Proposals for improvement of Annex I of Directive 92/43/EEC: Sardinia

The ‘Habitats’ Directive (HD 92/43/EEC) is one of the primary legal tools aiming at conserving nature in Europe. Due to the complex iter to revise it, the habitats listed in the Annex I have been seldom updated after the HD adoption. Basing on already available information and expert knowledge, this paper presents a preliminary list of relevant habitats occurring in Sardinia, not yet considered and worth to be placed in the Annex I. Two new habitat proposals, one habitat new for Italy, and nine new subtypes of already existing HD habitats are here described. Most of the proposed new habitats and subtypes have a limited distribution range, due to the high number of narrow, often endangered, endemic species that characterize them. Being neglected, they are consequently poorly investigated, inconstantly monitored and unprotected. Thus, the main aim of this paper is to promote their conservation through implementation of HD and its interpretation manuals.


Introduction
The 'Habitats' Directive (92/43/EEC, henceforth: HD) is, together with the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC, amended by Directive 2009/147/EC), the primary legal tool for nature conservation policy in Europe (Maiorano et al. 2017). Since its adoption, it went through several updates and corrections concerning Annex I, which provides a list of the habitats of community interest. These habitats fall into at least one of these criteria: 1) are in danger of disappearance in their natural range; 2) have a small natural range due to their regression or because of their intrinsically restricted distribution area; 3) present outstanding examples of typical characteristics of one or more of the eleven European biogeographical regions (Evans 2010).
The list of habitats should be subject to updates and amendments to accompany technical and scientific progress as established in article 19 of the HD, each time new countries join the European Union (EU; Cardoso 2012).
Any changes, both new habitats introduction and names modification of existing habitats require a complex iter with the final approval by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. So far, there is considerable reluctance to revise the annexes. Nevertheless, pragmatic solutions have been accepted throughout the years, particularly in biogeographical seminars (Evans 2006). However, several criticisms and approximations remain in interpreting the habitat types caused by the highly heterogeneous description provided by the Interpretation Manual of EU Habitats (European Commission 2013). Indeed for some of them, we have very detailed information (e.g., 5330); for others, too concise features (e.g., 6220*).
When additional habitats proposed by new member states were close to already listed habitats, the definition of the existing habitat was changed rather than adding a new habitat. EU accepted enlargement and amendment of new habitats for Eastern Europe (2004), Bulgaria, Romania (2007), and Croatia (2016). Some habitats initially considered restricted to one or a few countries are now recognized over a much more comprehensive range. For example, habitat '8240 Limestone pavements' initially considered only in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Sweden when it joined the EU in 1995, is now recognized in six other countries (updated from Gaudillat 2008).
Despite all these efforts and solutions, some interesting habitats do not appear in Annex I but probably fall within the definition of 'habitats of community interest' (Evans 2006). This issue significantly affects the Mediterranean area because the habitat classification is biased towards central and northern Europe. Consequently, many habitats from southern Europe are poorly defined or neglected. Moreover, there are still many problems in the habitat types identification, especially when they do not appear in Annex I of the HD. Some of the above issues arise from the poor knowledge of the composition or distribution of some habitat types, others from sometimes overlapping types. This paper presents a preliminary list of selected relevant habitats in a Mediterranean region, Sardinia, not yet considered and challenging to be placed in Annex I of the HD. Here we also propose solutions to bring more attention and increase the information to support the monitoring activities on the proposed habitats Bonari et al. 2021).
Considering that the option of establishing new habitat types is generally rejected (Evans 2010), we formulate some proposals to include them in already listed habitats, mainly introducing well-defined subtypes. However, this procedure was not always possible and, in these cases, new habitats have been proposed.

Materials and methods
The selection of habitats of potential conservation concerns was based on bibliographic data, unpublished data, and expert knowledge. In addition, several critical issues have been examined through a shared scientific discussion among authors, including the motivation to include the habitat in the list.
The diagnosis and syntaxonomy started from the current scientific knowledge supported by a long experience acquired in the field, based on the European Interpretation Manual (European Commission 2013) and the Italian Interpretation Manual of the HD (Biondi et al. , 2012. The syntaxonomy has been checked and updated with particular reference to the frame proposed in the Italian Vegetation Prodrome (Biondi et al. 2014;Biondi and Blasi 2015), used as a general base adapted to local conditions in Sardinia.
We considered three different cases: a) new habitat proposals, e.g., habitats not yet considered in the HD; b) habitats new for Italy, e.g., already listed in the HD but not considered for Italy; c) new subtypes in existing HD habitats already reported for Italy.
For each proposal, we detailed the following aspects: -Motivation of the proposal; -Macrotype; -Name the new habitat proposed (case a) or reference to an already existing reference habitat (case b and c); -Diagnostic sentence of the new habitat (a) or the proposed (c), including biogeographical and bioclimatic information. For the habitats already existing and new for Italy (b), arrangement of the diagnostic sentence; -Reference list of diagnostic species; -Phytosociological arrangement (mainly at the alliance level); -Dynamics and/or catenal contacts.

