LIFE Project: Restoration, conservation and resilience of black pine (Pinus uncinata) forests on limestone in the Pyrenees

The black pine (Pinus uncinata) forests constitute the highest band of woody vegetation in the Pyrenees. Due to climatic constraints, these forests are found scattered at high altitudes, above 1,400 m, in the mountain range. They are dominant in the central Pyrenees but absent in the Atlantic and Mediterranean extremes, where climatic conditions are milder. In the Iberian system, black pines persist in a few small relict populations, usually mixed with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris).

Human pressures, such as climate change and land-use changes, threaten the mountain pine forests of the Pyrenees. Climate change is expected to push them to higher elevations, likely leading to a reduction in the extent of this habitat and increasing its fragmentation. Furthermore, due to climate change and land abandonment, the intensity and severity of wildfires are expected to increase in alpine mountains like the Pyrenees, threatening mountain pine forests that are less adapted to fire than forests in more fire-prone areas. As mountain pine forests are located in areas with prolonged snow cover, which are also used for winter sports and recreation, this puts further pressure on the habitat and its wildlife communities. In addition, almost all mountain pine forest plots have long been exploited for timber production, livestock grazing, hunting, and the collection of forest products (mushrooms, berries, etc.). The result is habitat loss and degradation (e.g., underage stands, overgrazing, erosion, fragmentation, and overfrequency). In some areas of the Spanish Mediterranean Pyrenees, there is no danger of black pine forests disappearing in the near future, but a change in management or policy is needed to return the habitat to a favorable state. However, in the Alpine region, the habitat is at risk of disappearing in some areas.