Ecosystems

Fallow and dry land

Agriculture and fishery over time has configured this ecosystem, substituting forests with cultivated land. Large fields of olive trees and vineyards predominate and where common barley and bastard chamomile grow as well as chicory and partridge eye. But there are still small remains of natural vegetation amongst which kermes oak, wild olive and evergreen oaks feature predominantly.

Amongst the plants are numerous insects such as the cricket, the common cicada, the locust or the scorpion as well as the fighting beetle.

They are areas where there is an abundance of land-based birds and large flocks of large nomads such as the calandra lark, common woodlark, skylark, red partridge, millers sparrow, chaffinch, greenfinches, little bustards and predators such as the ash falcon and the little owl.

Mammals most representative of the area are hares, rabbits, field mice, foxes and weasels, besides there being an abundance of reptiles such as the horseshoe snake and the ocelot lizard.

Gypsum rocklands

Areas where there is little vegetation albeit a series of low-growing shrubs such as the kermes oak, black thornbush or scarewolf. There is also an abundance of herb bushes such as rosemary, thyme, louse herb, thistle, grass and others.

Mingling amongst this vegetation is a very varied and interesting invertebrate fauna such as butterflies. So far as birds are concerned, there is the sapper martin, the shrill sparrow, the common bee-eater, the wild pigeon and the little bustard as well as predators such as the royal owl, common falcon and the barn owl.

Also present in this environment are the running toad, spurred toad, Iberian lizard and the staircase snake and representative of mammals are rabbits, badgers, foxes and martens.

Marshy areas

Are the humid areas surrounded by characteristic vegetation where shallow waters are found. In Chinchón there are several lagoons in the basin of the Tajuña which give shelter to a large amount of migratory birds.

At first glance, there is an almost total absence of tree species and a predominance of reeds, there are also bulrushes, canes, common rushes and aquatic plants.

Birds frequenting the lagoons are the nest-building type such as the common kestrel, reed-warbler, common nightingale, royal mallard, lagoon eaglet or they are exclusive to the San Juan Lagoon such as the small plunger, water chicken or the common coot.

Other species that spend the Winter season in the lagoons are the white wagtail, robin, gadwall, lapwing and the common snipe. Birds that only come occasionally are the common crane, the spoonbill duck, royal heron, stork and the moustached bird.

Farmlands and riverbanks

They form thickets close to the beds of rivers and the vegetation is in accordance with the amount of water they can absorb such as willow, black poplars and elms being the standard type. The degradation and channeling of the River Tajuña means that these thickets are not so frequent along its course. There is a large diversity of insects and birds.

The farmlands, areas close to rivers where the substratum comes from what is dragged down by the river itself. As a result they are wetter, deeper and more fertile. There are vineyards and olive groves but perhaps more characteristic are the vegetable and cereal gardens. Both the garlic and the white bean are characteristic of Chinchón.

Regarding the fauna, these areas serve as a dormitory for a large number of animals that search amongst the reeds and crops an environment with less extremes in temperature. Among them are large flocks of starlings and swallows, besides moustached birds, wrens, wagtails, robins, thrushes and others.