Serra do Caldeirão (19687)
Portugal, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1b, B2
Year of last assessment: 2019
National site name: Serra do Caldeirão
Central coordinates: Latitude: 37.3167, Longitude: -8.0333
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 123 to 577
Area of KBA (km2): 711.62
Protected area coverage (%): 72.41
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Extensive greywache-schist mountainous massif with soft and round forms where are born several watercourses of Algarve's Lee and Weather side, and of Alentejo. This site is covered by extensive cork-oak groves. At shadowy parts, complex and developed arborescent thickets, with arbutus groves and heaths, are present; and at sunny sides, we find diverses simplify shrubs, prevailing cistus. Areas with soft relief hold human occupation, reduced since 60's, with associate subsistence agricultural patches, mainly at occidental and oriental extremes. The site is acrossed by River Odeolouca, its valley bounds Algarve and Alentejo regions, and presents linear human occupation concentrated in dispersed nucleus.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.
Additional biodiversity: The extensive well-preserved cork-oak groves are essential for breeding stability of Hieraaetus fasciatus. These habitats with low human intervention are also propitious for Circaetus gallicus that presents here a representative nucleus, completing those of Monchique mountains and Espinhaço do Cão (Weather side mountains). It is also to relate the presence of Bubo bubo that nests in hillsides with dense thickets or in rocky outcrops.
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | forestry | hunting | nature conservation and research | tourism/recreation
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 25 | |
| Wetlands(Inland) | 25 | |
| Forest | 25 | |
| Shrubland | 25 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: There is not any management plan for nature conservation in Rede Natura 2000 proposed sites. Reduction of human occupation in 60's enabled the renaturalizaton of areas that have been intensively interventioned at the begining of XX century; this, associated with the dicrease of direct human pesecution, contribute to the stabilisation of Hieraaetus fasciatus population. However, alterations of land-use (from agriculture to forestry) are followed by disturbances in breeding territories during sensitive seansons. Forestry practices are mainly directed to wood and cork production, with mechanical non-selective intervention for shrub removal. It is necessary to control forestry and hunting activities, mainly during breeding season and to bound refuges at the sensitivest areas.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transportation & service corridors | Utility & service lines | Ongoing |
Additional information
References: Rufino (1989), Palma (1993, 1994, 1995), Pais (1996), Real et al. (1997), Silva (1999), Inácio et al. (1999), Palma et al.(1999a,b,2001), Pais et al (2000), Praxis (2001), Lourenço et al (2002)