Floristic distinctiveness and endemic richness of woody plants highlight the biodiversity value of the herriza among all Mediterranean heathlands

Mediterranean Heathland as a Key Habitat for Fire Adaptations: Evidence from an Experimental Approach

“…In any case, our results illustrate that the fire-prone Mediterranean heathland is a key habitat for fire adaptations within the context of the Mediterranean region. Considering that the Mediterranean heathland is a singular habitat with great plant biodiversity and conservation values at a wide regional scale [32], management plans aimed to preserve this habitat should not ignore the role of fire as a key driver of its biodiversity.…”

“…Since the investigation of the role of fire in the evolution of Mediterranean species in the Mediterranean region has traditionally focused on garrigue vegetation (e.g., [27][28][29][30]), comparative studies have shown that fire-recruiting species are less frequent in the Mediterranean Basin than in other Mediterranean-type regions, thus concluding that fire-selective pressures would not have been so strong in the Mediterranean region [1,31]. However, the highly fire-dependent Mediterranean heathland habitat [24], although less abundant than the garrigue, has a non-negligible, wide range in the western Mediterranean Basin [32]. Therefore, studying the role of fire as a selective pressure in this habitat could bring new insights into the importance of fire in plant evolution in the Mediterranean region.…”

Pine afforestation, herriza and wildfire: a tale of soil erosion and biodiversity loss in the Mediterranean region

“…It is the most diverse subtype of European dry heathland (Habitat 4030 of the European Natura 2000 network; Ojeda 2009), associated with coarse-textured, infertile acid soils and a mild Mediterranean climate regime due to oceanic influence (Loidi et al 2007). Unlike other European Atlantic heathlands, the herriza is highly diverse and, despite being Mediterranean, is floristically different from the garrigue shrubland (Gil-López et al 2018). Apart from the heather Calluna vulgaris, it is distinguished by the abundant presence of truly Mediterranean heath species (e.g.…”

“…In the Strait of Gibraltar area (Gaditanian peninsula, in southwesternmost Spain, and the Tingitanian peninsula, in northwesternmost Africa), the herriza is one of the dominant natural habitats, covering peaks and ridges of siliceous sandstone mountains. It stands out from the rest of the Mediterranean heathlands of the western Iberian Peninsula by its high floral endemic richness and uniqueness (Gil-López et al 2018). In addition to the species referred to above, the herriza from the Strait of Gibraltar includes interesting species, such as the prostrate oak Quercus lusitanica and the rare carnivorous subshrub Drosophyllum lusitanicum, the epitome of floral uniqueness of the herriza (Paniw et al 2017a).…”

“…Here, I focus on the Mediterranean heathland from the western Mediterranean region, a fire-adapted habitat (Ojeda et al 2010) with a rich endemic flora (Gil-López et al 2018), to illustrate why and how wildfires are misperceived by society as ecological disasters that destroy natural habitats and threaten biodiversity. To do so, I show that most negative ecological impacts attributed to wildfire are actually caused by previous anthropogenic habitat alterations, particularly commercial pine afforestation.…”