Centre Thématique Européen pour la Protection de la Nature et la Biodiversité Sous contrat de l’Agence Européenne de l’Environnement European Topic Centre on Nature Protection and Biodiversity Under contract to the European Environment Agency THE ALPINE LIST OF SITES OF COMMUNITY IMPORTANCE 1. THE ALPINE BIOGEOGRAPHIC REGION 1 Within the European Union the Alpine biogeographic region is divided into 4 parts, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines and the Scandes. These different mountain chains present an extremely complex and varied topography. The Alps originated in the collision of the Africa and Eurasia continental plates. The geological structure that resulted from this collision has been remodelled by erosion, torrential rivers and streams. They form a crescent of some 1200 km long and with an average width of 200 km. The Alps are the highest EU 15 mountains with the highest peak at 4807 m (Mont Blanc, France, Italy). In the Apennines the past glaciations and karst phenomena have marked the morphology of the mountains. The rock is mostly calcareous. The Apennines are divided in 2 parts with a total area of 3000 km2. The highest peak of the Apennines is Corno Grande at 2914 m (Italy). The Pyrenees are recent reworkings of an ancient mountain chain. The sediments folded over a granite base were submerged and covered by secondary sediments. The range is 430 km long and 10 km wide at its eastern end but reaches a width of 150 km in the central zone. The highest point is the Pic d’Aneto (Spain), at 3404 m. The Scandes were shaped during successive periods of glaciation and present a mixture of partly transformed volcanic rocks and sand stone with layers of sedimentary limestone. There is an average elevation of 500m, with several peaks over 1000m, the highest summit within the EU is Kebnekaise (Sweden) at 2123m although there are higher summits in Norway. The climate of the Alps is Mediterranean in the south and temperate in the north. The mountains act as a bridge and this contributes to their climatic and biological diversity. The valleys of the central Alps surrounded by mountains, which protect them from atmospheric disturbance, have lower rainfall than those on the periphery of the Alps. This leads to a marked difference in vegetation between the internal valleys, which have affinities to steppic vegetation found further east, and the outer valleys, which are more continental or mediterranean. In the Apennines, the climate is influenced by altitude while the Italian climate is prevalently Mediterranean in this part. They are particularly open to the winds from the Adriatic and the south. There are long stable periods of warm temperatures with little rain during the summer and cold weather associated with heavier rain and snowfalls during the winter. In the Pyrenees, the northern slopes are exposed to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean (high precipitation) while the south experiences a Mediterranean climate (dry). Winds from the east and southeast, carry damp air from the Mediterranean, these areas are humid. An intricate mosaic of climate patterns can be found on both sides of the Pyrenees. In the Fennoscandian mountains, temperature and humidity, especially related to the length of the snow-free season, are the main climatic factors structuring the vegetation. The increasing latitude and altitude create two main regional climatic clines, running south- north (variation of temperature) and coast-inland (variation of humidity). The Scandinavian peninsula is favoured by a relatively oceanic climate due to the Gulf Stream which makes the difference in vegetation less pronounced between south and north than in more continental European alpine areas. 1 Further information on the Alpine Region may be find in the on-line report 'Europe's Biodiversity – biogeographical regions and seas' published by the European Environment Agency at http://reports.eea.eu.int/report_2002_0524_154909/en/tab_abstract_RLR; the booklet 'Alpine Biodiversity in Europe: an introduction' by Laszlo Nagy, Des Thompson, Georg Grabherr, Christian Körner (2003) also gives a good overview (http://www.jncc.gov.uk/Publications/alpine_biodiversity/default.htm#download). Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Tel: + 33 1 40 79 38 70 57 rue Cuvier Fax: + 33 1 40 79 38 67 F - 75231 PARIS CEDEX [email protected] The Alpine List of Sites of Community Importance 2. THE HABITATS DIRECTIVE (92/43/EEC) IN THE ALPINE REGION Annex I of the Habitats Directive lists 198 habitat types, 65 of which are priority. Ninety- nine Annex I habitat types are present in the Alpine region, 34 of which are priority (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). The distribution by Member State is different in each sub region: 79 in Alps (60 in Austria, 43 in Germany, 64 in France and 64 in Italy), 60 in Pyrenees (48 in Spain and 50 in France), 42 in Apennines (Italy) and 44 in Fennoscandia (27 in Finland and 40 