Beaches and dunes

A coastal habitat that results from wind transport and sedimentation. The vegetation consists of psammophilic specialists adapted to thrive on sandy substrates like dunes. Small meadows of therophytes may also occur.

It is one of the poorest environments in terms of butterfly diversity, with no real specialists. However, the homogeneous presence of migratory species – especially those that follow the coastline or cross the sea during their migrations – is characteristic. Examples include Gegenes nostrodamus, Papilio machaon and Vanessa cardui. The presence of Polyommatus celina reveals the close links that their Balearic populations have with 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 (15)
• Species (31)
• Transects (14)
• CORINE communities (8)

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