Flora and fauna
The Sierra y Cañones de Guara Natural Park is characterized by its great variety of flora and fauna. Being an orographical barrier from East to West, it provokes a humid existence on the North face as opposed to the less humid South and more continental one. This brings about the proliferation of different vegetable species in the North face and in the South face.
In the Radiquero area, pastures and farmland combine harmoniously with the pine forest typical of the area of the Somontano, Pinus halepensis, Quercus faginea, Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii.
Olive and almond trees, grapevines and aromatic herbs such as thyme, rosemary, lavender, etc. characterize the typical landscape of the populations located in The Sierra y Cañones de Guara Natural Park and particularly of Radiquero. It is not surprising then that Radiquero’s name (Rad-icarium in Latin) actually means “rich place in roots “.
In the canyons, one can see the Ear of Bear (Ramonda myconi), the honeysuckle of the Pyrenees (Lonicera pyrenaica), Globularia repens and at the highest heights, the hayedo-habetal and the black pine.
In slightly shaded exposures, an endemism petrocoptis (P. guarensis) appear, close to Potentilla Caulescens and Valerian Longiflora subsp. paui.
The most abundant species is the King’s Spectacular Crown (Saxifraga longifolia), with its nice inflorescence of more than 500 flowers. Also, there are Cochlearia Aragonensis, Aquilegia Pyrenaica subsp. guarensis, Crepis Pygmaea y Linaria Alpina subsp. guarensis.
Finally, the rock vegetation of the mountain-top, can be found exclusively in the stony pastures and crags of the shade of the Puntón de Guara, between 1900-2050m. One can observe species such as Valerian apula, Potentilla nivalis, Agrostis schleicheri, Saxifraga oppositifolia and the “edelweiss” (Leontopodium alpinum), this being one of its most southern known limits.
As for the fauna, one can find cliff-nesting birds as the Lammergeyer, Bonelli’s Eagle, Golden eagle, Griffon Vulture, Eagle Owl, Egyptian vulture, Wallcreeper, Sky Lark etc., being declared the zone as Z.E.P.A.
Mammals are also abundant: roe-deer, deer, wild boars, foxes, badgers, otters, genets, martens, wildcats, common and European hares, rabbits, squirrels, dormice, etc.
