Forests of The Iberian Peninsula - The Mediterranean Region

The Mediterranean Region

The Mediterranean region occupies the rest of the peninsula (the greater part of it), as well as the Balearic Islands. The principal characteristic of the region is the existence of a quite lengthy period of summer drought, which may last anywhere from 2 to 4 months, but which, regardless of length, is always quite distinct. Rainfall can range from 1500 mm to less than 350 mm. Temperatures range from regions that have no frost for many years to those that reach -20 °C, or even lower, every winter.

If one ignores, for the moment, the influence of the mountains, the typical Mediterranean peninsular forest is made up of evergreen trees: oak forests, cork oaks, wild olives, juniper, and so on. These are accompanied or replaced in the warmer regions and eroded by forests of Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis) and in areas of sandy ground and fixed sand dunes by juniper and Stone Pine forests. Exceptions to the rule are the more arid region in the southeast, the lower regions of the provinces of Murcia and Almeria, where the only vegetation is the European Fan Palm (Chamaerops humilis), and thorny thickets of blackthorn and at higher altitudes, Kermes Oak groves and mastic (Pistacia lentiscus). The same can be said of the salty or endorheic zones, with great differences in temperature, such as the depression of the Ebro, Hoya de Baza and the chalky marls further inland.