Results
As a result of our analysis, we present here: a) two new habitat proposals; b) one habitat new for Italy; c) nine new subtypes of already existing HD habitats. We also propose a new name for two of them, better fitting with the proposed subtypes and the new framework (Tab. 1).

a)
New habitat proposals

MEDITERRANEAN HEATHS
Motivation: Despite the relevant biogeographical significance recognized to Ericaceae (Schwery et al. 2015) and to the species of the genus Erica (McGuire and Kron Désamoré et al. 2011), no clear identification exists in the HD for Mediterranean shrubs dominated by heaths (Ojeda 2009;European Commission 2013). In contrast, a wide variety of heath habitats is described under category 4 -Temperate heath and scrub and, particularly, the habitat 4030 -European dry heaths. Due to their historical and present biogeographic relevance (Beffa et al. 2016;Pedrotta et al. 2021), we propose including Mediterranean heaths as a new habitat within the macrotype 52. The communities in this habitat are often unique and rich in plant species endemic and/or with conservation concern, such as Gennaria diphylla and other orchids, and Chamaerops humilis in the thermophilous heaths (Bocchieri and Satta 1999;Biondi and Bagella 2005;Bagella and Urbani 2006); Amelanchier ovalis, Genista spp., Helleborus lividus subsp. corsicus, Ribes multiflorum subsp. sandalioticum and Rosa serafinii in the montane heaths (Farris et al. 2007a;Chelli et al. 2019); Osmunda regalis and Hypericum hircinum in the hygrophilous heaths (Carta et al. 2014), among others. This habitat can be referred to the CORINE biotope F5.22 -Dwarf ericoid shrubs (Lapresa et al. 2004).

CALAMINARIAN VEGETATION OF MINING DUMPS, TAILING DAMS AND QUARRIES
Motivation: Natural revegetated post-mining dumps, tailing dams and quarries may act as important secondary habitats and can be considered a potential complement to existing protected ones (e.g., Angiolini et al. 2005;Řehounková et al. 2020). Due to the extreme and peculiar environmental conditions occurring there, the biological communities established on these substrates are often unique and rich in endemic plant species. Several threatened plants, such as Linum muelleri (a species listed in the Annex II of HD) or Iberis integerrima, are particularly adapted or even exclusive to this habitat. It might also support or be in contact with suitable conditions for different animals of conservation interest, such as birds, bats, amphibians and reptilians (Isaia et al. 2011;Lunghi et al. 2020). At the same time, the conservation and sustainable management of this habitat might facilitate the stabilization and phytoremediation of the contaminated substrata (Bacchetta et al. 2015(Bacchetta et al. , 2018Boi et al. 2020). This habitat is present across Europe in different biogeographic and bioclimatic regions and further several subtypes with different species at the regional level can be included.
Macrotype: 81 -Scree. New habitat proposed: Calaminarian vegetation of mining dumps, tailing dams and quarries. We recognized in Sardinia one subtype. Wooded pasturelands NHS 6420 Mediterranean tall humid herb grasslands NHS 91E0* Rhamnus persicifolia woodlands NHS Diagnostic sentence: Mediterranean communities dominated by suffruticose chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes, specifically adapted to extreme environments determined by long-term historical mining activities, growing on soils often characterized by medium to very high levels of heavy metals (e.g., lead and zinc). Edaphic conditions can vary from gross-grained, hard-sloping dumps to impermeable and temporally inundated finegrained deposits.
Reference  (Bacchetta et al. 2007b). Especially in temporally inundated fine-grained deposits, it can also be in contact with helophytic communities of Phragmitetalia australis Koch 1926, while, in other contexts, with different rocky habitats and caves.

