Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests

The Italian sclerophyllous and deciduous forests ecoregion, part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, is in Italy. The region extends from the Po Basin to the Apennine Mountains of Basilicata and Calabria. Rock types are limestone, dolomite, marl, schist-marl, and sandstone.

Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests
Map of the ecoregion
Ecology
Realm	Palearctic
Biome	Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Borders	List Alps conifer and mixed forests Apennine deciduous montane forests Northeast Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests Po Basin mixed forests South Apennine mixed montane forests Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests
Geography
Area	101,052 km^2 (39,016 sq mi)
Countries	Italy, San Marino, and Vatican City
Conservation
Conservation status	Critical/endangered
Protected	18,302 km² (18%)[1]

Flora

Since there is a wide altitudinal range, there are three forest zones.

Low elevation forest zone

Characteristic low elevations forest zone species are:

• sclerophyllous evergreen oaks:

• Quercus ilex,
• Quercus suber

• deciduous trees such as:

• Quercus pubescens,
• Fraxinus ornus,
• Ostrya carpinifolia,
• Celtis australis,
• Acer monspessulanum,
• Carpinus orientalis
• Crataegus monogyna.

Mid-elevation forest zone

The medium elevations forest zone predominant species are:

• Quercus cerris,
• Quercus pubescens,
• Quercus frainetto,
• Castanea sativa
• Ostrya carpinifolia

High-elevation forest zone

The high elevation forest zone has very diverse and extensive mixed deciduous forests species are:

• The dominant species of the tree canopy

• Fagus sylvatica

• Other trees are:

• Acer pseudoplatanus,
• Acer opalus ssp. obtusatum,
• Acer lobelii (endemic),
• Sorbus aria,
• Sorbus aucuparia,
• Sorbus torminalis,
• Ulmus glabra,
• Tilia platyphyllos,
• Populus tremula,
• Ilex aquifolium,
• Taxus baccata.

External links

• "Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

References

1. 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.