Iberian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests
RESOLVE 793
The Iberian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests blanket the interior valleys and plateaus of the Iberian Peninsula, lying mostly in Spain with portions of eastern Portugal and spanning the basins of major rivers including the Douro, Tagus, Guadiana, Guadalquivir, and Ebro. Holm oak and cork oak woodlands were historically predominant, and today the landscape is a mosaic of evergreen sclerophyll forest, maquis shrubland with genera such as Erica, Phillyrea, Myrtus, and Juniperus, and stands of stone, maritime, and Aleppo pine, with wild olive and carob in warmer southern areas. The climate is Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and relatively mild, subhumid winters that turn more continental and colder across the northern plateau. Much of the region survives as dehesas in Spain and montados in Portugal, traditional agrosilvopastoral woodlands of scattered cork and holm oaks that shelter endangered wildlife including the Iberian lynx, Spanish imperial eagle, and great bustard alongside grazing livestock and cork production. For gardeners, several of its native plants, among them the carob, wild olive, and shrubs such as myrtle (Myrtus), translate well into warm, drought-tolerant Mediterranean plantings.
About the mediterranean forests, woodlands & scrub biome
Regions of hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters supporting drought-adapted shrublands — chaparral, maquis, fynbos — and open woodlands. Fire is a natural shaping force, and these climates hold extraordinary plant diversity and endemism.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.