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The coastal vegetation of the Iberian Peninsula (including the Balearic Islands) is represented by a set of plant communities that colonize biotopes as diverse as sea cliffs, beaches, dunes, marshes and estuaries. From a geographical point of view, we have differentiated the following sections: in the north, the coastal strip extending from the mou...
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... the diversity of the Iberian coast, we have separated the different environments: first, rocky coasts with abundant cliffs; second, sedimentary coasts where beaches, dunes, as well as estuaries and coastal lagoons are frequent. The coastline has been divided into three main sections, according to biogeographic and bioclimatic features ( Fig. ...
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... is made up of the coastal stretch between Ría de Aveiro (Portugal) and Punta de Tarifa (Spain) at the Strait of Gibraltar. It is integrated in the Coastal Lusitano-Andalusian Province of the Mediterranean Region and includes four biogeographical sectors: Divisorio-Portugues, Ribatagano-Sadense, Algarviense and Gaditano-Onubense Litoral p.p. (Fig. ...
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... western stretch is dominated by materials of Paleozoic and Precambrian origin, such as granites of the Galician Atlantic coast, or the slates, quartzites and sandstones of northern Galicia and western areas of Asturias, while the eastern Fig. 8.1 Map of the Iberian Peninsula coastline with the locations of the main sites mentioned in the text. 1: Bidasoa River; 2: Cape Peñas (Asturias); 3: Ría de Foz (Lugo); 4: Rías Altas; 5: Rías Bajas; 6: Ría de Aveiro; 7: Cape Mondego; 8: Peniche Peninsula; 9: Cape Roca; 10: Cape Espichel; 11: Troia Peninsula; 12: Cape Sines; 13: Cape San ...
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... which are crowned by fossil dunes ( Neto et al. 2001). The cliff communities, less diverse than the previous ones, have among others, the following species: Crithmum mari- timum, Limonium ferulaceum, Limonium virgatum, Limonium ovalifolium, Daucus hispanicus subsp. halophilus, Dittrichia maritima, Pallenis maritima and Spergularia australis ( Fig. 8.4). The Spanish stretch (Huelva-Cádiz) is character- ized by low coasts with large areas with extensive dune ecosystems, while only some sandstone cliffs emerge on the Cádiz coast with Limonium emarginatum (Asensi ...
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... with Ammophila arenaria subsp. australis are also represented by two communities: the Otantho-Ammophiletum australis which stretches from the Cantabrian-Atlantic coast to Peniche (Portugal) and the Loto cretici-Ammophiletum australis, an association on the southern Iberian coast that differs from the former by the abundance of Lotus creticus ( Fig. ...
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... by Juniperus navicularis together with Daphne gnidium, Osyris alba, Osyris lanceolata, Phillyrea angustifolia, Pistacia lentiscus, Rubia peregrina subsp. angustifolia and others. In this environment there are fragile communities dominated by species of Cladonia (C. mediterranea, C. portentosa, among others), that are very sensitive to trampling ( Fig. 8.6). The Santolinetum impressae, a community with the endemic Santolina impressa is common on disturbed ...
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... genistoidis covers large areas in this territory (Neto 2002 A serious problem in the dune ecosystems of Portugal is the presence of invasive alien plants, like Acacia longifolia, Acacia melanoxylon, Arctotheca calendula, Carpobrotus edulis, Oenothera stricta which cover large areas preventing the devel- opment of natural communities ( Fig. ...
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... the outer fixed dunes within reach of the sea winds, a coastal juniper com- munity is established, forming a discontinuous band in contact with the semi-fixed dunes ( Fig. 8.8). The association Rhamno oleoidis-Juniperetum macrocarpae, with Daphne gnidium, Juniperus turbinata, Pistacia lentiscus, Rhamnus oleoides, Rubia peregrina subsp. longifolia and Phillyrea angustifolia, is endemic on the Huelva and Cádiz coast ( Rivas-Martínez et al. 1980). The mature stage of the dune ecosystem corresponds to the ...
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... Sarcocornia perennis together with other species and grasses that differentiate the two associations of this coastal stretch: the Puccinellio maritimae-Sarcocornietum perennis extending from the Cantabrian coast to the mouth of the Tagus, and the Puccinellio ibericae-Sarcocornietum perennis from the south of this river to the Cádiz coast ( Fig. 8.9). These communities are replaced, in the inner band, somewhat higher, by the Halimiono portulacoidis-Sarcocornietum alpini, whose dominant species is Sarcocornia alpini, common in the SW Iberian coasts and NW Morocco. It extends throughout the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula up to south of the Tagus River and is replaced by the ...
