Phytocenological evaluation of the potential effectiveness of the coastal protected areas of Andalusia

Abstract

The coastal environments of Andalusia have been subjected to strong pressures of anthropic origin: tourism, urbanizations, recreational activities, invasions of alien species , etc., which have fragmented and altered, in the last 60 years, their structure, composition and functionality from a phytocenological point of view, which implies a threat to the conservation status of Natural habitats of Community interest, endangered species and, in sum, of plant biodiversity. From the study of 14 coastal protected areas (PAs), different conservation and anthropic interaction analyzes have been performed and, finally, the consistency of the nodes and the integral degree of effectiveness of the network have been estimated. It is observed that the intense artificialization of the Andalusian coast has produced a fragmentation of habitats and a loss of connectivity between focal habitats in coastal PAs, being especially important between the Mediterranean and Atlantic PAs blocks, separated by the central segment of the Costa del Costa Sun, an important international tourist destination with intense anthropic activity