As we ascend in altitude we believe that it will become increasingly difficult to enjoy the Natural World. This is when it surprises us with its most fascinating wonders and wraps it all in an atmosphere which does nothing but magnify its already spectacular beauty.
The austerity that characterizes alpine environments tests the ability of nature to find alternatives for survival. Those who yearn thrive on high should take to end their ability to adapt and live permanently in a desperate search of resources. In the mountains we can find dome of the most amazing living beings that nature can create.
Furthermore, given the successive glaciations that have devastated the continent, the mountains have acted as a natural barrier blocking the migration of species, either in his retreat to favorable climates or in its effort to colonize the territories abandoned by the ice. Still today, the great mountain ranges of the Peninsula, with its extreme climate, are revealed as true boreal islands in the Mediterranean, a haven for the glacier live that once populated our latitudes and a real fabric of relics and endemics.
Mountains are, by their remoteness, the environment that best resisted the harassment of human beings. In the heart of Europe, mountain ranges as such as the Alps, the Carpathians and the Pyrenees have retained their untamed beauty, beyond the growth of industrial societies. But this loneliness will not rid of the current threat of climate change. In fact, mountain ecosystems play, in this sense, an important indicator role.
The loneliness of the mountains inspires the naturalist more than any other landscape. In a hostile environment life clings to survival and blooms spectacularly showing the great resilience of nature. However, this natural wonder is seriously threatened by unsustainable patterns of human development. Its protection becomes, now more than ever, very important. We shouldn't forget that to protect the mountains is to protect the Planet.
Habitat Types of Community Interest (Habitat Directive) included in this section
MOUNTAIN FORESTS AND SCRUBLANDS
- 4060.- Alpine and Boreal heaths (306010, 306020, 306030, 306040).
- 5120.- Mountain Cytisus purgans formations (412010, 412020, 412030, 412040).
- 5130.- Juniperus communis formations on heaths or calcareous grasslands.
- 9430.- Subalpine and montane Pinus uncinata forests (if on gypsum or limestone) (843010, 843020, 843030, 843040).
- 9520.- Abies pinsapo forests (852010).
ALPINE GRASSLANDS
- 6140.-Siliceous Pyrenean Festuca eskia grasslands (514010, 514020).
- 6160.- Oro-Iberian Festuca indigesta grasslands (516010, 516020, 516030, 516050).
- 6170.-Alpine and subalpine calcareous grasslands (517110, 517120, 517210, 517310, 517320, 517510, 517520, 517530).
- 6230.- Species-rich Nardus sp. grasslands, on siliceous substrates in the mountain areas (and submountain areas, in Continental Europe) (523010, 516040).
- 6520.- Mountain hay meadows (721110, 721120, 721130, 721140, 721150, 721160, 721170, 721180, 721190, 7211A0, 7211B0).
BOGS
- 7110.- Active raised bogs.
- 7130.- Blancket bogs (if active bog).
- 7140.- Transition mires and quaking bogs.
- 7150.- Depresions on peat substrates of the del Rhynchosporion (615010).
- 7230.- Alkaline fens (623010).
- 7240.- Alpine pioneer formations of the Caricion bicoloris-atrofuscae.
GLACIERS
- 8340.- Permanent glaciers (734010).
Additional information about alpine habitats of the Iberian Peninsula
- Iberian alpine habitats.
