Europes ecological backbone.pdf

Biodiversity
Recognising that not all endemic species are
included within Annexes II and IV of the Habitats
Directive, these figures can be compared to those
of Väre et al. (2003), who found the highest number
of endemics and narrow-range taxa in the Alps and
the Pyrenees, with high numbers also in the Balkan
mountains, Crete and the Sierra Nevada, as well
as in the Massif Central, Corsica and the central
Apennines.
8.1.2 Distribution of habitats
Of the 231 habitat types listed in the Annex I of
the Habitat Directive (version 1.1.2007), 42 can be
considered as mountain habitats — i.e. habitats
exclusively or almost exclusively distributed in
mountains. A further 91 habitat types occur in both
mountain and non-mountain areas, and 98 are nonmountain
habitats. The results are summarised in
Table 8.5 and Figure 8.1, and there is a classification
of individual habitat types in Appendix 2.
Considering habitats found in mountain areas
(i.e. mountain and both mountain and nonmountain),
some key points may be drawn from
these results. First, almost half (46 %) of these
135 habitat types are forests, which corresponds
with the high proportion of this habitat in
Europe's mountains. This includes one habitat
group that is only found in mountains (temperate
mountainous coniferous forests) and another
that is predominantly found in mountains
(Mediterranean and Macaronesian mountainous
coniferous forests). Second, there is only one
habitat group — temperate heath and scrub —with
most of its habitat types in mountains. Those that
are restricted to mountains are the widespread
alpine and boreal heaths and sub-arctic Salix spp.
scrub and others that are more restricted to the
mountains of central Europe (Mugo-Rhododendrum
hirsuti), the Mediterranean mountains (endemic
oro‐Mediterranean heaths with gorse), and the
Rhodope mountains of Bulgaria (Potentilla fruticosa
Table 8.4
Number of mountain species endemic to mountain ranges, mountain regions and
islands
Area
Invertebrates
Mountain ranges
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Mammals Mosses and
liverworts
Ferns
Flowering
plants
Pyrenees 1 1 5 7
Alps 3 1 1 1 18 24
Apennines 2 3 5
Bohemian range 4 4
Carpathians 1 2 3 1 11 18
Mountain regions
Iberian 2 2 2 2 56 64
Scandes 1 2 8 11
Dinaric 6 6
Balkan 1 1 1 1 20 24
Island mountains
Aegean 1 1 2
Azores 1 9 10
Canary Islands 30 30
Balearic 1 3 4
Corsica, Sardinia 2 1 7 1 3 14
Madeira 1 11 12
Sicily 1 2 3
Crete 5 5
Cyprus 13 13
Total 10 4 15 5 7 4 3 208 256
Total
146 Europe's ecological backbone: recognising the true value of our mountains