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... rugged coast, cliff communities are scarce, but include: the Crithmo maritimi- Limonietum malacitani with Limonium malacitanum on the Málaga coast and the Limonio cossonianae-Lycietum intricati, a community composed of Crithmum maritimum accompanied by less specialized species like Limonium cossonianum, Lycium intricatum and Salsola papillosa ( Fig. 8 Another feature of this territory is the Juniperus macrocarpa community devel- oped on granite and limestone rocks exposed to sea wind. The association Astragalo tragacanthae-Juniperetum macrocarpae has several territorial species, e.g. Astragalus tragacantha, Festuca ruscinonensis and Polycarpon polycarpoi- des subsp. catalaunicum ...
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... islands, especially in the genus Limonium, that possess 17 endemic species in these environments, 8 of which are exclusive to Majorca (Limonium balearicum, Limonium caprariense, Limonium carregadorense, Limonium dragonericum, Limonium gymnesicum, Limonium majoricum, Limonium muradense, Limonium portopretanum, Limonium pseudodic- tyocladum) ( Fig. 8.11). On some rocky coasts of Majorca and Minorca a second band of vegetation is found, occupying positions near the sea. These communities comprise thorny, cushion-shaped species, many of them endemic, e.g. Anthyllis hystrix, Carthamus balearicus, Dorycnium fulgurans, Euphorbia maresii, Launaea cervicornis and Santolina magonica. The most ...
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... coast, but do occur at Almería and Murcia. The Rhamno angustifoliae- Juniperetum turbinatae is well represented in Punta Entinas-Sabinar (Almería) where a dense forest is formed with Juniperus turbinata and Pistacia lentiscus as dominant species, accompanied by, e.g., Rhamnus oleoides var. angustifolia, Maytenus europaeus and Lycium intricatum ( Fig. ...
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... in the coastal areas of the Cape Gata-Níjar Natural Park, the fixed dunes are colonized by open populations of Ziziphus lotus, a species that inhabits semiarid and arid sites in the southeast Iberian Peninsula (Fig. 8.13). The physiognomy of this peculiar community (Ziziphetum loti) consists of separate specimens of Ziziphus which retain sand in mounds of more than 1 m high and about 25 m 2 sur- face area, on which other plants, like Asparagus albus, Lycium intricatum, Withania frutescens, Rubia peregrina, Thymelaea hirsuta and Arisarum simorrhinum, ...
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... tabernaemontani, Typha latifolia and Typha angustifolia as the dominant species. Near it, another helophytic community of greater height, up to 3 m, is developed. The Typho domingensis-Phragmitetum maximi with Typha domingensis and Phragmites australis subsp. altissimus is the association that grows on small peat islets subjected to waterlogging (Fig. 8.14). The formation of these peat islets, locally called "mates", is favoured by the accumulation of dense clumps of Cladium mariscus, whose association (Hydrocotylo-Mariscetum serrati) represents a serial stage of vegetation with reeds and ...
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... of shrub species. The selective use of shrub species by browsers has transformed the Mediterranean woodland in many areas. The results depend on the environmental context and management; a moderate and sound grazing favours forage shrub species (different Papilonaceae of genera as Cytisus, Genista, Retama, Adenocarpus, Pterospartum, among others, Fig. 10.8) and an appropriate composition of pasture communities (herbaceous and small shrubs), while the overgrazing in fragile terrains, and also the plowing excess, foster ero- sion and the dominance of species not consumed by herbivores and adapted to poor terrain (mainly Cistaceae, Ericaceae, etc.). -Grazing associated with Mediterranean ...
