Landscape and biological diversity

The landscape diversty of Salantai Regional Park is determined by landscape types of two main morphological regions including minimally forested and cultivated or urbanised steep- sloped, leached floodplain valleys, forested deep erosional steep-sloped and terraced valleys, and minimally cultivated hilly moraine lowlands and highlands with boulder fields.
These are the sites of European Community importance (code, tide): 6210 Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia), 4030 European dry heaths, 3260 Water courses of plain to montane levels with the Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho-Batrachion vegetation, 5130 Juniperus communis formations on heaths or calcareous grasslands, 6230 Species-rich Nardus grasslands, on silicious substrates in mountain areas (and submountain areas in Continental Europe), 9160 Sub-Atlantic and medio-European oak or oak-hornbeam forests of the Carpinion betuli, 6430 Hydrophilous tall herb fringe communities of plains and of the montane to alpine levels, 6510 Lowland hay meadows (Alopecurus pratensis, Sanguisorba officinalis), 8220 Siliceous rocky slopes with chasmophytic vegetation, 9070 Fennoscandian wooded pastures, 9180 Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes, screes and ravines.
The total number of plant species is 570, of these 26 are included in Lithuania's Red Data Book (Lithospermum officinale, Allium scorodoprasum, Arctium nemorosum, 10 species of orchids and other rare plants). The total number of animal species is 793. There are 38 mammal (2 are protected in Europe, 4 are included in Lithuania's Red Data Book), 168 bird (2 are protected in Europe, 27 are included in Lithuania's Red Data Book — Black Grouse, Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, Corn Crake, Great Curlew and the Honey Buzzard), 6 fish (4 are protected in Europe, 2 are included in Lithuania's Red Data Book), 12 amphibian and reptile, (1 is protected in Europe, and 3 are included in Lithuania's Red Data Book), and 575 invertebrate species (6 are included in Lithuania's Red Data Book).