Montane meadows

They occur in relatively humid mid-mountain areas with long cold winters. Vegetation is typically herbaceous, xerophilous in warmer environments and mesophilic in more shady and cooler areas. They include hay meadows, strongly dependent on human management, but also more natural meadows dominated by Brachypodium phoenicoides and Aphyllanthes monspeliensis.

They correspond to the most diverse butterfly habitat in the whole CBMS network. There are many true specialists only occurring in this habitat type, although many other species can also be found in this environment. Some typical butterflies of montane meadows include various species of mountain ringlets (genus Erebia) and many species of blues including the iconic Phengaris arion. The nymphalines Boloria euphrosyne and Euphydryas desfontainii are two other representative species of this habitat.

Species that have been found in the habitat within the CBMS network are shown in descending order of preference. The Highlights tab indicates those species with ≥ 5% of their total abundance (standardized to 100 m) concentrated in that habitat. The Species List tab displays a table with the percent density of each species in the habitat (compared to the rest of the CBMS habitat types). Transects shows in descending order the percentage cover of this habitat type for each itinerary in the CBMS network, with the number of botanical characterizations available in the Years column. The Communities tab lists the CORINE codes and names of the plant communities that have been included in this habitat type. This table also gives the area (in m²) occupied by each plant community in the network as a whole.

• Highlights (154)
• Species (165)
• Transects (142)
• CORINE communities (21)

Illustrations by Richard Lewington from Tolman & Lewington (1997) Butterflies of Britain and Europe, translated and published in Spanish by Lynx Edicions.

References

• Bueno, D., Ballesteros, E., Masalles, R.M., Martí, E., 2013. Atles dels Ecosistemes dels Països Catalans. Història Natural dels Països Catalans v.13. Enciclopèdia Catalana