The Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests is an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

in southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

, the

Dalmatian Islands There are more than 1200 islands in the Adriatic Sea, 69 of which are inhabited. A recent study by the Institute of Oceanography in Split (2000) shows that there are 1246 islands: 79 large islands, 525 islets, and 642 ridges and rocks. The Italia ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The ecoregion has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, and is in the

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

Flora

The Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests has four major plant communities. *The Tyrrhenian mixed oak forests are dominated by the

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaf, leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is paral ...

ous evergreen oak ''

Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the ''Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergreen tr ...

'' and ''

Quercus suber ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cores ...

'', and by deciduous species such as ''

Quercus pubescens ''Quercus pubescens'', the downy oak or pubescent oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, from northern Spain (Pyrenees) east to the Crimea and the Caucasus. It is also fou ...

'', '' Fraxinus ornus'', and ''

Ostrya carpinifolia ''Ostrya carpinifolia'', the European hop-hornbeam, is a tree in the family Betulaceae. It is the only species of the genus ''Ostrya'' that is native to Europe. The specific epithet ''carpinifolia'' means "hornbeam-leaved", from , the Latin word ...

''. *Some surviving temperate deciduous oak woodlands, mainly of ''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus ...

'', appear in coastal wetlands on the Italian peninsula and on the island of Corsica. Stone pine '' Pinus pinea'' is found on some coastal sand dunes. *The southeastern Italian woodlands, in the region of

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, contain the oak species ''

Quercus trojana ''Quercus trojana'', the Macedonian oak is an oak in the turkey oak section ( ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''). It is native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, from southern Italy east across the southern Balkans (Croatia, Albania, Serbia, N ...

'' and ''

Quercus macrolepis ''Quercus macrolepis'', the Valonia oak, is a species of oak in the beech family, Fagaceae. Formerly, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of the closely related and sympatric mount Tabor oak. At present, however, it is mostly granted spec ...

'',

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Eastern Mediterranean, together with the evergreen holm oak (''

'') and the deciduous oak (''

''). The Aleppo pine ''

Pinus halepensis ''Pinus halepensis'', commonly known as the Aleppo pine, also known as the Jerusalem pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. Description ''Pinus halepensis'' is a small to medium-sized tree, tall, with a trunk diameter up to , exce ...

'' is also found in these woodlands. *The islands of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

are dominated by Aleppo pine (''

'') and holm oak (''

''). A relict and endemic subspecies of pine, ''

Pinus nigra ''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as wel ...

dalmatica'', also occurs.

Fauna

Two subspecies of large mammal herbivore, the

European mouflon The European mouflon (''Ovis aries musimon'') is a feral subspecies of the primitive domestic sheep. It was originally found only on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia, but has since been introduced into many other regions o ...

(''Ovis aries musimon'') and

Corsican red deer The Corsican red deer (''Cervus elaphus corsicanus''), also known simply as the Corsican deer or Sardinian deer, is a population of red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') found on the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia (Italy) and Corsica (France). Chara ...

(''Cervus elaphus corsicanus''), are endemic to Corsica and Sardinia.

Protected areas

16,489 km² (21%) of the ecoregion is in protected areas.Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b

/ref>

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyrrhenian-Adriatic Sclerophyllous And Mixed Forests Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Ecoregions of Croatia Ecoregions of Europe Ecoregions of France Ecoregions of Italy Ecoregions of the Mediterranean Basin Palearctic ecoregions Sclerophyll forests