Illyrian deciduous forests

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Illyrian deciduous forests
Pinus halepensis forest, near Dubrovnik, Croatia - Stiller Beobachter.jpg
forest with Aleppo pine (Pinus halapensis) near Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Ecoregion PA1210.png
Ecoregion territory (in purple)
Ecology
Realm Palearctic
Biome Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Borders
Geography
Area39,390 km2 (15,210 sq mi)
Countries
List
Conservation
Conservation status critical/endangered
Protected8,855 km2 (22%) [1]

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.

Contents

Geography

The Illyrian deciduous forests stretch along the eastern coast of the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, and occupies 40,600 km2 (15,700 sq mi) in Northern Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Northern Italy around Trieste.

The ecoregion is bounded by the Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests (in Greece), Pindus Mountains mixed forests (in Greece and Albania), Dinaric Mountains mixed forests (in Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy) and Po Basin mixed forests (in Italy).

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is mostly of Köppen's Mediterranean type with hot summers (Csa) to humid subtropical with wet winters (Cfa).

Flora

Coastal slopes are include various deciduous oaks Quercus frainetto , Q. pubescens , Q. cerris , Quercus trojana , and Quercus macrolepis , with other deciduous trees and shrubs Carpinus orientalis , sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), Fraxinus ornus , Cotinus coggygria , Paliurus spina-christi , and Cercis siliquastrum . Near the coast maquis shrubs and evergreen trees, including Quercus ilex , Quercus coccifera , Pinus halepensis , Pinus pinea , Pistacia terebinthus , P. lentiscus , Erica arborea , Juniperus oxycedrus , J. macrocarpa , Olea europaea , Arbutus unedo , A. andrachne , and Nerium oleander , are predominant. [2]

10 to 20% of the ecoregion's plant species are endemic, including Primula kitaibeliana , Symphyandra hofmannii , [2] and Resetnikia triquetra . [3] Degenia velebitica is endemic to the Velebit mountains, native to both the Illyrian deciduous forests and the higher-elevation Dinaric Mountains mixed forests ecoregion. [4]

Ecoregion delineation

The Illyrian deciduous forests ecoregion is delineated by the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency. [5] Phytogeographically, the ecoregion is shared between the Adriatic and East Mediterranean provinces of the Mediterranean Region within the Holarctic Kingdom (according to Armen Takhtajan's delineation).

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.
  2. 1 2 "Illyrian Deciduous Forests". One Earth. One Earth. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  3. ↑ Španiel, S., Kempa, M., Salmerón-Sánchez, E. et al. AlyBase: database of names, chromosome numbers, and ploidy levels of Alysseae (Brassicaceae), with a new generic concept of the tribe. Plant Systematics and Evolution 301, 2463–2491 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-015-1257-3
  4. ↑ Liber, Z., Surina, B., Nikolić, T. et al. Spatial distribution, niche ecology and conservation genetics of Degenia velebitica (Brassicaceae), a narrow endemic species of the north-western Dinaric Alps. Plant Systematics and Evolution 306, 64 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01695-3
  5. ↑ "Illyrian deciduous forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
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