The Northwest Iberian montane forests cover the inland mountains, foothills, and plateaus of northwestern Spain and northeastern Portugal, ringing the upper basin of the Douro River across regions such as Galicia and Castile and León. Vegetation shifts with altitude: evergreen sclerophyllous trees including holm oak and cork oak hold the lower foothills and river canyons, giving way at mid-elevations to deciduous Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) and stands of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), with Scots and black pine higher still and open montane grassland above the treeline. The climate is Mediterranean, with dry summers and rainy winters that turn cold at higher elevations. Although overall plant endemism stays below 10 percent, the ecoregion shelters the largest remaining population of wolf on the Iberian Peninsula, centered in the Culebra mountains, alongside raptors such as the griffon vulture and golden eagle, and roughly 27 percent of its area lies within protected parks including Sierra de Gredos and Serra da Estrela.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 42.0°N, 6.8°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
10a-11a
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
10a-11a
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.1°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands & Scrub
Realm
Palearctic
Approximate area
22,131 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
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.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 79
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
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.
Related ecoregions
Other mediterranean forests, woodlands & scrub ecoregions to explore: