Montane coniferous forests

This kind of evergreen pine forest occurs in sub-Mediterranean or mountainous environments, from 600 to over 2,000 m a.s.l. They include European black pine groves at the lower elevations, Scots pine at mid altitudes and mountain pine in the subalpine stage. Silver fir forests are also part of this habitat. They are usually extensive forests with almost monospecific tree cover, but with different types of undergrowth.

Among the forest formations in the CBMS network, montane coniferous forests are the most diverse in butterfly species, although they are much poorer than open habitats. Some of the butterfly species most strongly linked to this habitat type are Erebia neoridas, Aphantopus hyperanthus and Hipparchia hermione. Other regularly recorded species are, in fact, linked to the montane or alpine meadows occurring nearby.

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 (39)
• Species (131)
• Transects (43)
• CORINE communities (17)

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