b)
Habitat new for Italy DUNES WITH EUPHORBIA TERRACINA Motivation: There is increasing evidence of the continuous loss and degradation of Mediterranean coastal habitats, particularly those located on dunes, affected by severe impacts from mass tourism . Therefore, it is urgent to protect the remnant well-preserved dune habitats and those with average conservation status, supporting future conservation and restoration actions. The Mediterranean formations on dunes with Euphorbia terracina, included in the HD with the code 2220, are a good example of this situation. This habitat has been reported for a single Italian site in Veneto (Petrella et al. 2005). However, it was later wholly excluded from Italy because of its poor conservation relevance ). Here, we underline the opportunity (previously raised by Farris et al. 2007b) to refer to this habitat perennial herb communities often growing on disturbed Mediterranean dunes (Farris et al. 2013a), characterized by some species already mentioned by the Interpretation Manual of HD (European Commission 2013), and by several Boraginaceae of the genera Echium and Anchu-sa. This inclusion would justify conservation efforts on semi-degraded Mediterranean dunes, which can be recovered after appropriate management actions.
Diagnostic sentence: Euphorbia terracina and/or Echium spp. dominated psammophilous communities present in almost all Italian coastal dune systems. Rosette hemicryptophytes dominated communities represent the prevalent subtype when trampling is a relevant disturbance factor.
Reference list of diagnostic species: Echium arenarium, E. sabulicola, Euphorbia terracina, Silene nicaeensis and S. subconica. In Sardinia, the habitat is of particular interest for the endemic Anchusa crispa and A. sardoa, the first being a priority species of the Annex II of the HD.
Dynamics and contacts: These communities are degraded aspects of Crucianellion maritimae at the transition and often in a patchy contact with annual herb communities belonging to Alkanno-Maresion nanae Rivas Goday ex Rivas Goday & Rivas-Martínez 1963 corr. (Rivas-Martínez et al. 2002;Biondi et al. 2014) and to the CORINE biotope B1.44 -Central-eastern Mediterranean stable coastal dunes (Lapresa et al. 2004

c)
New subtypes in already existing HD habitats

EPHEDRA DISTACHYA MANTLES ON CLAY SUB-STRATES
Motivation: This habitat, very rare and prone to shrinkage due to coastal erosion ), represents the mantle step dynamically linked to Juniperus spp. communities. In Sardinia, it occurs on fine clay substrates along the coastal ponds or along the temporary retrodunal ponds (Fenu et al. 2012); it deserves a special interest the presence of species that generally live on the sand such as Scrophularia ramosissima and Armeria pungens, interesting taxa both from the phytogeographic and conservation points of view.
Macrotype: 22 -Sea dunes of the Mediterranean coast. Reference habitat: 2210 -Crucianellion maritimae fixed beach dunes. We recognized in Sardinia one subtype.
Diagnostic sentence: Primary garrigues of the Mediterranean bioregion, with few species that develop mainly on the inland-facing slope of mobile dunes with stable and compact sands belonging to Crucianellion maritimae Rivas Goday & Rivas-Martínez 1958.
Dynamics and contacts: These formations are in contact with Juniperus macrocarpa and J. turbinata formations included in habitat 2250*, belonging to the alliance Juniperion turbinatae Rivas-Martínez (1975) 1987, and with the communities dominated by Calamagrostis arenaria subsp. arundinacea included in habitat 2120 in the inland-facing slopes of mobile dunes on consolidated and humified substrates.

DWARF VEGETATION WITH NANANTHEA PERPU-SILLA
Motivation: Temporary wet habitats are among the most interesting in the Mediterranean bioclimatic region (Médail et al. 1998). Issues related to their detection and classification are due at least partly to their intrinsic characteristics and to the traits of the plants that they host (Bagella et al. 2016;Bagella et al. 2018). They cover minimal surface areas, are ephemeral, and show high variability in terms of duration of the flooding period. Furthermore, the species which colonize them are often inconspicuous (e.g., dwarf annuals or dwarf geophytes), exhibit a very short life cycle, and are often poorly known (Bagella et al. 2007). Among these habitats, the most interesting from a conservation point of view are those with shallow waters (a few cm) located on small areas, referred to as priority habitat 3170*. However, the description of this habitat refers exclusively to communities of the class Isoeto-Nanojuncetea Br.-Bl. & Tüxen ex Westhoff, Dijk & Passchier 1946, thus excluding communities that are structurally similar but develop in small coastal ponds where the marine aerosol reaches. In these contexts, paucispecific communities, characterized by Nananthea perpusilla, develop (Biondi et al. 2001). Although it is already included in the physiognomic reference combination of habitat 3170* ), the peculiarity of the coenoses in which this species becomes dominant is not sufficiently valued. We, therefore, propose to establish within habitat 3170* a subtype characterized by the presence of slightly brackish water.
Diagnostic sentence: Mediterranean amphibious vegetation, dominated by small-sized therophytes and geophytes, with predominantly winter/early-spring phenology, linked to shallow-water temporary pond systems influenced by the presence of saltwater or marine aerosol, distributed in coastal areas of Sardinia and Corsica prone to thermo-mediterranean thermotype.
Reference list of diagnostic species: Nananthea perpusilla, Bellium bellidioides, Hypochaeris glabra, Plantago bellardi, Romulea requienii, Senecio leucanthemifolius subsp. leucanthemifolius.  (Lapresa et al. 2004). In Sardinia, they deserve a special interest for the presence of several endemics belonging to the genera Rubus and Ribes, which are exclusive to this habitat. Among them, R. sardoum is a priority species of the Annex II of the HD.

