JBCLM | 2010-2026
38. Mesomediterranean Betic holm oak forests
They are located in the southwest of the province of Albacete, in the bordering or lower altitude territories of the Sierras del Segura and de Alcaraz.
These holm oak woodlands constitute the potential vegetation of extensive montane areas below 1000 m on calcareous substrates in the Baetic ranges. In Castilla–La Mancha, they occur in the southwestern province of Albacete, at the lower elevations of the Sierras del Segura and Alcaraz.
The understory often contains thermophilous species such as mastic (Pistacia lentiscus), cade juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and kermes oak (Quercus coccifera). As elevation increases, these give way to more cold-resistant and hygrophilous shrubs such as terebinth (Pistacia terebinthus), laurustinus (Viburnum tinus), and bladder senna (Colutea hispanica). However, historical overexploitation—grazing, firewood collection, and mountain agriculture—has promoted the widespread expansion of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), a fast-growing, strongly colonising species, replacing the original holm oak forests.
In the recreated habitat, holm oak is accompanied by these shrubs, along with Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius subsp. reverchonii), Teline patens, Coronilla glauca, the thyme Thymus orospedanus, and the critically endangered Coincya rupestris subsp. rupestris (Alcaraz mustard), for which a regional recovery plan has been established.