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... is made up of the coastal stretch between Ría de Aveiro (Portugal) and Punta de Tarifa (Spain) at the Strait of Gibraltar. It is integrated in the Coastal Lusitano-Andalusian Province of the Mediterranean Region and includes four biogeographical sectors: Divisorio-Portugues, Ribatagano-Sadense, Algarviense and Gaditano-Onubense Litoral p.p. (Fig. 8.1
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... western stretch is dominated by materials of Paleozoic and Precambrian origin, such as granites of the Galician Atlantic coast, or the slates, quartzites and sandstones of northern Galicia and western areas of Asturias, while the eastern Fig. 8.1 Map of the Iberian Peninsula coastline with the locations of the main sites mentioned in the text. 1: Bidasoa River; 2: Cape Peñas (Asturias); 3: Ría de Foz (Lugo); 4: Rías Altas; 5: Rías Bajas; 6: Ría de Aveiro; 7: Cape Mondego; 8: Peniche Peninsula; 9: Cape Roca; 10: Cape Espichel; 11: Troia Peninsula; 12: Cape Sines; 13: Cape San Vicente; 14: Ría Formosa; 15: Doñana National Park; 16: Cape Trafalgar; 17: Tarifa; 18: Cape Sacratif (Granada); 19: Punta Entinas-Sabinar; 20: Cape of Gata; 21: Santa Pola (Alicante); 22: Altea (Alicante); 23: Cape San Antonio; 24: Albufera de Valencia; 25: Delta del Ebro; 26: Cape Creus; 27: Balearic Islands zone, from Cape Peñas (Asturias) to the Bidasoa River, is characterized by Mesozoic and Cenozoic materials, especially limestones, dolomites and ...
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... Itinerant grazing, in which the flocks are led by a shepherd and return every day to a central place (Fig. 10.7). It plays an important role in the recovery of the fertility of arable lands. Also it allows to tap into the benefits offered by landscape patchiness, plots with different composition and production varying in aspect, soil moisture, depth and fertility. -Transhumance. An annual cyclical migration of livestock between zones of which the maxima of productivity are complementary in time: i.e. mountain summer pastures are complemented with pasturelands productive in winter and spring. -Scattered trees. Sites with silvopastoral formations shape many livestock- extensive landscapes that are common in many areas of the Peninsula. Trees were selected for and managed according to their canopy (shelter), fruit produc- tion and foraging potential. -Consumption of shrub species. The selective use of shrub species by browsers has transformed the Mediterranean woodland in many areas. The results depend on the environmental context and management; a moderate and sound grazing favours forage shrub species (different Papilonaceae of genera as Cytisus, Genista, Retama, Adenocarpus, Pterospartum, among others, Fig. 10.8) and an appropriate composition of pasture communities (herbaceous and small shrubs), while the overgrazing in fragile terrains, and also the plowing excess, foster ero- sion and the dominance of species not consumed by herbivores and adapted to poor terrain (mainly Cistaceae, Ericaceae, etc.). -Grazing associated with Mediterranean crops. The use of crop residues and stubble represents an important mechanism for the restitution of soil fertility. Short displacements (about 100 km) between mountain pasturelands and the new irrigated zones are gaining prominence and replacing in some cases the tradi- tional longer transhumance (around 500 km), as a support to maintain the utiliza- tion of mountain pastures. Capital in the Collegiate Church of the Alquezar, North of Huesca (Aragón). Eleventh century. Romanesque ...
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... Málaga-Altea (Alicante). The proximity of the Baetic Ranges to the sea has led to a coastline with rocky outcrops alternating with small beaches at their base. Sedimentation processes in large sectors of this coast have created accumula- tions of powerful torrential cones and a narrow coastal plain. Despite the rugged coast, cliff communities are scarce, but include: the Crithmo maritimi- Limonietum malacitani with Limonium malacitanum on the Málaga coast and the Limonio cossonianae-Lycietum intricati, a community composed of Crithmum maritimum accompanied by less specialized species like Limonium cossonianum, Lycium intricatum and Salsola papillosa ( Fig. 8 Another feature of this territory is the Juniperus macrocarpa community devel- oped on granite and limestone rocks exposed to sea wind. The association Astragalo tragacanthae-Juniperetum macrocarpae has several territorial species, e.g. Astragalus tragacantha, Festuca ruscinonensis and Polycarpon polycarpoi- des subsp. catalaunicum (Rivas-Martínez and Cantó 2002a). 4. Balearic Islands. The Balearic archipelago consists of two groups of islands and about one hundred islets: in the north Majorca, Minorca, Cabrera (Gimnesias); in the south Ibiza and Formentera (Pitiusas). Most coastal cliffs consist of lime- stone, except for some areas with siliceous rocks in the north and east of ...
