The Corsican montane broadleaf and mixed forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

, in the

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

, are on the island of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. The ecoregion includes the high-altitude regions of Corsica's mountain ranges.

Setting

The ecoregion covers an area of , approximately 40% of the area of the island. The montane forests are surrounded at lower elevations by the Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests. The highest elevations in the ecoregion are Monte Cinto (2,710 m) and

Monte Rotondo Monte Rotondo ( co, Monte Ritondu) is a mountain in the department of Haute-Corse on the island of Corsica, France. At it is the second highest in Corsica, after Monte Cinto. It is the highest point on the Monte Rotondo massif. Location The p ...

(2,625 m).

Flora

The ecoregion is home to several distinct forest communities, which vary with elevation and exposure. Lower elevations are occupied by forests of evergreen sclerophyll oaks, including Holm oak ''(

Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the '' Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergre ...

)'' and cork oak ''(

Quercus suber ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the core ...

)''. Middle elevations are predominantly forests of maritime pine ''(

Pinus pinaster ''Pinus pinaster'', the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings. Description ''Pinus pina ...

)'' interspersed with forests of mixed broadleaf deciduous trees, including downy oak ''(

Quercus pubescens ''Quercus pubescens'', the downy oak or pubescent oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, from northern Spain (Pyrenees) east to the Crimea and the Caucasus. It is also fo ...

)'', sessile oak ''(

Quercus petraea ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

)'', english oak ''(

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...

)'', European hop-hornbeam ''(

Ostrya carpinifolia ''Ostrya carpinifolia'', the European hop-hornbeam, is a tree in the family Betulaceae. It is the only species of the genus ''Ostrya'' that is native to Europe. The specific epithet ''carpinifolia'' means "hornbeam-leaved", from , the Latin word ...

)'', Italian alder ''(

Alnus cordata ''Alnus cordata'', the Italian alder, is a tree or shrub species belonging to the family Betulaceae, and native to the southern Apennine Mountains (Campania, Basilicata and Calabria, mainly on western mountain sides) and the north-eastern moun ...

)'' and sweet chestnut ''(

Castanea sativa ''Castanea sativa'', the sweet chestnut, Spanish chestnut or just chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the Temperate climate, temperate world. A substa ...

)''. At the higher elevations, forests of Corsican pine ''(

Pinus nigra ''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as wel ...

'' subsp. ''salzmannii'' var. ''corsicana)'' predominate on the warmer south-facing slopes, while silver fir ''(

Abies alba ''Abies alba'', the European silver fir or silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and sou ...

)'' and European beech ''(

Fagus sylvatica ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...

)'' predominate on the cooler north-facing slopes. The highest elevations are subalpine shrublands, with green alder ''( Alnus viridis)'', juniper ''(

Juniperus communis ''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the coo ...

subsp. alpina)'', sycamore maple ''(

Acer pseudoplatanus ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, t ...

)'', and stands of silver birch ''(

Betula pendula ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...

)''.

Protected areas

2829 km² (78%) of the ecoregion's area is protected,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

/ref> mostly in the

Regional Natural Park of Corsica In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

External links

References

{{reflist Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Ecoregions of Europe Ecoregions of France Palearctic ecoregions Ecoregions of the Mediterranean Basin