SHRUB COMMUNITIES SURROUNDING MEDI-TERRANEAN TEMPORARY PONDS
Motivation: These formations dominated by Myrtus communis and Oenanthe pimpinelloides are very rare transitional formations between Mediterranean temporary ponds and Mediterranean maquis representing a buffer area ).
Reference habitat: 5330 -Thermo-Mediterranean and pre-desert scrub. We recognized in Sardinia one subtype.
Diagnostic sentence: Maquis with sclerophyllous Mediterranean species, characteristic of the thermo-and meso-mediterranean bioclimatic belts, on different substrates (granites and effusive volcanites), typical of hydromorphic soils with a clay texture and slow drainage.

HELIANTHEMUM CAPUT-FELIS AND VIOLA ARBO-RESCENS GARRIGUES
Motivation: Habitat 5410, present along the coasts of the western Mediterranean, widespread in the Iberian-Levantine coasts in Italy, has so far been reported only for the northern Sardinia and, sporadically, in the southern part of the island; if also the coastal garrigues with Helianthemum caput-felis and Viola arborescens were included, it would have a more continuous distribution along the coasts of Sardinia. These communities deserve a special interest due to the presence of several endemics such as Polygala sinisica, which is exclusive to this habitat, and other plants of phytogeographic interest, like Polygala rupestris, which, in Italy, is only present in these formations.
Macrotype: 54 -Phrygana. Dynamics and contacts: Partially investigated for the northern Sardinia; some aspects are reported in the study of plant communities dominated by Centaurea horrida (Biondi et al. 2001;Farris et al. 2008) and in the Italian Interpretation Manual of the HD ).

MEDITERRANEAN SEMI-NATURAL GRASSLANDS
Motivation: The conservation value of the European traditional farming systems has been recognized for several decades because of the biodiversity levels they support and the socio-ecological values they provide (Bignal and McCracken 2000). Among traditional farming systems, semi-natural grasslands host high levels of plant diversity and habitat richness at different spatial scales (Biurrún et al. 2021), responding to different drivers such as grazing intensity, soil and topographical variables (Napoleone et al. 2021). Moreover, they support several ecosystem services (Bagella et al. 2020a). Mediterranean semi-natural grasslands are already included in the HD with the priority code 6220*-'Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals of the Thero-Brachypodietea' but only one and half rows of explanation in the Interpretation Manual of EU Habitats is provided for Italy: "In Italy this habitat mainly exists in the South and on the islands (Thero-Brachypodietea, Poetea bulbosae, Lygeo-Stipetea)" (European Commission 2013). Several interpretations were proposed because of the scarcity of information and the complexity of recognizing this habitat in the field (Farris et al. 2007c, San Miguel 2008 (Farris et al. 2010). The high conservation value of supra-mediterranean and supra-temperate sub-mediterranean humid pastures referred to the Cynosurion cristati Tüxen 1947 of the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea Tüxen 1937 was also underlined (Farris et al. 2013b). Therefore, we propose changing the name of the habitat to "Mediterranean semi-natural grasslands" in which several subtypes can be considered.

