, Rubus ulmifolius 6%, Centaurea nigra 6%, Silene nutans 6%, Hepatica nobilis 5%, Leucanthemum vulgare 5%, Lavandula latifolia 5%, Genista legionensis 5%, Eryngium campestre 5%, Crataegus monogyna 5%, Prunus spinosa 5%, Viola riviniana aggr. 5%

Phytosociology

  • Arctostaphylo crassifoliae-Genistetum occidentalis
  • Genisto occidentalis-Ulicetum maritimi
  • Helictotricho cantabrici-Genistetum occidentalis
  • Lithodoro diffusae-Genistetum legionensis
  • Lithodoro diffusae-Genistetum occidentalis
  • Lithodoro diffusae-Genistetum scorpii
  • Teucrio pyrenaici-Genistetum occidentalis
  • Ulici europaei-Genistetum occidentalis

Relations with other habitat types

Most of the areas occupied by this scrub (with the exception of particularly steep and rocky places where it found its ancestral, pre-Neolithic biotope), were originally occupied by forests of the units T172, T1E1, T21x and T21y. As a consequence of the basic, never so poor soils, its dysclimacic nature is less marked than in most heaths of block S42, and dynamic mosaics with grasslands of the units R13x, R1A3 and R1A4, as well as taller scrubs of the units S351 and S355, are frequent. A new regional level IV unit is created since in the original EUNIS framework these communities are recognised, but only at level VI (S73451: Pyreneo-Cantabrian cushion-heaths), lumped at higher levels with, among others, the very distinct S73y.

Regional distribution

Genista hispanica is the most widespread dominant species, replaced by G. legionensis only in a relatively small area centered around the Picos de Europa and at higher elevations (with a few altitudinal and longitudinal outliers). The far more xerophilous G. scorpius may also appear in the southernmost areas. These ecogeographical variants might be formally acknowledged through higher-level EUNIS units.

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

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Citation: IBEROATLANTICA – Flora and Habitats of the Cantabrian Mixed Forests ecoregion.
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