A Mediterranean forest.

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub is a temperate biome, characterized by hot, dry summers and mild and rainy winters. Nearly all of the rainfall occurs in the winter and spring rainy season. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 486 KB) Visibility is reduced by fog. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 486 KB) Visibility is reduced by fog. ... A biome is a major class of ecologically similar communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms. ...

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub eco-regions occur in the world's five mediterranean climate zones, on the west coast of continents in the mid-latitudes: the Mediterranean Basin, California, Central Chile, Southwest Australia, and the Cape Province of South Africa. A Mediterranean climate is a climate that resembles the climate of the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Southwest Australia is a biodiversity hotspot that includes the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub ecoregions of Western Australia. ... Under the Union of South Africa and after that under the Republic of South Africa, the old Cape Colony became the Cape of Good Hope Province (though it was commonly known as the Cape Province). ...

These regions are home to a tremendous diversity of habitats and species. Vegetation types can range from forests to woodlands, savannas, shrublands, and grasslands; "mosaic" landscapes are common, where differing vegetation types are interleaved with one another in complex patterns created by variations in soil, topography, exposure to wind and sun, and fire history. The five mediterranean-climate regions of the world occupy less than 5% of the earth's surface yet harbour about 48,250 known vascular plant species, almost 20% of the world total. They also have exceptionally high numbers of rare and locally endemic plants, and include some recognized species flocks (clusters of numerous closely-related species), especially in Southwest Australia and the Cape Province. Temperate rainforest on Northern Slopes of the Alborz mountain ranges, Iran A dense growth of softwoods (a conifer forest) in the Sierra Nevada Range of Northern California A deciduous broadleaf (Beech) forest in Slovenia. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ... Savanna at Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. ... Shrubland is a habitat type dominated by woody shrubs. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... In evolutionary biology, a species flock is a diverse group of closely related species in an isolated area. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...

Much of the woody vegetation in mediterranean-climate regions is sclerophyll, which means 'hard-leaved' in Greek. Sclerophyll vegetation generally has small, dark leaves covered with a waxy outer layer to retain moisture in the dry summer months. Arid, largely treeless areas aside, most Australian bushland is sclerophyll forest. ...

Major plant communities in this biome include:

• Forest: Mediterranean forests are generally composed of broadleaf evergreen trees, such as the oak and mixed sclerophyll forests of California and the Mediterranean region, the Eucalyptus forests of Southwest Australia, and the Nothofagus forests of central Chile. Forests are often found in riparian areas, where they receive more summer water. Coniferous forests also occur.
• Woodland: Oak woodlands are characteristic of the Mediterranean Basin and in California, along with pine woodlands and, in California, walnut woodlands.
• Savanna and grassland: The California Central Valley grasslands are the largest Mediterranean grassland eco-region, although these grasslands have mostly been converted to agriculture.
• Shrubland: Shrublands are dense thickets of evergreen sclerophyll shrubs and small trees, called chaparral (California), matorral (Chile and southern Spain), maquis (France and elsewhere around the Mediterranean), macchia (Italy), fynbos (South Africa), or kwongan (Southwest Australia). In some places shrublands are the mature vegetation type, and in other places the result of degradation of former forest or woodland by logging or overgrazing, or disturbance by major fires.
• Scrubland: Scrublands are most common near the seacoast, and are often adapted to wind and salt air off the ocean. Low, soft-leaved scrublands around the Mediterranean are known as garrigue in France, phrygana in Greece, tomillares in Spain, and batha in Israel. Northern coastal scrub and coastal sage scrub, also known as soft chaparral, occur near the California coast; strandveld in the Western Cape of South Africa; coastal matorral in the central Chile, and sand-heath and kwongan in Southwest Australia.

scrubland in Aliso Canyon, Santa Susana Mountains, California.