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... borders of ponds and lagoons are occupied by reeds and cattails that develop in freshwater, although they tolerate a slight salinity. The Typho-Schoenoplectetum tabernaemontani is the association that inhabits this environment with Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, Typha latifolia and Typha angustifolia as the dominant species. Near it, another helophytic community of greater height, up to 3 m, is developed. The Typho domingensis-Phragmitetum maximi with Typha domingensis and Phragmites australis subsp. altissimus is the association that grows on small peat islets subjected to waterlogging (Fig. 8.14). The formation of these peat islets, locally called "mates", is favoured by the accumulation of dense clumps of Cladium mariscus, whose association (Hydrocotylo-Mariscetum serrati) represents a serial stage of vegetation with reeds and ...
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... southwestern coast (Costa Vicentina) is characterized by high cliff faces, formed by unstable sandstones or hard substrates (schists), of 40-120 m high, which are crowned by fossil dunes ( Neto et al. 2001). The cliff communities, less diverse than the previous ones, have among others, the following species: Crithmum mari- timum, Limonium ferulaceum, Limonium virgatum, Limonium ovalifolium, Daucus hispanicus subsp. halophilus, Dittrichia maritima, Pallenis maritima and Spergularia australis ( Fig. 8.4). The Spanish stretch (Huelva-Cádiz) is character- ized by low coasts with large areas with extensive dune ecosystems, while only some sandstone cliffs emerge on the Cádiz coast with Limonium emarginatum (Asensi ...
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... dunes or grey dunes typically are floristically rich and contain several chamaephytes: Armeria pungens, Artemisia crithmifolia, Crucianella maritima, Lotus creticus, Scrophularia frutescens, and some endemics, e.g. Armeria wel- witschii, Herniaria maritima, Linaria lamarckii and Thymus carnosus. The associa- tion Artemisio crithmifoliae-Armerietum pungentis has a wide distribution area ranging from Tarifa to the Tagus Estuary, being replaced in further north up to Cape In the inner paleodunes of the Sado Basin, the mature stage corresponds to the association Daphno gnidii-Juniperetum navicularis, basically formed by Juniperus navicularis together with Daphne gnidium, Osyris alba, Osyris lanceolata, Phillyrea angustifolia, Pistacia lentiscus, Rubia peregrina subsp. angustifolia and others. In this environment there are fragile communities dominated by species of Cladonia (C. mediterranea, C. portentosa, among others), that are very sensitive to trampling ( Fig. 8.6). The Santolinetum impressae, a community with the endemic Santolina impressa is common on disturbed ...
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... dunes or white dunes with Ammophila arenaria subsp. australis are also represented by two communities: the Otantho-Ammophiletum australis which stretches from the Cantabrian-Atlantic coast to Peniche (Portugal) and the Loto cretici-Ammophiletum australis, an association on the southern Iberian coast that differs from the former by the abundance of Lotus creticus ( Fig. ...
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... Balearic Islands have a great diversity of cliff communities, especially in the Gimnesias Islands, where nine of the ten associations described from the area are located. The special characteristics of the local biotopes, together with the isolation of the populations, have favoured a rich speciation in these islands, especially in the genus Limonium, that possess 17 endemic species in these environments, 8 of which are exclusive to Majorca (Limonium balearicum, Limonium caprariense, Limonium carregadorense, Limonium dragonericum, Limonium gymnesicum, Limonium majoricum, Limonium muradense, Limonium portopretanum, Limonium pseudodic- tyocladum) ( Fig. 8.11). On some rocky coasts of Majorca and Minorca a second band of vegetation is found, occupying positions near the sea. These communities comprise thorny, cushion-shaped species, many of them endemic, e.g. Anthyllis hystrix, Carthamus balearicus, Dorycnium fulgurans, Euphorbia maresii, Launaea cervicornis and Santolina magonica. The most frequent association is Launaeetum cervicornis which occurs adjacent to the Limonium communities of the lower band. A summary of these communities is shown in Table ...
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... the outer fixed dunes within reach of the sea winds, a coastal juniper com- munity is established, forming a discontinuous band in contact with the semi-fixed dunes ( Fig. 8.8). The association Rhamno oleoidis-Juniperetum macrocarpae, with Daphne gnidium, Juniperus turbinata, Pistacia lentiscus, Rhamnus oleoides, Rubia peregrina subsp. longifolia and Phillyrea angustifolia, is endemic on the Huelva and Cádiz coast ( Rivas-Martínez et al. 1980). The mature stage of the dune ecosystem corresponds to the association Osyrio quadripartitae-Juniperetum turbinatae already mentioned for the Portuguese stretch. The open spaces of the fossil dunes are occupied by oligotrophic grassland in which annual plants such as Arenaria algarbiensis, Linaria tursica, Loeflingia baetica, Malcolmia triloba, Vulpia fontquerana and others grow (Linario donyanae- Loeflingietum ...
