**Author details**

*Habitats of the World - Biodiversity and Threats*

**Acknowledgements**

**Conflict of interest**

**Thanks**

(AREVEG)" sponsored by CEI·MAR.

There are no conflicts of interest.

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

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.

these spaces, habitats, and species, some of which are under threat.

This study has been made possible through the projects "Assessment, Monitoring and Applied Scientific Research for Ecological Restoration of Gypsum Mining Concessions (Majadas Viejas and Marylen) and Spreading of Results (ECORESGYP)" sponsored by the company EXPLOTACIONES RÍO DE AGUAS S.L. (TORRALBA GROUP) and "Integrated study of coastal sands vegetation

We want to express our gratitude to E. Pérez-Salmerón, B. J. Teruel Giménez,

and J. M. López Martos, for the work produced in their final degree projects.

**22**

Antonio J. Mendoza-Fernández\*, Esteban Salmerón-Sánchez, Fabián Martínez-Hernández, Francisco J. Pérez-García, Agustín Lahora, María E. Merlo and Juan F. Mota University of Almeria, Almeria, Spain

\*Address all correspondence to: amf788@ual.es

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
