**7. Conclusions**

This habitat is seriously threatened. The patches where this type of vegetation can be found are disappearing at a huge rate in Spain, and its presence is very scarce in Italy and Cyprus. For this reason it is consider as priority and fits in the main purpose of the Habitats Directive, which aims not only to conserve species but also entire ecosystems. The philosophy is as simple as powerful: only by protecting the community (biocenosis), all its members will be preserved indefinitely. Nowadays, to conserve implies the protection of the ecosystem, and to achieve this it is necessary to include the ecological processes and the biological components (species) that make them possible.

The lists of "Sites of Community Importance" for the conservation of the Natura 2000 Network, and the designation as "Special Areas of Conservation," have proved to be the most important initiatives for the conservation of the priority habitats. In addition, the elaboration of a checklist of characteristic species is a decisive work for the determination of these sites [47]. The management or restoration measures to ensure the favorable conservation status of the priority habitats are constituted by diverse actions implemented within the framework of LIFE+ program of the European Union (EU), among which can be mentioned, for instance, in Cyprus, the project entitled "Improving the conservation status of the priority habitat types 1520\* and 5220\* at the Rizoelia National Forest Park" (LIFE12 NAT/CY/000758) in which the primary aim has been to promote and enable the long-term conservation of gypsum steppes (*Gypsophiletalia*) and arborescent matorrals with *Ziziphus* in Cyprus, by quantifying and halting natural and anthropogenic pressure and

threats that contribute to the long-term degradation of these habitats. In Spain, the Conhabit project 'Preservation and improvement in priority habitats on the Andalusian coast' (LIFE+13/ES/000586) is currently advancing the improvement and preservation of priority habitats found in 15 areas of the Natura 2000 Network on the Andalusian coast, and promoting social awareness of the need to protect these spaces, habitats, and species, some of which are under threat.

It is necessary to continue the elaboration of a precise cartography and the monitoring plans that help to identify the changes in the conservation status [48, 49]. The research on the plant communities should be kept open to better understand its distribution, structure, successional dynamics, and ecological requirements, especially in peripheral population patterns [44, 50]. For instance, genetic studies of *G. senegalensis* populations in Spain conclude that habitat 5220\* fragmentation is associated with a progressive and drastic reduction in the size of their populations that could lead to their definitive loss. This fragmentation degree is alarming since it could have some implication with the low levels of genetic variability found (higher in the eastern region, where fragmentation and isolation are greater). These levels of genetic diversity possibly are also associated with paleoclimatic events that have contracted the area of occurrence of the species. The outcomes are worrisome considering the rate of reduction of the populations during the last decades, the adoption of measures being necessary intended for their effective protection.