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... navicularis is an endemic species of the Iberian southwestern coast that reaches some coastal areas of Huelva and Cádiz. It grows on dry sandy sub- strata, sometimes associated with podzol soils, conditions that prevent the develop- ment of the Quercus suber forests which normally occupy soils with shallower and wetter sands. Human activity in the Sado Estuary, due to agriculture and forestry (plantations of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Pinus pinea and Pinus pinaster), has encouraged the development of scrub rich in endemic species such as Armeria pini- folia, Armeria rouyana, Stauracanthus genistoides, Thymus capitellatus and Ulex australis subsp. welwitschianus. The association Thymo capitellati-Stauracanthetum genistoidis covers large areas in this territory (Neto 2002 A serious problem in the dune ecosystems of Portugal is the presence of invasive alien plants, like Acacia longifolia, Acacia melanoxylon, Arctotheca calendula, Carpobrotus edulis, Oenothera stricta which cover large areas preventing the devel- opment of natural communities ( Fig. ...
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... in the coastal areas of the Cape Gata-Níjar Natural Park, the fixed dunes are colonized by open populations of Ziziphus lotus, a species that inhabits semiarid and arid sites in the southeast Iberian Peninsula (Fig. 8.13). The physiognomy of this peculiar community (Ziziphetum loti) consists of separate specimens of Ziziphus which retain sand in mounds of more than 1 m high and about 25 m 2 sur- face area, on which other plants, like Asparagus albus, Lycium intricatum, Withania frutescens, Rubia peregrina, Thymelaea hirsuta and Arisarum simorrhinum, grow ( Peinado et al. 1992). A substitution stage of the Ziziphetum loti and also of Juniperus turbinata forests, on sandy soils, is a low scrub (tomillar) mainly formed by chamaephytes such as Teucrium dunense, Helianthemum almeriense subsp. scopulorum and Thymus hyemalis corresponding to the association Teucrio dunensis-Helianthemetum scopulorum. A community of annual plants Wahlenbergio nutabundae-Loeflingietum pentandrae) is developed on sandy soils after the rainy period. The vegetation of the arborescent scrub Ziziphus lotus is con- sidered a priority habitat in the Habitats Directive (European Commission ...
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... next band of vegetation, developed on soils subjected to tidal flow, is occu- pied by the chamaephyte Sarcocornia perennis together with other species and grasses that differentiate the two associations of this coastal stretch: the Puccinellio maritimae-Sarcocornietum perennis extending from the Cantabrian coast to the mouth of the Tagus, and the Puccinellio ibericae-Sarcocornietum perennis from the south of this river to the Cádiz coast ( Fig. 8.9). These communities are replaced, in the inner band, somewhat higher, by the Halimiono portulacoidis-Sarcocornietum alpini, whose dominant species is Sarcocornia alpini, common in the SW Iberian coasts and NW Morocco. It extends throughout the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula up to south of the Tagus River and is replaced by the Triglochino maritimae-Sarcocornietum alpini in the saltmarshes north of this river ( Costa et al. ...
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... turbinata forests, which grow in the innermost dunes, are scarce on the Mediterranean coast, but do occur at Almería and Murcia. The Rhamno angustifoliae- Juniperetum turbinatae is well represented in Punta Entinas-Sabinar (Almería) where a dense forest is formed with Juniperus turbinata and Pistacia lentiscus as dominant species, accompanied by, e.g., Rhamnus oleoides var. angustifolia, Maytenus europaeus and Lycium intricatum ( Fig. ...
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... understand the diversity of the Iberian coast, we have separated the different environments: first, rocky coasts with abundant cliffs; second, sedimentary coasts where beaches, dunes, as well as estuaries and coastal lagoons are frequent. The coastline has been divided into three main sections, according to biogeographic and bioclimatic features ( Fig. ...
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... Due to the windy habitat it is exposed to, A. berlengensis presents a prostrate, pulviniform shape; therefore, the individuals are usually wider than they are tall, in line with most of the littoral shrubs [33]. Thus, the correlations found between diameter and height are to be expected, because as they grow, the plants become successively wider and taller. ...
