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A new winter deciduous forest and its associated Eurosiberian flora and vegetation in a Mediterranean mountain climatic refuge (Sierra Nevada, Spain) Cover

A new winter deciduous forest and its associated Eurosiberian flora and vegetation in a Mediterranean mountain climatic refuge (Sierra Nevada, Spain)

Open Access
|Nov 2026
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Abstract

Sierra Nevada (south of the Iberian Peninsula) is an isolated mountain range (3481 m), a climatic and geographic island with vegetation refuges, including the Eurosiberian-type deciduous forest on its northern slope selected for this study. In this paper, we present the floristic and phytocoenological diversity, focusing on the deciduous forest, its associated vegetation and their value as protected habitats. We publish a new floristic catalogue with 440 taxa (19% of Sierra Nevada flora), of which 20 species are strictly endemic, 19 protected and 31 critically endangered. We publish also 75 new relevés recorded from all altitudinal ecosystems. We describe a new type of climatophilic forest (Poo nemoralis-Prunetum avium ass. nova), distinct from the only previously recognized biogeographically type Adenocarpo-Quercetum pyrenaicae, one hydrophytic mountain community (Montio fontanae-Ranunculetum omiophylli ass. nova) and two sub-associations and one community with Eurosiberian floristic influences (Genisto versicoloris-Juniperetum nanae rosetosum villosae subass. nova, Lonicero arboreae-Crataegetum granatensis ribetosum austroeuropaei subass. nova and Fraxinus excelsior community).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/hacq-2026-0002 | Journal eISSN: 1854-9829 | Journal ISSN: 1581-4661
Language: English, Slovenian
Page range: 285 - 325
Submitted on: Mar 25, 2025
Accepted on: Jan 26, 2026
Published on: Nov 4, 2026
Published by: Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 2026 Manuel Pavón-Núñez, Noelia Hidalgo-Triana, Andrés Vicente Pérez-Latorre, published by Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.