TURISMO SOSTENIBLE EN LOS ALCORNOCALES

Flora and Fauna

Fauna

The Alcornocales Natural Park has some enormously interesting fauna qualities not only in the regional context but also at a peninsular and international level. The diversity of the animal species (273 species of vertebrates) and the classification as rare species that many of them bear (migratory birds such as the Small Owl, reptiles such as the European Turtle, or sedentary birds such as the Aquatic Blackbird, other endangered species such as the snake Eagle, peregrine hawk or genet) and other species much diminished in numbers, make this protected parkland one of the most important in terms of fauna heritage.

There are various circumstances which contribute to this zoological wealth:

Historical factors, related to the low density demographics

Conservation of a layer of vegetation of extraordinary value, where a huge energy source is developed in the form of food (pastures, thickets, cork oaks, oaks, holm oaks).

Factors related to its geographical location as zoological frontier: the northern limit for the distribution of certain species and the southern limit for others, carrying out a crucial role in migrations.

Ideal orography for the shelter of species.

Additional diversity of ecosystems.

Amongst the great mammals which inhabit the Alcornocales Natural Park it is worth noting the common deer which was recently reintroduced to the area. In a short time it has colonized its old haunts and is today the most numerous species.
In spite of it being an ideal habitat, there are no wild boar populations, although there certainly are plenty of wild pigs with clear signs of cross-breeding.

The roe deer is the jewel in the Parks crown. Its population is the most southerly of its distribution worldwide. Currently, these populations are experiencing a severe regression.

For the same purpose for which the roe deer was reintroduced, i.e. the hunting industry, other non-indigenous species have also been introduced such as mouflons, fallow deer and mountain goats.

The large carnivores of the Mediterranean forest, the bear and the wolf, disappeared from the area some time ago. Their place has been taken by a group of middling predators, such as: foxes, badgers and genets.
The forests on the banks of the rivers and reservoirs generate an ideal habitat for species characteristic of humid areas.
The most unknown and yet most varied fauna is that of the invertebrates. A multitude of larvae hibernate in the water. The dragonflies are amongst the most interesting species.
The aquatic community is not very abundant due to the strong ebb tide of the rivers, although it does facilitate the existence of two predator species par excellence: the otter and the fishing eagle.
The favourable climatic conditions in the area together with the proximity to the African continent make the Natural Park a veritable paradise for reptiles, making it one of the richest areas in Europe in these species. Of note are the spotted lizard (lacerta lepida), the long-necked lizard (psammodromus algirus), the ladder snake (elaphe scalaris) and the Montpellier snake (malpolon monspessulanus). There are also many geckos and Iberian lizards. The viper also frequents the mountain rocks and thickets during the summer months.
Amongst the amphibians we can find various species such as the common toad (bufo bufo), Corredor toad (bufo calamita), leprous turtle (mauremys leprosa), European turtle and the water snake. But the most interesting species is the Iberian ribbed newt (pleurodeles waltl) which makes its home amongst the irrigation reservoirs.
With respect to birds, those of note are: the peregrine hawk, kestrels, common swift, swallows and various pairs of Bonelli´s eagle. There are also many indigenous types of bat species which shelter and hibernate in the caves and cavities. Amongst the forest bird fauna are species such as the “arrendajo” thrush, common agata, woodpeckers, finches, chiffchaff in general, as well as those already living in the most humid enclaves closest to the streams, such as the oropendolas, hawfinch, robins, etc
In woodland areas the birds of prey are mainly the tawny owl, the common owl and the little owl amongst the nocturnal species and the goshawk, sparrowhawk, booted eagle and the short-toed eagle amongst the diurnal. There are groups and colonies of nesting white storks.

Associated with the sandstone mountainsides (locally known as “sand”) there are colonies of griffon vultures and nesting pairs of peregrine falcons, Bonelli´s eagle and eagle owl.
Other birds typical of this mountain range are the jay (garrulous glandarius), the nuthatch (sitta europea), the robin (erithacus rubecula), the wryneck (jynx torquilla) and the finch (fringilia coelbs), etc.
Rabbits are in abundance in the bushes, and in contrast the hare has almost disappeared from the area. Other small mammals are the moles and the hedgehogs.