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Berlengas archipelago is a UNESCO world heritage site and the only location where Armeria berlengensis is found. This species faces various threats, namely, human disturbance, the presence of Carpobrotus edulis, yellow-legged gull, common-rabbit, and black-rat populations. Thus, exclusion areas were installed, which blocked the access of most Gulls, aiming to promote the recovery of A. berlengensis. Additionally, rabbits and rats were removed from the island. After six years of surveys, there has been an increase in the number of individuals of A. berlengensis in the exclusion areas, and a clear shift in the size structure of the A. berlengensis population. Significant changes in the height and diameter of the individuals were also noted. These findings indicate that the population of A. berlengensis is changing and becoming a healthier population. Principal component analysis results show a straightforward dissimilarity between the areas with A. berlengensis and those without the species and allowed the clustering of two groups: the rupicolous species and the nitrophilous species. A. berlengensis produces few seeds (seed set 3.4%), which raises concern regarding the long-term survival of the species. Thus, further conservation efforts must be implemented, such as the control of invasive species, gulls, and ruderals, to allow for the recovery of A. berlengensis.
... oleoides. Juniperus macrocarpa would characterize outer fixed dunes under high loads of salt spray (Rivas-Martínez et al., 1980;Asensi and Díez-Garretas, 2017). However, J. macrocarpa formations on dunes actually occur on semi-fixed dunes where the rate of sand deposition is less, but surface is still mostly bare sand (Muñoz-Reinoso and Gracia, 2009). ...
... 2-4 ab) and whose comparison shows differences in vegetation zonation among sites. According to Asensi and Díez-Garretas (2017), semi-fixed stretches were richer in plant species (Figs. 2-4c). ...
... According to CCA results, plant communities' compositions responded to environmental factors such as distance to the foredune, elevation and aspect (Table 3), although expected vegetation zonation (Rivas-- Martínez et al., 1980;Asensi and Díez-Garretas, 2017) changed among studied sites, which seems to be related to dune morphology, sand mobility and shoreline trend (Acosta et al., 2007;Fenu et al., 2013;Ruocco et al., 2014). As in studies carried out in different coasts (Levin et al., 2008;Kim and Yu, 2009;Ruocco et al., 2014), the distance to the shoreline (foredune in the present case) was the main factor controlling the composition of sand dune communities along the Gulf of Cádiz. ...
One of the most important anthropic disturbances on Mediterranean coastal dunes is the plantation of pine trees. However, the impact of coastal pine plantations on environmental gradients and on the spatial zonation of vegetation has received little attention. I analysed the spatial pattern of vegetation along sea-inland gradients from the foredune inland in three dune systems at the Gulf of Cádiz (SW Spain) to assess the effects of pine plantations on both the environment and the plant communities. In this study, I focus on the effects of the “Wooded dunes with Pinus pinea and/or Pinus pinaster” European habitat (code 2270) on the “Coastal dunes with Juniperus spp.” European habitat (code 2250), both considered as priority habitat, and which in many cases compete for the same range of the spatial zonation of vegetation.
CCA showed that the distance to the shoreline was the main factor controlling the composition of sand dune communities, even when several environmental gradients were modified by the presence of pine trees. Boundary Analysis detected several stretches with a characteristic vegetation that correspond to dune geomorphological zones. However, the plantation of pine trees on coastal dune ridges modified salt spray deposition and sand mobility landward, the main factors causing vegetation zonation in coastal dunes, making characteristic species of semifixed habitats such as Armeria pungens and Artemisia chritmifolia disappear. Pine plantations also shade and reduce wind flow producing negative effects on the growth and reproduction of the heliophilous and dioecious wind-pollinated Juniperus macrocarpa. Therefore, Pinus pinea may be considered as a physical ecosystem engineer in coastal sand dunes in spite of not being a species well adapted to salt spray and sand mobility, in contrast to J. macrocarpa. A better understanding of the ecological and geomorphological coastal processes is needed in order to promote better management and restoration actions of the coastal dune habitats to preserve the rich and specialized flora that inhabits these ecosystems, including Juniperus macrocarpa.
