34.32 - Sub-Atlantic semidry calcareous grasslands

Classification des habitats du Paléarctique (2001)

Description

More or less mesophile, closed formations dominated by perennial, tuft-forming grasses, colonizing relatively deep, mostly calcareous soils in the sub-Atlantic domaine of the Quercion pubescenti-petraeae and its northern irradiations and in the sub-Mediterranean mountains of the Italian peninsula, with Bromus erectus, Brachypodium pinnatum, Koeleria pyramidata, Festuca guestfalica, Festuca lemanii, Avenula pubescens, Sesleria albicans, Briza media, Carex caryophyllea, Carex flacca, Gentianella germanica, Gentianella ciliata, Gentiana cruciata, Trifolium montanum, Lotus corniculatus, Ononis repens, Medicago lupulina, Ranunculus bulbosus, Sanguisorba minor, Cirsium acaule, Euphrasia stricta, Dianthus deltoides, Potentilla neumanniana (Potentilla tabernaemontani, Potentilla verna), Anthyllis vulneraria, Galium verum, Euphorbia brittingeri (Euphorbia verrucosa), Hippocrepis comosa, Helianthemum nummularium, Thymus praecox, Salvia pratensis, Linum catharticum, Scabiosa columbaria, Centaurea scabiosa, Carlina vulgaris, Viola hirta, Plantago media, Primula veris and numerous orchids such as Coeloglossum viride, Ophrys apifera, Ophrys holosericea, Ophrys insectifera, Ophrys sphegodes, Aceras anthropophorum, Himantoglossum hircinum, Anacamptis pyramidalis, Orchis morio, Orchis ustulata, Orchis militaris, Orchis simia, Gymnadenia conopsea, Platanthera chlorantha, Herminium monorchis, Dactylorhiza fuchsii. Generally species-rich, these communities may be overwhelmed by the highly social Brachypodium pinnatum. Their range extends from the British Isles, Denmark, the Low Countries and northern Germany to the Cantabric range, the Pyrenees, Catalonia, the southern Alps and the Central Apennines, extending east to the Bohemian Quadrangle, beyond which they are replaced by the vicariant formations of the Cirsio-Brachypodion, to the Wienerwald, Styria and Illyria. Forming a bridge between the Mediterranean region and thermophile sites to the north, they can be identified by their high representation of Mediterranean species in the north and of Euro-Siberian ones in the south.

Correspondances phytosociologiques

Festuco-Brometea: Brometetalia erecti: Mesobromion erecti (Seslerio-Mesobromion, Potentillo-Brachypodion pinnati)

Bibliography

Devillers P., Devillers-Terschuren J. & Vander Linden C., 2001. PHYSIS Palaearctic Habitat Classification Database. Updated to 10 December 2001. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles, Bruxelles. (Source)

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