Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Fire in the Mediterranean Basin
The Mediterranean Basin is a meeting point of three continents, Europe, Asia and
Africa, and this is responsible for the great diversity of plants, animals and
cultures that formed the cradle of Western civilization. It is considered one of
the biodiversity hotspots (Myers
et al.
2000
) because of its high species richness
and high proportion of endemisms (Thompson
2005
). The total area showing a
mediterranean-type climate (MTC) is about 2.3 million km
2
, with transitions
toward temperate forest ecosystems (in the European mountains) and toward arid
ecosystems (in North Africa and the Near East). It is not only the largest of the
five MTC regions, but also the most geographically complex (with more than
40 000 km of rough coast in different peninsulas and islands) as well as the most
socio-economically, culturally and politically varied. Elevations range up to 3756 m
in the east (the highest peak in the Taurus mountains, Turkey) and up to 4167 m
in the west (the highest peak in the Atlas mountains, Morocco). There are many
volcanoes in Italy and the Aegean Islands, with frequent minor eruptions and rare
major explosions. The MTC region of the basin corresponds to a narrow rim
around the Mediterranean Sea (
Fig. 4.1
), and includes: (1) in southern Europe,
most of the Iberian peninsula (Portugal and Spain), south of France, most of Italy
and Greece, the coast of Croatia, Montenegro and Albania; (2) in southwest Asia
(the Near East), Cyprus, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, most of Turkey, and the coast
of Syria; and (3) in North Africa (the Magreb), the north of Tunisia, Algeria,
Morocco and small coastal areas of Libya. It also includes all the islands in the
Mediterranean Sea.
In general terms, summers are hot and dry and winters are mild and relatively
wet; winters may be cold in the interior areas with a continental climate influence
(e.g. central Spain and central Turkey). The configuration of seas, peninsulas and
islands, and the topographic complexity of the area, produce a great regional
variety of weather and climate. Rainfall ranges from semi-arid conditions (
<
300
mm) up to over 2000 mm, and peaks in autumn and spring (in the west) and in
autumn and winter (in the east). Because of the air masses' trajectories, the wettest
parts of the basin are typically the western parts of the peninsulas (Iberian, Italian
and Balkan peninsulas). There are also clear gradients from the colder and wetter
northwest (southern France and northern Iberia) to the hotter and more arid
south and southeast parts of the basin (North Africa and the Near East). The
