Prado calcáreo

Photograph of Ranscombe Farm (Medway, Kent), located on the North Downs. In June, the meadows are covered with wild flowers.

Calcareous grasslands (also called alkaline meadows) are an ecosystem, usually on chalk or limestone hills. The plants and grass that grow there typically have a reduced height and rustic features, and include grass and clover. These grasslands are an important habitat for insects, particularly butterflies, and various herbivorous animals, such as the rabbit. There are wide areas where this ecosystem dominates in north-western Europe, especially in parts of southern England, such as Salisbury Plain (Wiltshire and Hampshire), North Downs (Kent, Surrey and East Sussex) and the South Downs (East Sussex, West Sussex and Hampshire).

Machairs are a different type of limestone meadow, where fertile lowland plains are formed on calcium rich soils due to the sand composed of powdered shells they contain. These can be found on the coasts of Ireland and Scotland, particularly in the Outer Hebrides.

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