... Coastal areas experience oceanic humidity which penetrates up river valleys. Thermophilous evergreen elements such as Quercus suber, Olea europaea, Myrtus communis, Phillyrea angustifolia and Pistacia lentiscus characterise lowland vegetation (Asensi and Diez-Garretas, 2017). At higher elevation and towards the interior, the mesomediterranean belt is characterised by forest vegetation with both evergreen (Quercus suber, Quercus rotundifolia and Quercus coccifera) and deciduous trees (e.g. ...
Aquatic ecosystems are crucial in preserving biodiversity, regulating biogeochemical cycles, and sustaining human life; however, their resilience against climate change and anthropogenic stressors remains poorly understood. Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a vital monitoring tool, bridging the gap between satellite imagery and ground-based observations in coastal and marine environments with high spatial resolution. The dynamic nature of water surfaces poses a challenge for photogrammetric techniques due to the absence of fixed reference points. Addressing these issues, this study introduces an innovative, efficient, and accurate workflow for georeferencing and mosaicking that overcomes previous limitations. Using open-source Python libraries, this workflow employs direct georeferencing to produce a georeferenced orthomosaic that integrates multiple UAV captures, and this has been tested in multiple locations worldwide with optical RGB, thermal, and multispectral imagery. The best case achieved a Root Mean Square Error of 4.52 m and a standard deviation of 2.51 m for georeferencing accuracy, thus preserving the UAV’s centimeter-scale spatial resolution. This open-source workflow represents a significant advancement in the monitoring of marine and coastal processes, resolving a major limitation facing UAV technology in the remote observation of local-scale phenomena over water surfaces.
Substantial research indicates the effects of urbanization on vegetation cover; however, a view of this scenario from a regional scale is absent. Nowadays, coastal cities have become the new engine for the development of countries in coastal areas. To capture the effects of rapid urbanization on vegetation dynamics, 35 coastal cities along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) were selected to study the related research using quantitative tools. We calculated spatiotemporal trends of vegetation dynamics along an urban development intensity (UDI) gradient using the MODIS-enhanced vegetation index (EVI) during the period of 2000–2015. We found a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the EVI in the core area against that in the rural area (ΔEVI) of 14 cities and an insignificant change in vegetation in the peri-urban areas or urban outskirts. EVI decreased significantly along the UDI gradients in 12 coastal cities with a linear pattern and in seven coastal cities with a concave pattern; only Bangkok exhibited a convex pattern. The nonlinear pattern between the EVI and UDI reflected the fact that vegetation dynamics were affected by complicated factors, including climate change and human interventions, over a long period of time. In conclusion, our work provided a scientific reference for the sustainable development of coastal cities along the MSR; further work is necessary to explore the mechanic details of the positive and negative influences of urban factors and related policies on vegetation conditions.
The Ría de Ferrol is a confined tide-dominated incised valley in the mesotidal passive Atlantic margin of NW Iberia. A new multidisciplinary approach enables a high-resolution reconstruction of the main environmental changes affecting this area during the Lateglacial and the Holocene. We defined the main seismic and sedimentary facies in the infill and selected different key points to be cored. A number of multiproxy analyses were performed on four sections of sediment (sedimentology, X-ray fluorescence, radiocarbon dating and palynological analyses). Physiography exerted a strong control on the evolution of the basin, as a rock-bounded narrow channel in the middle of the basin influenced the flooding of the ria during the postglacial marine transgression. Depositional environments shifted towards the east as the sea level rose and fluvial facies at the base were covered by facies from a tide-dominated estuary, which were predominant during most of the Holocene. Several layers of sediments from stagnant freshwater areas dominated by Juncus sp. were recovered at ca. −20.5 to −21, ca. −13.1 to −13.5, −12.5 to −12.8 and −12.1 to −13.5 m NMMA along the central axis of the embayment, and dated to be older than 10190–10290; 10790–10970; 7510–8220 and 7130–7830 cal yr BP. They may respectively represent a local stage of lowering sea-level dated at the end of the Lateglacial (i.e. the Younger Dryas), and different episodes of deceleration/stabilization of sea-level rise occurred during the early Holocene (i.e. the 11.4, 10.5, 9.3, 8.2 kyr Henrich events). Thus, for the first time in this region, we were able to generate a high-resolution spatial–temporal interpretation of environmental changes linked to the relative sea-level variations using subtidal sediments from the same sub-basin (and thus free of substantial/differential post-depositional deformations) that describes in detail the flooding of the ancient coastal plains of this region at the beginning of the Holocene.