Fire, both natural and human-caused, has played a large role in shaping the ecology of Mediterranean eco-regions. The hot, dry summers make much of the region prone to fires, and lightning-caused fires occur with some frequency. Many of the plants are pyrophytes, or fire-loving, adapted or even depending on fire for reproduction, recycling of nutrients, and the removal of dead or senescent vegetation. In both the Australian and Californian mediterranean-climate eco-regions, native peoples used fire extensively to clear brush and trees, making way for the grasses and herbaceous vegetation that supported game animals and useful plants. The plant communities in these areas adapted to the frequent human-caused fires, and pyrophyte species grew more common and more fire-loving, while plants that were poorly adapted to fire retreated. After European colonization of these regions, fires were suppressed, which has caused some unintended consequences in these ecoregions; fuel builds up, so that when fires do come they are much more devastating, and some species dependent on fire for their reproduction are now threatened. The European shrublands have also been shaped by anthropogenic fire, historically associated with transhumance herding of sheep and goats. Temperate rainforest on Northern Slopes of the Alborz mountain ranges, Iran A dense growth of softwoods (a conifer forest) in the Sierra Nevada Range of Northern California A deciduous broadleaf (Beech) forest in Slovenia. ... natural range Species About 700; see the List of Eucalyptus species Eucalyptus (From Greek, eu + καλύπτω = True Cap) is a diverse genus of trees (and a few shrubs), the members of which dominate the tree flora of Australia. ... Species Nothofagus alpina - Rauli Beech Nothofagus antarctica - Antarctic Beech Nothofagus betuloides - Magellanes Beech Nothofagus cunninghamii - Myrtle Beech Nothofagus dombeyi - Coigüe Beech Nothofagus fusca - Red Beech Nothofagus gunnii - Tanglefoot Beech Nothofagus menziesii - Silver Beech Nothofagus moorei - Negrohead Beech Nothofagus obliqua - Roble Beech Nothofagus pumilio - Lenga Beech Nothofagus solanderi - Black Beech... A riparian zone schematic from the Everglades. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ... Subgenera Subgenus Strobus Subgenus Ducampopinus Subgenus Pinus See Pinus classification for complete taxonomy to species level. ... “Walnut Tree” redirects here. ... Savanna at Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The California Central Valley The California Central Valley dominates the central portion of the state of California. ... Shrubland is a habitat type dominated by woody shrubs. ... The word bush re-directs here; for alternate uses see Bush (disambiguation). ... Chaparral is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, USA, that is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild, wet winters and hot dry summers) and wildfire. ... Matorral is a Spanish word for shrubland. ... Maquis (French) or macchia (Italian; plural macchie) is a shrubland biota in Mediterranean countries, typically consisting of densely-growing evergreen shrubs such as sage, juniper and myrtle. ... Maquis (French) or macchia (Italian; plural macchie) is a shrubland biota in Mediterranean countries, typically consisting of densely-growing evergreen shrubs such as sage, juniper and myrtle. ... Fynbos is the natural shrubland vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate. ... Scrubland is plant community characterized by scrub vegetation. ... Garrigue is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland found around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast. ... Northern coastal scrub is a scrubland plant community of California and Oregon. ... Coastal sage scrub is a low scrubland plant community found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California and northern Baja California. ... Capital Cape Town Largest city Cape Town Premier Ebrahim Rasool Area - Total Ranked 4th 129,370 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 5th 4,524,335 35/km² Elevation Highest point: Seweweekspoort Peak at 2325 meters (7628 feet) Lowest point: sea level Languages Afrikaans (55. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 892 KB) Summary Scrubland in Aliso Canyon, Santa Susana Mountains, California: December 24, 2005. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 892 KB) Summary Scrubland in Aliso Canyon, Santa Susana Mountains, California: December 24, 2005. ... Santa Susana Mountains The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... A pyrophyte is a plant which tolerates fire. ... Transhumance is the seasonal movement of livestock between mountainous and lowland pastures. ...

Mediterranean eco-regions are semi-arid, and often have poor soils, so they are vulnerable to degradation by human activities such as logging, overgrazing, and the introduction of exotic species. These regions are also some of the most endangered on the planet, and many eco-regions have suffered tremendous degradation and habitat loss through logging, overgrazing, conversion to agriculture, urbanization, and introduction of exotic species. The eco-regions around the Mediterranean basin have been particularly affected by degradation due to human activity, suffering extensive loss of forests and soil erosion, and many native plants and animals have become extinct or endangered.

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub ecoregions

There are lots of animals in the meditteranean The Australasia Ecozone The Australasian ecozone – is an ecological region that is coincident, but not synonymous (by some definitions), with the geographic region of Australasia. ... Esperance Mallee is a World Wide Fund for Nature ecoregion on the south coast of Western Australia. ... The IBRA regions, with Warren in red Warren, also known as Karri Forest Region and the Jarrah-Karri forest and shrublands ecoregion, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia. ... The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earths land surface. ... The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of central and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. ... The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of central and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. ... The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of central and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. ... The Neotropic ecozone is a terrestrial ecoregion which includes South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ... The Chilean Matorral is a terrestrial ecoregion of central Chile, located on the west coast of South America. ... The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface (see map). ... The Corsican montane broadleaf and mixed forests are an ecoregion on the island of Corsica. ... The Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub ecoregion of the eastern Mediterranean Basin. ... Capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 13th  7,447 km²  1. ...

External link

• Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands and Scrub - A Global 200 Ecoregion from WWF