Flora

The geographical location, geological heterogeneity, the climate changes and, recently, man’s intervention has all favoured the variety and wealth of vegetation in this area.
The good state of general conservation of the existing vegetation, almost all in forestry exploitation and directed mainly towards the extraction of cork, takes account of the size and importance of the Quercus Suber (cork oak) species in the Natural Park. The natural vegetation in certain places and habitats constitutes a living example of the tertiary forests which in another age covered the Peninsula.
The most representative species are detailed as follows:

CORK OAK (Quercus suber)

It is the most abundant in the area, finding a perfect habitat here. From the fagacea family, it is a tree which can reach 20 metres high, of perennial leaf. It develops in a humid climate and sandstone is the most appropriate ground for its development. It grows at altitudes in excess of 400 metres, but without exceeding 1000 metres as the strong winds there impede its development.
In the Sierra de Aljibe the most extensive cork oak grove in the Peninsula can be found.
Its flowering takes place from April to the beginning of summer. The fruits, the acorns, are very much appreciated as food for porcine livestock, and they mature from September to January.
The greatest use of the cork oak is for that of its bark, very wide, spongy and light which goes by the name of cork. This usage has contributed very favourably to the persistence of these large forest masses.
The scrubland of cork oak groves can be made up of very diverse species. So on the sunlit sides of the groves we might find rockrose, barberry, white broom, jargon, gorse, purple Jerusalem sage, thymelea, etc. Whilst in the shady areas heather and ferns dominate the scenery.

WILD OLIVE (Olea europaea)

In the lower reaches of the mountain ranges there is a dense, low forest, with branches from the floor upwards and therefore almost impenetrable. The “acebuche” is the wild olive tree. In other times they were used for grafting varieties of olives producing thereby the mountain olive trees, which in time were abandoned and ended up turning into wild olive forests.

From the oleacea family, the wild olive is a rounded, dense tree with a wide, twisted trunk, grey in colour, but it often looks like a bush as it can form thickets, and often accompanies the holm oaks and to a lesser extent, the cork oaks and common oaks.
The largest area of wild olives in the peninsula is to be found in the province of Cádiz, where they occupy more than 17.000 hectares of the 19.000 to be found in Andalucia.
The branches have spiny extremities and perennial leaves. The flowers, in clusters, are white.
Currently, they are protected, their felling limited and their handling regulated. The reduction in their numbers is due to the expansion of agriculture which has taken over extensive areas, most of them dedicated to olive groves.
It flowers in May or June and livestock consumes its fruit, the “acebuchina”, which matures in autumn and winter. It is a species with great longevity, and which resists the heat and drought, but is sensitive to freezes. Of Mediterranean forests, it is better adapted to lower areas and gentle landscapes.
The most abundant species in this type of forest are the wild olive, carob, mastic, myrtle and creeping plants such as the clematis, sarsaparilla and honeysuckle.

HOLM OAK (Querqus rotundifolia)

The holm oak, from the fagacea family, is the most typical tree in Spain. It is wide, rounded and dense. Its leaves are perennial and almost rounded. It flowers in the spring and its fruit falls in autumn. The holm oak acorn is very typical, ovoid in shape and with a little hat which covers its base. It is the best type for porcine food as the pigs reared on this acorn produce the highest quality hams.
It grows quickly and is one of the trees with the greatest longevity. It grows on all types of soil, is very resistant to cold, heat and drought, and can be found at up to 1.400 metres altitude.
Its bark is much appreciated and used to tan leather, however the wood from the holm oak is difficult to work and when dry it splits, and is therefore only used for rough objects.
Many acres of holm oak forests have disappeared due to abusive exploitations or crop substitutions or other types of repopulation. Currently, protection and conservation measures are required.

GALL OAK (Quercus faginea)

In the most humid areas, at the bottom of valleys and in shady places, the gall oaks grow. From the fagaceae family, the gall oak is a tree which can reach 30 metres in height but which can also be found in bush form. It is wide, robust and its leaves are simple and dark green in colour. It flowers before the holm oak, in April or May, and its fruit, the acorns, have a short stalk and mature in September or October.
Calcareous soil provides optimum conditions for its development and it is resistant to climate changes.
Gall oak forests protect the soil as they stop erosion and excess sunshine, although they tend to be found mixed with holm oaks and cork oaks. As they tolerate altitude well, they can sometimes be found at close to 2.000 metres, in the highest areas they tend to replace the holm oak.

RIVERSIDE FOREST

On the banks of rivers conditions are favourable for the existence of a dense vegetation which follows the line of the river creating riverside forests, being in many places the only remnants of forest that persist between crop fields and pastureland. These forests tend to be made up of deciduous trees, and of those the most frequent is the alder (in the mountain ranges), ash and willow (in the lower areas of the riverbeds), and white poplar (in the stretch below the riverbeds).

