The oceans are the cradle of life on Earth and seem determined to prove it harboring, even today, the highest levels of biodiversity. No terrestrial ecosystem is able to match the biological richness of a coral reef, not only in number of species, but also in variety and originality of survival strategies.
The evolutionary history has been particularly benevolent in the oceans, much more stable than in terrestrial environments and, therefore, less sensitive to the great changes and catastrophes that have ravaged the Planet. Thus, the seas have acted as reservoirs of global biodiversity and therein evolution has created the most beautiful forms of life.
The Iberian Peninsula, bordered on all sides by the ocean, is one of the countries with the longest coastline in Europe. The geological diversity of our Peninsula has resulted in an extraordinary variety of coastal environments, enhanced even more, if possible, by the wide range of climates to which they are exposed. In addition, the wealth of marine environments of the Iberian Peninsula is made possible by a triggering event, it is bathed by two oceans of very different nature, one of them, to the North and West, rich in outcrops and dominated by cold, and the other, to the East and South, warm, closed and oligotrophic. Indeed, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea are holders of a very different flora and fauna, structured in living systems very different in functioning.
But precisely the same privileged position of Iberian coastlines is the source of their greatest threats. The Iberian Peninsula has the second largest fishing fleet in Europe and the richness of its waters is being decimated by overfishing. It is located in one of the most densely populated continents, making it especially vulnerable to disturbance by human activities. This problem is especially relevant in the Mediterranean coast, where there is an exceptional climate that annually attracts millions of visitors.
The oceans are the cradle of life, authentic window into the evolutionary history of Earth, bastions of the wisdom of nature. The oceans are revealed, no doubt, as the solution to the problem of supplying modern human societies but, as on many other occasions, the man refuses to think ahead, lost in his endemic greed. Plain and simple the oceans deserve, by its inherent beauty, be protected more than any other ecosystem on the Planet.
Habitat Types of Community Interest (Habitat Directive) included in this section
UNDERWATER HABITATS
- 1110.- Sand banks which are slightly cover by sea water all the time (111020).
- 1120.- Posidonia beds (Posidonion oceanicae) (112010).
- 1140.- Mudflats and sandflats no covered by sea water at low tide.
- 1160.- Large shallow inlets and bays.
- 1170.- Reefs.
- 1180.- Marine structures made by leaking gases.
- 8330.- Submerged or partially submerged sea caves (733010).
COASTAL VEGETATION
- 1210.- Annual vegetation of drift lines (121010).
- 1230.- Vegetated sea cliffs of the Atlantic and Baltic coasts (123010, 123020, 123030).
- 1240.- Vegetated sea cliffs of the Mediterranean coasts with endemic Limonium spp. (124010, 124020).
- 1310.- Salicornia sp. and other annuals colonising mud and sand (131010, 131020, 131030).
- 1320.- Spartina sp. swards (Spartinion maritimae) (132010).
- 1330.- Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco-Pucinellietalia maritimae) (133010, 133020, 133030).
- 1410.- Mediterranean salt meadows (Juncetalia maritimae) (141010, 141020, 141030, 141040).
- 1420.- Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (Sarcocornetea fruticosi) (142010, 142020, 142030, 142040, 142050, 142060, 142070).
- 1430.- Halo-nitrophilous scrubs (Pegano-Salsoletea) (143010, 143020).
- 1510.- Mediterranean salt steppes (Limonietalia) (151010, 151020, 151030, 151040, 151050).
- 4040.- Dry Atlantic coastal heaths with Erica vagans (304010).
- 5410.- West Mediterranean clifftop phryganas (Astragalo-Plantaginetum subulatae) (441010).
- 5430.- Endemic phryganas of the Euphorbio-Verbascion (721110, 721120, 721130, 721140, 721150, 721160, 721170, 721180, 721190, 7211A0, 7211B0).
VEGETATION OF DUNE SYSTEMS
- 2110.- Embryonic shifting dunes (161010).
- 2120.- Shifting dunes along the shoreline with Ammophila arenaria (white dunes) (162010).
- 2130.- Fixed coastal dunes with herbaceous vegetation (gray dunes) (163210, 163310, 163320, 163710).
- 2150.- Atlantic decalcified fixed dunes (Calluno-Ulicetea).
- 2210.- Crucianellion maritimae fixed beach dunes (171010).
- 2230.- Malcomietalia dune grasslands (173010, 173020, 173030).
- 2240.- Brachypodietalia dune grasslands with annuals.
- 2250.- Coastal dunes with Juniperus spp (175010).
- 2260.- Cisto-Lavanduletalia dune sclerophyllous scrubs (176010, 176020, 176030, 176040, 176050, 176060, 176070).
- 2270.- Wooded dunes with Pinus pinea and/or Pinus pinaster (177010).
Additional information about the marine habitats of the Iberian Peninsula
- Marine habitats of the Iberian Peninsula.
