D5.1/P-53.21 Beds of large [Carex] spp. D5.2/P-53.112 [Phragmites australis] beds normally without free-standing water D5.2/P-53.31 Fen [Cladium mariscus] beds.
4.3.3 Map of the Natural Vegetation of Europe On the Map of the Natural Vegetation of Europe at the scale of 1: 2.5 million, compiled and produced by an international team of geobotanists from 31 European countries over the period 1979–2003 (Bohn & Neuhäusl, 2003; Bohn et al., 2007), altogether 22 types of bogs and fens are distinguished. Other types of peatlands, such as alder, birch or spruce carrs (swamp forests), salt marshes, littoral reed and tall-grass swamps are incorporated in the other vegetation formations, although they can often accumulate peat (Rybnicek & Yurkovskaya, 1995). In Estonia, five types of bogs and fens are recognized (K. Rybnicek, pers. comm.): Ombrotrophic bogs: S–2 Eastern Finnish – western Russian Sphagnum fuscum raised bogs (in the eastern part of Estonia); S–7 Baltic Sphagnum magellanicum raised bogs (in Saaremaa and western mainland); Minerotrophic mires: S–17 Eastern European wooded transitional fens (in the mainland); S–19 Boreal tall-sedge fens (in the eastern mainland); S–21 Low-sedge brown-moss rich fens (on the islands and the mainland).
4.3.4 Habitat Directive The Habitat Directive of the European Union (Habitat Directive, 1992) on the conservation of natural habitats aims to ensure the preservation of wild fauna and flora species by protecting their habitats as well as preserving the endangered habitats themselves. For that purpose a network of protected areas, called Natura 2000, has been established. The list of habitat types having an all-European importance is presented in the Annex I of the directive. Since ratification by member states, the Habitat Directive has become a leading legislative document in the contemporary nature protection policy and pratice. Still, whereas the legislative acts cannot be flexibly amended or changed, the habitat types listed here have the similar shortcomings with the initial versions of CORINE. The most serious deficiency is connected with the intermixing of different discrimination criteria on the same hierarchy level of the habitats. Moreover, the ecological amplitude (volume) of different habitat types is extremely variable. Therefore, in every country different limits for the interpretation of considered habitat types should be established in accordance with the peculiarities of local nature. Nevertheless, in several cases the ecological conditions of the Habitat Directive types and respective Estonian vegetation habitat types are largely overlapping, and then it is easy to establish what types correspond to each other; often, however, the concurrence is only partial and dovetailing of habitat types is rather complicated (Table 5 and 6).
ESTONIAN MIRES: INVENTORY OF HABITATS
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