The third LIFE medCLIFFS field visit for volunteers took place on the past 3rd of June, this time in Tamariu. It was attended by 13 people who could follow the transects C15 and C18, starting the field visit at Tamariu beach.

Participants of the field visit in Tamariu

In addition to learning how to recognise invasive or potentially invasive plants, the field visit also was very useful to answer questions to the new volunteers of the LIFE medCLIFFS Volunteer Network on how to monitor them and the criteria to be applied to distinguish populations.

Observed species

Observation of some specimens of Chenopodium nutans in comparison with the monitoring species sheets. Credits: Neus Ibáñez

Although these concepts are repeated, particular facts and situations can also be observed in each of these training visits. In this way, we have been able to observe the apparent expansion of Chenopodium nutans, Carpobrotus spp. (cat’s claw), Gazania rigens, Kalachoe ×houghtonii, Opuntia ficus-indica, Pittosporum tobira, Senecio angulatus (climbing senecio), as well as Arundo donax (reed) on the cliffs in the sand and rocks at the edge of the sea.

Other plants may appear more occasionally, although they can be found on several stretches. We observed some escaped specimens of Cotyledon orbiculata, Delosperma cooperi, Drosanthemum floribundum and Parthenocissus tricuspidata, among others.

To be highlighted

Delosperma cooperi (a rare form of white flower), next to a Limonium sp. shown at the bottom left. Credits: Neus Ibáñez

It is worth reporting the case of Delosperma cooperi, an aizoaceae (same family as the species of the genus Carpobrotus) of which we observed two individuals, one of them growing next to a Limonium sp., a plant native to the Costa Brava and typical of this habitat. Its ability to grow and cover the ground can cover and choke the Limonium, as can be seen in the image. This is a clear example of the negative impact that some allochthonous species can have on the local flora, which they can even displace.

Text: Neus Ibáñez and Carlos Gómez-Bellver.