THICKET

Mountain thicket: In the highest parts of the mountain ranges on soil very poor in nutrients a very short (less than 1m) thicket can be found made up of birch, bermejuela, barber’s brush, steppe jara (Cistus), male thymelea and mountain rockrose. On the poorest areas, in the so-called “herrizas”, vegetation is very dispersed, with barber’s brush, bermejuela and drosophila.

Heath: there are various types of heather growing in the area. The vines of the heather are used for the fabrication of smoking pipes. As well as forming a shelter against the humid conditions in these mountain ranges, the heather also extends throughout cork oak and gall oak scrublands.

Rockroses: These plants are adapted to resist pasturing and to grow quickly following fires and clearings, and therefore the expansion of these phenomena has favoured their extension. Within the area we may find sticky rockrose, steppe rockrose (more extensive than the former), curly rockrose and Moorish rockrose.
Mastic (Jerenguenal and Palmitar varieties): The mastic is generally to be found in association with the wild olive. In wild olive groves transformed first into crop land or pastures and thereafter abandoned, a thicket is regenerated which is dominated by the mastic, together with barberry, Jerusalem sage, palm, torvizco (Daphne Gnidium), jergúen (Calicotomoe villosa) and creepers such as blackberry, clematis and common smilax. When, due to over pasturing, the most deteriorated stage is arrived at, the palmitar (Chamaeropo humilis-Rhamnetum lycioidis) appears. Whereas next to the “palmito” (little palm) other plants grow such as cardoons, oyster thistles, asparagus and asphodelus albus. Inedible plants for livestock, but also the basis for the culinary tradition in this area, specially the asparagus and oyster thistles, both of which therefore generate some economic activity in the area.
Tamarisk plantations: In the fertile lowlands of the rivers and streams which drain the clay soils, rich in salts, there are thickets of tamarisks and oleander, together with willows and brambles.

PASTURES

It is very difficult to differentiate between various types of pasture when talking about very heterogeneous communities, made up of a multitude of species. In broad terms we can speak of the following types:
1.Pastures “de bujeo” (flat clearings with clay soil), the most extensive, with an abundance of clovers and “carretones” (medicago), and where mandrake root also appears. When over pasturing occurs, plants appear such as cardoons, artichokes, asphodelus albus, oyster thistles and asparagus.
2.Pastures on sandstone soil, acidic and well-drained, produce little, dominated by annual gramineous and compound plants.
3.Meadows and juncales, in close proximity to springs and streams, with rushes, mint and perennial gramineous plants.
4.Grasslands with ditches and areas rich in nutrients, with fast-growing species such as nettles and mallows.
5.Cave-dwelling communities, species that grow in the cracks in rocks, such as houseleek, navel of Venus and esparto grass.

The mountain range introduces species of great scientific and biogeographical interest amongst which of note are the endemic Valencian species such as “la bracera” (Centaurea paui), “el clavellet de roca” (Minuartia valentine), “l´herba de llunetes” (Biscutella calduchii) and others such as “el periodo de sureda” (Hypericum androsaemum) and “la ginesta de sureda” (Cytisus villosus).
The vegetable groups associated with more or less continuous water flows, growing on their margins and banks, are very important. Ecologically and from a landscape point of view they bear great relevance, as much for the shelter and protection they provide to livestock and fauna in general, as for the landscape changes they imply. The most noteworthy are:
·         Ash grove: lineal formations delimited by xerophilous forests on sandy soil. Fraxinus angustifolia and Ficaria ranunculoides.
·         Alder groves: a group confined to boxed-in gulches subjected to specific microclimates. These valleys are, from a botanical point of view, the most important element in the Natural Park and include protected species on the verge of extinction such as Diplazium caudatum and Psilotum nudum.
·         Willow plantations: bush-like formations which alternate with the alder groves although they are more specific to small streams. Salix Pedicelata and Equisetum telmateia.
·         There are also some elm groves, at times very affected by livestock; poplar groves, native to flooded areas and tamarisk localized in lowland gypsum grain.

Al margen también se encuentran: la vegetación acuática flotante y enraizada; diferentes asociaciones de pastizales según las condiciones edáficas y topográficas, donde son muy significativos los nitrófilos derivados del intenso majadeo y pastoreo causado por el ganado.

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