in Sweden) 49 % in other biogeographic regions Non priority Priority Habitats Habitats Priority Non priority Habitats Habitats 51 % in Alpine region Figure 1: Percentage of Annex I habitats present in the Alpine region (34% of non-priority habitats and 17% of priority habitats) No Annex I habitat type is restricted to the Alpine region but several are characteristic of the region such as Alpine & Boreal heaths (4060) and Sub-Arctic Salix spp. scrub (4080). Some habitats are marginal in the alpine region and are typical of adjacent regions. The table below shows a few examples of habitat types present in only one site of the Alpine region: Code Description MS 1340 Inland salt meadows FR 3120 Oligotrophic waters containing very few minerals generally on FR sandy soils of the West Mediterranean, with Isoetes spp. 9080 Fennoscandian deciduous swamp woods FI 9540 Mediterranean pine forests with endemic Mesogean pines IT 200 700 N s 600 of species umber 150 500 400 100 300 50 200 Number of habitat Number 100 0 0 c al a ne lanti Alpi t Boreal tinent ranean A er Con Macaronesi Medit Figure 2: Number of habitats types and species of the Habitats Directive by biogeographic region EEA – ETC/NPB, Paris, October 2003 2 The Alpine List of Sites of Community Importance The Alpine region is rich in species and many of them are listed in the Annex II of the Directive: 97 animal species (13 of which are priority) and 63 plant species (4 of which are priority) (see Fig. 3). The distribution by Member State is different in each sub region: 113 in the Alps (71 in Austria, 28 in Germany, 49 in France and 76 in Italy), 41 in Pyrenees (33 in Spain and 34 in France), 29 in Apennines (Italy) and 42 in Fennoscandia (20 in Finland and 39 in Sweden). 77 % in other biogeographic regions other species priority priority other species species species 23 % in Alpine region Figure 3: Percentage of Annex II species present in the Alpine region (17% of non-priority species and 6% of priority species) Among the Annex II species, there are a small number of endemic species in the Alpine region: 7 animals and 19 plants. Among the vertebrates, the Pyrenean ibex (1370 - Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica, a priority taxon) was classified as critically endangered in 1992 but became extinct in 2000. In the Alps Salamandra atra aurorae (1169, a priority species) has an extremely small range and is critically endangered in Italy. For the plants, the 4 sub regions have different numbers of endemic species listed on Annex II: 1 each in the Pyrenees and the Apennines, 7 in the Alps and 10 in Fennoscandia. Table 1: List of Annex II species that are only present in the Alpine region (only one proposed site for the species in bold) Group Code P Species name MS Sub region Inv 1045 Coenagrion hylas AT Alp Inv 1072 Erebia calcaria IT Alp Inv 1073 Erebia christi IT Alp Inv 1080 * Carabus olympiae IT Alp Inv 1932 Erebia medusa polaris FI Fennoscan Amp 1169 * Salamandra atra aurorae IT Alp Mam 1370 * Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica ES-extinct Pyr Bryo 1380 Distichophyllum carinatum DE Alp Pteri 1958 Dryopteris fragans FI Fennoscan Angio 1467 * Gypsophila papillosa IT Alp Angio 1508 Alyssum pyrenaicum FR Pyr Angio 1524 Saxifraga tombeanensis IT Alp Angio 1534 Potentilla delphinensis FR Alp Angio 1583 Daphne petraea IT Alp Angio 1630 Androsace mathildae IT Apen Angio 1710 Linaria tonzigii IT Alp Angio 1918 * Stipa styriaca AT Alp Angio 1944 Arenaria humifusa SE Fennoscan EEA – ETC/NPB, Paris, October 2003 3 The Alpine List of Sites of Community Importance Group Code P Species name MS Sub region Angio 1947 Braya linearis SE Fennoscan Angio 1956 Draba cacuminum SE Fennoscan Angio 1959 Gymnigritella runei SE Fennoscan Angio 1961 Luzula arctica SE Fennoscan Angio 1964 Papaver laestadianum SE Fennoscan Angio 1965 Papaver radicatum SE Fennoscan hyperboreum Angio 1967 Platanthera obtusata SE Fennoscan oligantha Angio 1969 Primula scandinavica SE Fennoscan 3. THE ALPINE SITES OF COMMUNITY IMPORTANCE (SCI) Among the seven concerned Member States, only 5 sent their first list of proposed sites of community importance (pSCI) to the Commission in 1997, the year that the first scientific biogeographic seminar took place (Salzburg, Austria, October 1997). The second seminar was held in 4 parts, one for each sub region: the Apennines (Rome, Italy, March 1998), the Fennoscandia mountains (Vargön, Sweden, April 1999), the Alps (Gap, France, July 1999) and the Pyrenees (Torla, Spain, September 1999) after Finland and France sent their lists of proposed SCI and some additional proposals of SCI by the other Member states. The third seminar (Brussels, Belgium, October 2001) was held for the seven concerned Member States after some new proposals of SCI. At this seminar, the list of pSCI for some Member States was insufficient for several habitat types and species and four bilateral meetings were held in 2002 with Austria, Spain, France and Italy.