Aligning terrestrial habitat typology of Lebanon with EUNIS habitat classification

The absence of nationally accepted typology to classify and describe habitats has been an obstacle to the development of coordinated research in this field and to the implementation of conservation actions; therefore, a classification of the natural and semi-natural terrestrial habitat types existing in Lebanon is presented and adapted to the hierarchical structure of the European Nature Information System (EUNIS) habitat classification. The harmonisation with an international classification system is essential to facilitate communication and research throughout the Mediterranean Basin. A total of 1597 sites surveyed throughout Lebanon between 2013 and 2020 were classified and described based on the analysis of the physiognomic parameters and specific composition of their vegetation. The analysis yielded 190 habitat types for Lebanon, including 12 coastal habitats (category N), 35 related to inland surface waters (C), 6 wetland habitats (Q), 20 grasslands (R), 54 scrublands and heaths habitats (S), 27 types of woodlands (T), 17 inland unvegetated habitats (U), and 19 vegetated man-made habitats (V). Sixty-one habitats characteristic of Lebanon, not previously included in the EUNIS classification, were described and proposed in this typology. Those habitats include shrublands (23), woodlands (18), coastal habitats (6), wetlands (1), grasslands (9), sparsely vegetated habitats (2) and man-made vegetation (2).