Southern fluviatile dunes

Dunes of the great rivers of middle Europe (Seine, Loire, Saone, upper Rhine, upper Elbe). A small remnant exists in the Po plain of northern Italy. Like the fluvioglacial dunes of northern Europe, they carry specialised and rare ecosystems and are highly vulnerable. They are much more calcareous than the northern inland dunes and their grasslands (units E1.12, E1.28 i.a.) have a substeppic character contrasting with that of neighbouring regions.