Nicola Arndt und Matthias Pohl - Neobiota

In both examples this allows a rapid comparison of the geographical range of the habitat with
proposed sites and would allow obvious gaps in coverage to be identified. It also highlights sites
which may have been misidentified and may require discussion. This is only possible for habitats
which are 'natural' and occuring in relatively large stands; but a large number of Annex I habitats are
anthropogenic such as some grasslands and heaths or occur as small stands (e.g., 7220 Petrifying
springs with tufa formation). There are also 8 marine habitats.
Where an Annex I habitat corresponds to two or more mapping units it is possible to ensure that this
major ecological variation is covered by the proposed sites. For example '91E0 Residual Alder Woods'
is covered by 5 mapping units (U23-27) while '91F0 mixed oak-elm-ash forests' probably corresponds
to U7-22.
However in the later case U7 is a potential vegetation which probably does not exist at present
highlighting the need for ecological knowledge when intepreting these data.
5 Does the Habitats Directive protect the rarest habitats?
The EPNV map & associated tables can easily identify mapping units which are intrinsically rare and
this can help assess the proposals from Accession Countries to add habitats to Annex I to cover types
not covered by the exisiting list. It also allows an examination of the role of the Directive in protecting
Europe's rarest vegetation and could contribute to any future revision of Annex I. Again this is only
possible for habitats which are 'natural' although it may be posssible to estimate potential range of
replacement communities
Table 2: The ten 'rarest' mapping units in Formation J (Mediterranean sclerophyllous forests and scrub ) and
equivalent Annex I habitat types (? Indicates no obvious Annex I equivalent).
Map
Code
Area
Km 2 Vegetation Type
J32 41 Adriatic meso-Mediterranean kermes oak (Quercus
coccifera) forests with Fraxinus ornus
J41 58 Algarvian thermo-Mediterranean Quercus coccifera-
Juniperus turbinate-forests with Rhamnus oleoides,
Osyris quadripartita, Chamaerops humilis ,Ulex
erinaceus, Cistus palhinhae, Teucrium vincentinum
J16 160 Balearic-Majorcan meso-Mediterranean holm oak
forests (Quercus ilex) with Cyclamen balearicum on
calcareous soils
J50 180 Northeast Aegean wild olive-kermes oak-mastic tree
scrub (Pistacia lentiscus, Quercus coccifera, Olea
oleaster), partly in combination with Pinus brutiaforests
J52 180 West Mediterranean xero-thermophilous scrub with
Periploca angustifolia along the coast
J13 310 Cantabrian colline relict holm oak forests (Quercus
ilex) with Laurus nobilis
J47 360 Balearic-Minorcan wild olive tree forests (Olea
oleaster)
J11 380 Cantabrian relict Quercus rotundifolia- forests with
Cephalanthera longifolia, Carex caudate
?
NATURA 2000 Habitat
2250* Coastal dunes with Juniperus spp.
5140* Cistus palhinhae formations on
maritime wet heaths
9340 Quercus ilex and Quercus
rotundifolia forests
9320 Olea and Ceratonia forests
9540 Mediterranean pine forests with
endemic Mesogean pines
5220* Arborescent matorral with
Zyziphus
5230* Arborescent matorral with Laurus
nobilis
9320 Olea and Ceratonia forests
9340 Quercus ilex and Quercus
rotundifolia forests
J51 480 Xero-thermophilous scrub with Maytenus europaea ?
J45 630 Balearic-Ibizanian semi-arid juniper forests
(Juniperus turbinata)
2250* Coastal dunes with Juniperus spp.
201