THE STATUS OF THE HABITATS OF EUROPEAN CONSERVATION INTEREST ALONG THE ADRIATIC COAST OF ALBANIA

This paper provides an assessment on the current status of the habitats of European Conservation Interest along the Adriatic coast of Albania, both in terms of habitat size and quality. Through remote sensing and GIS changes in size and habitat composition and dynamics of coastal wetlands along Adriatic coast are assessed and reasons of such changes are discussed. Special attention is paid to priority habitats of EU Habitats Directive (43/92 CEE) occurring along the Adriatic coast, shown with an asterisk (*).The following 13 types of habitats are assessed:1130 Estuaries;1150 *Coastal lagoons; 1210 Annual vegetation of drift lines; 1410 Mediterranean salt meadows (Juncetalia maritimi);1420 Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (Sarcocornetea fruticosi);1510 *Mediterranean salt steppes (Limonietalia); 2110 Embryonic shifting dunes;2120 Shifting dunes along the shoreline with Ammophila arenaria (‘white dunes’); 2190 Humid dune slacks dominated by Erianthus ravennae and Schoenus nigricans; 2250 * Coastal dunes with Juniperus spp.;2270 * Wooded dunes with Pinus pinea and/or Pinus pinaster;91F0 Riparian mixed forests of Quercus robur, Ulmus laevis and Ulmus minor, Fraxinus excelsior or Fraxinus angustifolia, along the great rivers (Ulmenion minoris);92A0 Salix alba and Populus alba galleries. Each habitat type has been assessed based on naturalness degree, distribution pattern, and threatening factors.