Contribution of snow on the development and maintenance of mountainous grasslands in the arid environments of Crete

Even though the mean annual rainfall of Crete (Pm= 870 mm) is higher than that of the rest of Greece (Pm= 630 mm), Crete is considered as an extremely arid area exhibiting a desertification tendency. This phenomenon is due to a) the concentration of the highest quantity of precipitation from November to March and the almost total lack of rainfall at the rest of the year and b) the geological substrate of the mountains of Crete that consist of intensely weathered – eroded penetrable carbonate formations. In this study snow and snowpack conditions at typical mountainous areas of  Crete were studied and their contribution to the maintenance of grasslands at these sites was evaluated. The data suggest that, in order to confront desertification phenomena in Crete, it is important to conserve grassland ecosystems, which comprise the only ecosystems that can exist at the mountainous parts of the island. Furthermore, grasslands of mountainous areas with high quantity of snowfall and satisfying snowpack maintenance are found to possess a high floristic diversity.