MEDITERRANEAN WOODED PASTURELANDS
Motivation: Shade is a biotic filter and, under a novel climate, we need to consider the presence or absence of forest shade, as species are likely to respond individually only within their forest or non-forest biome, and not across biomes (Pausas and Bond in press). Mediterranean dehesas with evergreen Quercus spp., already included in the HD with the code 6310, are well known to provide high levels of biodiversity (Rossetti et al. 2015) and ecosystem services (Seddaiu et al. 2018). However, there is increasing evidence that wooded pastures belong to several phytosociological types (Bergmeier et al. 2010). Moreover, the highest diversity and area of Italian silvopastoral systems (wooded pastures, grazed woodlands) is in Sardinia (Paris et al. 2019). Therefore, we propose changing the name of the habitat to "Mediterranean wooded pasturelands" in which several subtypes can be included. As a consequence, the macrotype 63 -Sclerophyllous grazed forests should be expanded as "Wooded pasturelands", to host several habitats corresponding to the main groups proposed by Bergmeier et al. (2010): Hemiboreal and boreal wood-pastures, Nemoral old-growth wood-pastures, Nemoral scrub and coppice wood-pastures, Meridional old-growth wood-pastures = Mediterranean wooded pasturelands, Meridional scrub and coppice wood-pastures.
Diagnostic sentence: Mediterranean wooded pasturelands with at least 20% tree cover. When at least 25% of the trees can be considered monumental, the habitat should have a priority status.

MEDITERRANEAN TALL HUMID HERB GRASS-LANDS
Motivation: Part of the Mediterranean tall humid herb grasslands, especially in the western part of the basin, cannot be included in the presently described habitat 6420, although they share several species and have a similar physiognomic structure, ecology and distribution of the grasslands of the Molinio-Holoschoenion (=Agrostio stoloniferae-Scirpoidion holoschoeni De Foucault 2012). They are indeed differentiated by taxa, such as Hordeum bulbosum or the rare Ranunculus macrophyllus. Therefore, they are attributable to Gaudinio fragilis-Hordeion bulbosi Galàn, Deil, Haug & Vicente 1997, within the same Molinio-Arrhenatheretea Tüxen 1937 class. These communities are the habitat where a wide range of arthropods and the herpeto-avifauna live, feed and breed. Some geophytes of conservation concern in Sardinia are also frequent, such as Anacamptis laxiflora and Leucojum aestivum subsp. pulchellum. The conservation value of these grasslands has also been underlined for the Iberian and Italian peninsulas (Deil et al. 1997;Cano-Ortiz et al. 2009). The habitat 6420 is shrinking mainly due to the abandonment of traditional extensive grazing practices and/or land reclamation (Gigante and Buffa 2016). Here, we propose changing the habitat's name to 'Mediterranean tall humid herb grasslands' in which different alliances can be included rather than the only Molinio-Holoschoenion.
New name proposed: Mediterranean tall humid herb grasslands. We recognized in Sardinia one subtype.
Diagnostic sentence: Secondary mesophilous pastures, generally unmown, dominated by tall grasses that grow on mesotrophic, nutrient-rich soils with a good seasonal water supply (temporarily flooded in winter). They occur in the western Mediterranean, in inland hills and plains, mainly within the meso-mediterranean thermotype.
Dynamics and contacts: The persistence of this subtype is, similarly to the rest of the habitat 6420, affected by non-intensive grazing. Without such agro-pastoral activities, these would be replaced by meso-hygrophilous shrub communities, such as the ones referable to the alliance Pruno spinosae-Rubion ulmifolii O. Bolòs 1954, in dynamic contact with deciduous forest communities dominated by Ulmus, Fraxinus and Populus spp. The subtype is in topographic contact with most of the helophytic plant communities reported for the rest of the habitat in the Italian Manual ). In inland Sardinian contexts, it is also often in contact with mesophilous corkoak series on alluvial clay soils ).

RHAMNUS PERSICIFOLIA WOODLANDS
Motivation: The habitat 91E0* includes alluvial, riparian and marshy woodlands dominated by Alnus spp., Fraxinus excelsior, F. oxycarpa and Salix spp. It develops on flooded alluvial soils: along the waterways in the mountain and hilly sections; in the plain or on the shores of lakes and in areas with water stagnation. It prefers a temperate macroclimate, but penetrates also into the Mediterranean, where the humidity is high. It is present in almost all Italian regions; being more frequent in the Alpine and Continental bioregions and more sporadic in the Mediterranean bioregion, where it is quite common only in Tuscany, Sardinia and Calabria. The proposed subtype, endemic to Sardinia, deserves a particular interest for the restricted distribution limited to the mountain areas of central Sardinia and for its uniqueness due to the presence of several narrow endemic plants. In Sardinia, the proposed subtype and another subtype, which includes the western Mediterranean riparian forests with Alnus glutinosa (Osmundo-Alnion glutinosae alliance defined by the Corine code 44.5; Biondi et al. 2009  ).

