Usually sparse grasslands on sand drifts among inland dunes and other open landscapes, mainly in the northern Central European lowlands, where the nutrient-poor and highly acidic surface is prone to wind erosion and hot droughty summers, forming a highly distinctive shifting-dune landscape. Soil development is very slow, pioneer bryophyte vegetation succeeded by an open cover of small tussock grasses, often with rich contingents of lichens on the compacted surface. Military training zones and abandoned lignite areas provide a new environment for the development of these grasslands.