Estrela Mountains (19671)
Portugal, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2002
National site name: Serra da Estrela
Central coordinates: Latitude: 40.4167, Longitude: -7.5500
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 300 to 1993
Area of KBA (km2): 998.57145
Protected area coverage (%): 87.05
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The rough massif of Serra da Estrela is a high plateau NE-sloped and deeply crossed by the valleys of the rivers that born there. Mainly granitic with extensive areas of schist, the plateau presents rocky out-crops that define the landscape. Due to its great altitude, this is one of places with higher precipitations in Portugal. This also conditions a very marked vegetal zonation: a basal floor, up to 900 meters, with mediterranean influence, intensively cultivated; an intermediate floor, from 900 to 1600 meters, climatic domain of black oak (residual), with patches of coppices, genistas, heathers, brooms and rockroses, and artificial plantations of pines, pseudotsugas, cedars and firs; some rye-fields are also found; finally, the top floor, domain of heather and juniper groves, with some endemic rupicolous communities and orophytos nationaly only represented in Serra da Estrela. We can also find lacustrine communities of puddles and lagoons in higher zones.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: This site has a important populations of some altitude species like Anthus campestris,Emberiza hortulana.The avifauna above 1000 m has a diversity of 100 species during the annual cycle.
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | fisheries/aquaculture | forestry | hunting | nature conservation and research | tourism/recreation | urban/industrial/transport | water management
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 14 | |
| Forest | 14 | |
| Introduced Vegetation | 14 | |
| Wetlands(Inland) | 14 | |
| Shrubland | 14 | |
| Rocky Areas(e.g., inland cliffs, mountain peaks) | 14 | |
| Grassland | 14 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: There is not a management plan for nature conservation in natural park or site Natura 2000. The main threats for the site are burning of vegetation and tourism/recreation pression in Biogenetic Reserve.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transportation & service corridors | Utility & service lines | Ongoing |