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BROAD-LEAVED WOODLAND
They vary much in their significance as a result of past and current land use and this is reflected in their ground layer. Neglected groves, which are declining in abundance, have an understorey of tall shrubs, known as shibylak (see Scrub). They contain a diverse range of scrub species, supporting a rich invertebrate fauna, and probably constitute the most significant habitat on the island for breeding birds. Most groves are grazed to a greater or lesser extent by goats or sheep and beneath the olive canopy the ground layer is often composed of flower-rich grassland (though parched by early summer), representing some of the best examples of lowland grassland habitat on the island. Olive groves are widely distributed around the coast and all are worthy of exploration. Particular concentrations of important olive groves can be found on the western outskirts of Thassos Town, on the floodplain of the Skala Potamia basin, around Kinira, on the Aliki isthmus, east of Potos, and along the coast between Skala Maries and Limenaria.
Other broadleaved
woodland habitat types are very localised on Thásos. Behind the beach at Skala
Potamia is a fringe of sallow Salix spp. and mature poplar Populus
alba but this is limited in extent
and threatened by tourist development. Dense poplar woodland, much of it quite
young, occurs to the south-east of Thassos Town but wet woods are naturally
scarce on the island and should be conserved wherever possible. Deciduous tree
species such as oriental hornbeam Carpinus orientalis and various oaks Quercus spp. occur
widely as scattered components of maquis but the only other
Sweet chestnuts
are also planted for their produce, chiefly around the mountain village of
Panagia. Just above the village, growing amongst mixed conifer scrub and Kermes
oak maquis, there are a hundred or so ancient sweet chestnut trees that must be
at least 300 years old. Most of the trees grow adjacent to the forest track and
were presumably planted several centuries ago for the autumn harvest of nuts,
but they may
The map displays locations of the more significant broadleaved woodlands on the island.
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Conifer
forests dominate much of the landscape of Thásos but olive groves Olea
europaea are the most
abundant broadleaf woodland habitat, covering 7,400 hectares (21%) of the island. Although obviously planted and an important
part of the local agriculture, these pasture woodlands support a rich variety
of wildlife. Many groves are clearly very ancient and consist of hollow trees
that provide niches for dead wood invertebrates, birds, reptiles and
(presumably) bats.
significant
broadleaf woodland
species are oriental plane Platanus orientalis and sweet chestnut Castanea
sativa. Magnificent ancient planes occur
as planted specimens in many of the towns and villages but natural plane
woodland is confined to the banks of streams and rivers. In the floodplain of
the Maries river there is a narrow band of plane woodland stretching for
several kilometres but the best example I have seen on the island is in the
valley of the main river above Thassos Town. Here there are concentrations of
venerable plane trees extending up to the marble quarries and one tributary in
particular supports more than fifty superb trees in a woodland setting that is
more reminiscent of central and northern Europe than the Aegean. These trees are
clad with tree lungwort 
represent
a relict of native chestnut woodland. The health of the trees varies but most
have abundant dead wood in the canopy and a high proportion are damaged by the
extensive 
