ure News 11 - Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

GIBRALTAR NATURE NEWS 6 Although previous issues of Nature News have included various articles about the flora and fauna of Gibraltar’s coastline, the celebration of the Year of the Strait during 2008 would not be complete without including another one this year. Gibraltar’s natural coastline has been under heavy pressure from developers for some time now, and this pressure continues unabated. Less and less of it remains in its natural state, most of it being coastal cliffs around the southern parts of the Rock. On the whole these cliffs rise sheer from the sea, stretching from just south of Sandy Bay all the way round to Europa Point, and then on to Little Bay. A surprisingly large number of species of plants cling to them, surviving under quite harsh conditions. Less difficult conditions can be found where the coastline drops more gently towards the sea forming a rocky The mound at Europa point SITES AROUND THE STRAIT 6 GIBRALTAR AND THE STRAIT shoreline. This can be seen at the Europa Point foreshore, from Little Bay to the South Mole, and to a limited extent between Catalan Bay and Sandy Bay. The Gibraltar sea lavender Limonium emarginatum is a common and widespread species all around the littoral. A large number can also be seen on the cliffs below Windmill Hill Flats, and a few on the North Face. Some can even be seen as far up as Martin’s Cave! This species is endemic to the Strait of Gibraltar and could well be considered the emblematic species of the Strait. Other than at Gibraltar, good stands can be seen along the Ceuta coast, at the Isla de las Palomas in Tarifa, and along the coast below Jbel Moussa. The plants found at the latter site are very stunted, with tiny leaves and very short flowering stems. This is probably due to the very high winds that blow continually along this part Lavatera mauritanica subsp davaei of the Strait. The vegetation that is found where the sea cliffs level off at the top is quite rich. This is very evident along Europa Advance Road, the mound at Europa Point and on the waste ground to the west and above the Mosque. The predominant species seen here are the winged sea lavender Limonium sinuatum, the wild carrot Daucus carota, the sea heath Frankenia laevis, the sea daisy Pallenis maritima, the purple viper’s bugloss Echium plantagineum, the rock samphire Crithmum maritimum, the bitter fennel Foeniculum vulgare subsp piperitum, the cineraria Senecio cineraria, the blunt-leaved catchfly Silene obtusifolia, the wild radish Raphanus raphanistrum, the squirting cucumber Ecballium elaterium and two species of mallow: the tree mallow Lavatera arborea and the Moroccan mallow Lavatera mauritanica subsp davaei. These species, together with many others, form a unique community of plants, typical of the littoral. The mount at Europa Point is also home to a number of rarer species such as the pink sandwort Minuartia geniculata, the Barbary nut Gynandriris sisyrinchium and the romulea Romulea clusiana; whilst down on the foreshore one can find important species such as the coastal ragwort Senecio leucanthemifolius which is becoming very rare in other parts of the Strait, and the shrubby seablite Suaeda vera which, on the Rock, is only found here. Lastly, it is worth mentioning the Tangier fennel Ferula tingitana and the Gibraltar candytuft Iberis gibraltarica. Both these plants are not coastal species, but they do link Gibraltar to Morocco. The candytuft is a North African species but is also found wild on the Rock and no-where else outside Africa. The fennel grows very well on the Rock as it does in the Tangier Peninsula, but is quite rare elsewhere in the Iberian Peninsula. Coastal flora along the top of the east side cliffs
Senecio leucanthemifolius Gynandridis sisyrinchium Limonium emarginatum Iberis gibraltarica Foeniculum vulgare subsp piperitum Ferula tingitana NOTES & NEWS DATABASING OF MOROCCO’S SUCCULENT PLANTS Following the Institut Scientifique de Rabat and GONHS-led visit to the south of Morocco, Dr Keith Bensusan of the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens has undertaken to coordinate a databasing system for Moroccan succulent plants that are found in the collections of botanic gardens and private collectors around the world. This is because many of these plants are restricted to Morocco, where the immense pressure placed on habitats by human activities threaten some of these species. The project aims to catalogue Moroccan plants in cultivation and promote the exchange of plant material, information and ideas between collections. The initiative has already attracted some interest and we hope that it will provide exciting results for the conservation of plants in Morocco. EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH OF MOROCCO The final field trip under the GIBMANATUR project took place in November. The expedition took a team of botanists, entomologists (Arthropods), malacologists (Molluscs), herpetologists (Reptiles & Amphibians) and ornithologists to a large range of habitats in the south of Morocco, from the deserts close to the Algerian border and the arid southwest Atlantic coast, to the alpine High Atlas. The team included members of GONHS, the Institut Scientifique de Rabat, the University of Tetouan and the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens. A number of exciting finds were made and are being written up for publication in peer-reviewed journals. A report on this very fruitful trip will appear in the next issue of Gibraltar Nature News. EXPERT BUZZES ON GIBRALTAR’S DIPTERA Martin Ebejer is a dipterist based in the UK. He visited Gibraltar for a few days in late September and early October, following an invitation from his friend Rhian Guillem of the GONHS Invertebrate Section. Martin is an expert on Mediterranean Diptera (true flies). He spent his time on Gibraltar surveying the Diptera fauna of the main habitats on the Rock. He also offered very valuable advice to members of the Invertebrate Section on a wide range of issues, from sampling of invertebrates to curation of collections and beyond. During his visit, Martin collected close to 200 species of Diptera from Gibraltar, among which are some notable finds that will be reported on in due course. No stranger to the Mediterranean, this was nevertheless Martin’s first visit to the Rock. We hope that his results prove fruitful. The GONHS Invertebrate section gratefully appreciated Martin’s efforts, and hopes that his first visit will not be his last. JOHN CORTES ON FORUM COUNCIL GONHS General Secretary Dr John Cortes was elected to Council of the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum at its Annual General Meeting in December 2008. John has been active in the Forum for some years as the GONHS representative and will contribute to Council many years of experience in the field of nature conservation. GIBRALTAR NATURE NEWS 7
Page 1 and 2: PERSISTENT WRECKAGE For the third t
Page 3 and 4: GIBMANATUR: Gibraltar-Morocco Inter
Page 5: Bufo mauritanicus Phragmites austra
Page 9 and 10: Quercus suber in the mist The mamma
Page 11 and 12: 1ST INTERNATIONAL CAVE MONITORING F
Page 13 and 14: sun and thus a higher rate of evapo
Page 15 and 16: Bougainvillea Bougainvillea spectab

ure News 11 - Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?