Limestone pavements are geomorphological landscapes resulting from dissolution processes exerted on hard limestone tables probably formed by ancient glacial erosion and subsequent weathering. They occur in or around the Alps and the Apennines and in northern Atlantic and Baltic regions and comprise flat or sloping surfaces of limestone separated by a network of vertical fissures. The size, shape and regularity of the blocks vary according to the local character of the bedrock and the climate and much of the surface is bare but slowly accumulating soil and the shelter of crevices provides a variety of situations for colonisation. Drought-resistant communities of cushions of lichens and bryophytes and fragments of dry tufted grasslands can occur in exposed situations with more luxuriant vegetation of ferns, herbs, shrubs and trees where sheltered. Wind and herbivores often curtail any surface spread. The composition of the flora contrasts markedly between the major areas of occurrence.

[This habitat could not be formally defined in the expert system because it is a fine-scale mosaic of different habitats.]