Discussion and conclusions
This research aims to present a preliminary list of valuable vegetation types occurring in Sardinia and not currently adequately represented in any of the habitat types listed in Annex I of the HD, as a base to promote actions for their conservation.
Our proposals for improving the HD result from a careful review of the plant communities present in Sardinia based on already available information and expert knowledge.
Considering that any changes to Annex I, both new habitats and changes to the names of existing habitats, require a co-decision of the EU parliament and the council of ministers, these solutions are only applied if strictly necessary. Therefore, whenever possible, we defined new subtypes as this is the most preferable and feasible solution.
As expected, given the high number of endemic plant species that characterize the vascular flora of Sardinia, the proposed new habitats and subtypes mainly answer to the 'restricted distribution' criterion, which is one into which a habitat must fall to be a candidate to be included in the HD (Evans 2010). Thus, the narrow size of the habitats/ subtypes proposed is mainly dependent on endemic plant species with very restricted distribution areas. Indeed, out of more than 100 taxa listed in the 'physiognomic reference combination' , 34 are endemic. Of these, 20 are exclusive to the Sardinian flora (Arrigoni 2006(Arrigoni -2015Peruzzi et al. 2014;Bartolucci et al. 2018;Bagella et al. 2020b).
It is also worthy of attention that five species mentioned here, i.e. Anchusa crispa, Centaurea horrida, Helianthemum caput-felis, Linum muelleri and Ribes sardoum are included in the Annex II of the HD. Further animals from the same list might also benefit from the conservation of the proposed habitats and subtypes. Special attention should be thus paid to the habitats in which they develop.
The two new proposals are finalized to consider 'Mediterranean heath' and 'calaminarian vegetation of mining dumps, tailing dams and quarries' as new habitats, which cannot be included in any existing typologies. We suppose that 'calaminarian vegetation of mining dumps, tailing dams and quarries' is also present in other European areas with different floristic composition. Our proposal may be enlarged by adding several bioclimatically and biogeographically differentiated subtypes. The same new habitat might also include abandoned quarries, a similar context where communities of conservation in-terest were already depicted in several European countries (e.g., Mota et al. 2004;Gentili et al. 2011;Pitz et al. 2018). Also 'Mediterranean heaths' , due to their peculiar and diversified composition, deserve in our opinion the inclusion in the HD as a new habitat with four different subtypes, defined according to their different soil and wetness conditions. The Sardinian Pruno-Rubion communities were instead proposed as a Mediterranean mesophilous subtype of the habitat 5130, with which share similar structural and ecological characteristics but a different floristic composition, enriched by the presence of some species of particular conservation interest. Other proposals regard specific transitional habitats, which are very vulnerable and often neglected for their peculiar position. It is the case of 'Dunes with Euphorbia terracina' , already considered in Europe but not yet in Italy, 'Ephedra distachya mantles on clay substrates' , 'Dwarf vegetation with Nananthea perpusilla' , and 'Shrub communities surrounding Mediterranean temporary ponds' . This last case is a straightforward example of the problematic attribution of transitional communities to an already existing reference habitat. 'Shrub communities surrounding Mediterranean temporary ponds' are in fact a transitional subtype between thermo-xerophilous conditions, which are typical of the habitat '5330 -Thermo-Mediterranean and pre-desert scrub' , and the seasonally inundated conditions that charachterize the surrounded habitat '3170* -Mediterranean temporary ponds' . For the similar structure, distribution and shared species, 'Shrub communities surrounding Mediterranean temporary ponds' were thus debatably referenced as a subtype of the habitat 5330, despite their different ecology linked to moist conditions. It is also challenging to solve the definitions of Mediterranean semi-natural grasslands and Mediterranean tall humid herb grasslands. Therefore, we identify different subtypes for these typologies and propose a new name for the two corresponding habitats (i.e., 6220* and 6420), typical examples of the brevity of description and scarcity of information given for many habitats by the Interpretation Manual (European Commission 2013). As far as wooded pastures are concerned, we hypothesized a more inclusive vision and not only limited to the presence of evergreen oaks, following previous authors (Bergmeier et al. 2010). However, even this vision necessarily implies a change in the name of habitat 6310 (and probably the macro-type 63).
Among the direct and concrete consequences of the failure to consider our proposals, the following should be the more relevant: they will not be mapped in the Natura 2000 network areas; they will not be targeted by specific measures; their conservation status will not be subject to the mandatory periodic monitoring and reporting actions under Article 17 of the HD; they will not be protected through the establishment of specific conservation areas.
Although we formulated our proposals looking at the regional scale, we expect many of our observations to reflect common situations in the Mediterranean area. We hope that synergies with other territories can strengthen them.