Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub is a special kind of area defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. These areas have dry summers and rainy winters, and sometimes the rain is spread out during the year. The summers can be very hot in places far from the sea, but cooler near cold oceans. Winters are usually not too cold, but can get chilly in higher and inland spots. These areas are very important because they are home to a large part of the world’s plant life, holding about 10% of all the plants on Earth.

Distribution

The Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome is mainly found in areas with a Mediterranean climate, such as the Mediterranean Basin, the Chilean Matorral, the California chaparral and woodlands, the Fynbos of South Africa, and the Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands of Australia.

However, this type of vegetation can also grow in other climate zones nearby, including drier parts of oceanic and humid subtropical climates, as well as some greener areas in semi-arid climate zones. Places outside the typical Mediterranean climate that have this kind of plant life include the Nile River Valley in Egypt, parts of the Eastern Cape in South Africa, southeastern Australia, southeastern Azerbaijan, southeastern Turkey, far northern Iraq, the Mazandaran Province in Iran, Central Italy, parts of the Balkans (including Northern Greece), Southern Crimea in Ukraine, and Northern and Western Jordan.

Vegetation

Vegetation in these areas includes forests, woodlands, savannas, shrublands, and grasslands. The landscape often shows a mix of these types, creating interesting patterns due to soil, topography, wind, sun, and past fires. Many plants have small, dark, waxy leaves that help them keep water during dry summers.

The fynbos in South Africa is very special, with many plants found nowhere else in the world. It has a large number of unique species, even more than some bigger areas like the United States and Canada combined.

Biome plant groups

This biome includes many types of plants and trees. You can find Mediterranean forests with broadleaf trees like oak and special forests in places like California, the Mediterranean region, Southwest Australia, and central Chile. These forests often grow near rivers where they get more water in the summer.

There are also woodlands with oak and pine trees, especially in the Mediterranean Basin and California. You’ll find savannas and grasslands, like the California Central Valley, which now mostly grows crops. Some areas, like Portugal, have cork oak savannas called montado.

Shrublands are thick areas filled with small evergreen bushes and trees. These grow close to the coast where the wind and salty air make it tricky for plants to survive. Different places call these areas by different names, such as chaparral in California and southern Portugal, matorral in Chile and Spain, and fynbos in South Africa. Some shrublands grow where forests used to be but were damaged by logging, animals eating too much grass, or big fires.

Fire as a medium of change

Further information: Fire ecology

Fire, both natural and started by humans, has greatly influenced the plants and animals in areas around the Mediterranean Sea. The hot, dry summers often lead to fires, and some plants need fire to grow and spread seeds. Long ago, people in places like Australia and California used fire to clear land for grass and plants that helped animals and other useful plants grow.

After Europeans arrived in these areas, they tried to stop fires. This caused problems because plants that needed fire for seeds couldn’t grow well, and when fires did happen, they were much bigger and more damaging. In some places, fires happen too often now, which can harm the plants and change the land.

In July 2023, big wildfires burned in countries like Croatia, Italy, and Portugal. Many firefighters worked to stop the fires, which were made worse by hot, dry weather and strong winds. The fires caused damage to homes and forests and forced many people to leave their homes.

Degradation

Mediterranean ecoregions are some of the most threatened places on Earth. Many areas have been damaged by activities such as cutting down trees, too many animals eating the grass, turning land into farms, building cities, stopping natural fires, and plants from other places taking over. Areas around the Mediterranean Sea and in California have been especially hard hit, losing many forests and soil, and some plants and animals have disappeared or are in danger.