Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6.2 Vegetation
The foothills of Mediterranean mountains are covered with what is widely perceived
as Mediterranean vegetation, mostly pre- or post-forest formations with an arbores-
cent cover and an evergreen stratum, comprising such genera as
Arbutus
,
Erica
and
Pistacia
(i.e. arborescent matorral). Above 1000 m the deciduous and evergreen
forests are dominated by oak species such as
Quercus cerris, Q. ilex, Q. coccifera
and
Q. suber
while other elements include
Acer
spp., such as
Acer sempervirens,
A. hyrcanum, A. monspessulanum
and
A. obtusifolium
, but also genera unique to the
mountains of the Mediterranean such as
Zelkova
and
Berberis
.
Mountainous forests, particularly from 1200 m to 1600 m, are dominated by
coniferous species (Quezel, 2004). Pines are the most widespread conifers, in-
cluding
Pinus nigra, P. halepensis, P. brutia
and
P. pinaster
in the western Mediter-
ranean. Among pines
P. brutia
in particular dominates in the east Mediterranean,
especially in the mountains of Lebanon, southern and western Turkey, Cyprus and
Crete. However, there are other important coniferous species, including cedars in
the Atlas Mountains, Cyprus, Lebanon and Turkey, junipers in the Spanish Sierras
and the Atlas Mountains, and firs in Turkey, Lebanon and Spain.
The most widely used altitudinal zonation for Mediterranean vegetation (Fig-
ure 6.1), proposed by Quezel (1981a), is based on latitude, and corresponds to
Potential
climax
Type
P
Per-humid
Coniferous
mountain forest
Pinus nigra
Cedrus
Abies
(Fagus)
Evergreen
scierophyllous
forest
Quercus itex
Q. caffiprinos
Q. suber
Evergreen
thermophilous
forest
Olea, Ceratonia,
Pistacia lentiscus
Deciduous
forest
Quercus pubescens
Q. faginea. Q. cerris
Ostrya
Humid
Forest
1200
Sub-humid
800
Pre-forest
Semi-arid
600
Pinus halepensis, P. brutia
Tetraclinis, Argania
Pre-steppic forest
400
Arid
Juniperus phoenicea
Steppeland
100
Desert
Per-arid
-7
-3
0
3
7
m
Oro.-Med.
Mont.-Med.
Supra-Med.
Meso-Med.
Thermo-Med.
Vegetation
“etages”
Figure 6.1
Schematic representation of the major types of vegetation structure around the
Mediterranean according to the bioclimatic types and 'etages' of vegetation. p, annual mean rain-
fall; m, mean precipitation of the coolest month. Only a few species are indicated. Reproduced
from Quezel (2004), with permission
