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The site was identified as important in 2011 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List1	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Pin-tailed Sandgrouse Pterocles alchata	LC	resident	2009	40-50 breeding pairs	C2, C6
Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax	NT	resident	2009	25-75 individuals	A1, C1, C6
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea	LC	breeding	2009	25-50 breeding pairs	B1i, C2, C6
Eurasian Thick-knee Burhinus oedicnemus	LC	resident	1995	275-335 breeding pairs	B2, C6
Western Marsh-harrier Circus aeruginosus	LC	winter	2010	121 individuals	C6
Western Marsh-harrier Circus aeruginosus	LC	breeding	2010	12-27 breeding pairs	C6
European Roller Coracias garrulus	LC	breeding	2006	32-64 breeding pairs	A1, C1, C2, C6
Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor	LC	breeding	2010	1-20 breeding pairs	C6
Dupont's Lark Chersophilus duponti	VU	resident	2009	present	C6

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2011) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2011. The most recent assessment (2008) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	very high
Transportation and service corridors	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	high
Biological resource use	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Some of site covered (10-49%)	Not assessed	Not assessed	negligible

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1987	Mas de Melons	Reserva Natural Parcial	5
1988	Secans de Mas de Melons-Alfés	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	23
1990	Utxesa	Reserva Natural de Fauna Salvaje	1
1992	Mas de Melons-Alfés	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	32
1992	Utxesa	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	16
1992	Serós-Tossals de Montmeneu	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	11
1992	Erms d`Aitona	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	4
2006	Secans del Segrià i Utxesa	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	31
2006	Secans del Segrià i Utxesa	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	5
2010	Secans de Mas de Melons-Alfés	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	27

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land, Perennial crops, orchards and groves	26
Grassland	Steppes and dry calcareous grassland	26
Shrubland	Sclerophyllous scrub, garrigue and maquis	26
Wetlands (inland)	Rivers and streams	-

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	26
hunting	-
military	-
tourism/recreation	-
water management	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cogul-Alfés steppes (Spain). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/cogul-alfés-steppes-iba-spain on 23/11/2024.