The Pindus Mountains mixed forests constitute a terrestrial

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

according to both the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...

. It belongs to 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 distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

, and is in the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...

. The

Pindus The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; ; ; ) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly long, with a maximum elevation of (Smolikas, Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epiru ...

Mountains mixed forests are situated in the

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

parts of the southern

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

in the wide altitudinal range above 300–500 m. They cover

Taygetus The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus () is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet Elias" (Elijah). The name is o ...

on the

Peloponnesus The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the ...

in the south, occur in the mountain ranges of Central Greece,

Western Macedonia Western Macedonia (, ) is one of the thirteen Regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the regional units of Greece ...

and

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

(including the

), eastern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and the southwestern part of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, extend to the

Drin River The Drin (; or ; ) is a river in Southeastern Europe with two major tributaries – the White Drin and the Black Drin and two distributary, distributaries – one discharging into the Adriatic Sea, in the Gulf of Drin and the other into the ...

valley in the north and occupy 39,500 km² (15,300 sq. mi) in the three countries. The ecoregion is landlocked and surrounded by the

Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests The Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests is an ecoregion in the lands around the Aegean Sea. The ecoregion covers most of mainland Greece, the Aegean Islands (except for Crete), the western coast of Turkey, the southern Var ...

(in Greece),

Illyrian deciduous forests The Illyrian deciduous forests is a terrestrial ecoregion in southern Europe, which extends along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It belongs to the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, and is in the Palearctic realm. Geogra ...

(in Greece and Albania),

Dinaric Mountains mixed forests The Dinaric Mountains mixed forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome in Southeastern Europe, according to both the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Age ...

(in Albania to the north of the Drin) and

Balkan mixed forests The Balkan mixed forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southeastern Europe according to both the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency. It belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests bio ...

(in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, North Macedonia and Greece). The climate of the ecoregion is mostly of

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

type with hot summers (Csa).

Flora

Due to the wide altitudinal range of this ecoregion the highest elevations (above 1,000-1,400 m) are covered with coniferous forests, with a mixed broadleaf zone occurring lower. The coniferous forests are dominated by ''

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 and Lower Austria to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica ...

'' subsp. ''nigra'' var. ''pallasiana'', ''

Pinus heldreichii ''Pinus heldreichii'', the Bosnian pine or Heldreich's pine, is a species of pine native to mountains of southeast Europe in the Balkans and southern Italy. Description It is an evergreen tree up to in height, and in trunk diameter. The bark i ...

'', ''

Pinus peuce ''Pinus peuce'' (Macedonian pine or Balkan pine) (Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian: молика, molika; Bulgarian: бяла мура, byala mura) is a species of pine native to the mountains of North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Kos ...

'', ''

Abies cephalonica ''Abies cephalonica'', commonly known as Greek fir or Cephalonian Fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Greece, primarily in the Peloponnesos and the island of Kefallonia, intergrading with the closely related Bulgarian fir further north i ...

'', '' A. alba'' and '' A. borisii-regis'', with deciduous

European Beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large ...

in the north. '' Juniperus foetidissima'' occurs widely near the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

. The dominant species on the lower elevations are remarkably diverse, including ''

Aesculus hippocastanum ''Aesculus hippocastanum'', the horse chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the maple, Sapindus, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large, deciduous, synoecious (hermaphroditic-flowered) tree. It is also called horse-chestnu ...

'' (in more damp places) and various deciduous oaks (''

Quercus frainetto ''Quercus frainetto'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms ''Quercus conferta'', ''Quercus farnetto''), commonly known as the Hungarian oak, is a species of oak, native plant, native to southeastern Europe (parts of Italy, the Balkans, parts of Hungary, ...

'', '' Q. pubescens'', '' Q. cerris'', '' Q. trojana'', '' Q. petraea''). Evergreen oaks, mainly '' Q. calliprinos'', '' Q. ilex'', and other Mediterranean

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...

shrubland species are abundant on dry and rocky south-facing slopes. Phytogeographically, the ecoregion is shared between the East Mediterranean province of the Mediterranean Region and the Illyrian province of the

Circumboreal Region The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan. It is the largest floristic region i ...

within the Holarctic Kingdom (

Armen Takhtajan Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian (; surname also transliterated Takhtadjan, Takhtadzhi︠a︡n or Takhtadzhian, pronounced takh-tuh-JAHN; 10 June 1910 – 13 November 2009), was a Soviet- Armenian botanist, one of the most important fi ...

's delineation).

National parks

* Chelmos-Vouraikos National Park (Greece) *

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...

(Greece) *

Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; , ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is, and historically has been, especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers scenic views of the c ...

(Greece) *

Mount Oeta Mount Oeta (; , polytonic , ''Oiti'', also transcribed as ''Oite'') is a mountain in Central Greece. A southeastern offshoot of the Pindus range, it is high. Since 1966, the core area of the mountain is a national park, and much of the rest has ...

(Greece) *

Vikos–Aoös National Park The Vikos–Aoös National Park ( ''Ethnikós Drymós Víkou–Aóou'') is a national park in the region of Epirus (region), Epirus in northwestern Greece. The park, founded in 1973, is one of ten National parks of Greece, national parks in main ...

(Greece) * Pindus National Park (Greece) *

Lake Prespa The Lake Prespa is located on the tripoint of North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. It is a system of two lakes separated by an isthmus: the Great Prespa Lake, divided between the three countries, and the Little Prespa Lake, mostly within Greec ...

(Greece) * Mount Dajt (Albania) * Lurë National Park (Albania) * Tomorr (Albania) *

Galičica Galičica (, ) is a mountain situated across the border between North Macedonia and Albania. North Macedonia's side of the mountain is designated as a national park, positioned between the country's two largest lakes: Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa, ...

(North Macedonia) *

Pelister Baba (; or Baba Mountain, ), also known by the name of its highest peak, Pelister (), is a mountain in North Macedonia. The Pelister peak (2601 metres, or 8533 feet) overlooks the city of Bitola. Baba is the third highest mountain in North Macedo ...

(North Macedonia)

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Greece Ecoregions of Albania Ecoregions of Europe Ecoregions of Greece Environment of the Balkans Ecoregions of the Mediterranean basin Forests of Greece Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Palearctic ecoregions Montane forests