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Portugal is a coastal nation in western Europe, located at the western end of the Iberian Peninsula, bordering Spain. The Portuguese territory also includes a series of archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean, which are strategic islands along the North Atlantic. The extreme south is not too far from the Strait of Gibraltar, leading to the Mediterranean Sea. In total, the country occupies an area of 92,090 square kilometres (35,560 sq mi) of which 91,470 square kilometres (35,320 sq mi) is land and 620 square kilometres (240 sq mi) water.
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight that are adapted to long periods of dryness and heat that some types of vegetation present. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf). The term was coined by A.F.W. Schimper in 1898, originally as a synonym of xeromorph, but later was changed.
The stone pine, botanical name Pinus pinea, also known as the Italian stone pine, umbrella pine and parasol pine, is a tree from the pine family (Pinaceae). The tree is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe, The Palestinian Territories, Israel, Lebanon and Syria. It is also naturalized in North Africa, the Canary Islands, South Africa and New South Wales. The species was introduced into North Africa millennia ago, such a long time that it is essentially indistinguishable from being native.
Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and elongated leaves, known as "laurophyll" or "lauroid". Plants from the laurel family (Lauraceae) may or may not be present, depending on the location.
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and warm to hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation.
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 biome and the Palearctic realm.
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.
The Italian sclerophyllous and deciduous forests ecoregion, part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, is in Italy. The ecoregion covers most of the Italian Peninsula and includes both evergreen and deciduous forests.
The Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests is an ecoregion in southern Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, the Dalmatian Islands of Croatia, and Malta.
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 Greek Aegean Islands, the western coast of Turkey, the southern Vardar river valley in North Macedonia, the southern Struma river valley at the extreme south-western corner of Bulgaria.
The Azores temperate mixed forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of southwestern Europe. It encompasses the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. These volcanic islands are an autonomous region of Portugal, and lie 1500 km west of the Portuguese mainland.
The Southwest Iberian Mediterranean sclerophyllous and mixed forests is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion in southwestern Europe. It occupies the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, encompassing coastal lowlands and mountains in portions of Portugal and Spain.
The Iberian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion in southwestern Europe. It occupies the interior valleys and plateaus of the Iberian Peninsula. The ecoregion lies mostly in Spain, and includes some portions of eastern Portugal.
The Northwest Iberian montane forests is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion in southwestern Europe. It lies in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula, includes inland mountains, foothills, and plateaus in northwestern Spain and northeastern Portugal.
Culcita macrocarpa, the woolly tree fern, is a species of fern in the family Culcitaceae native to Macaronesia and parts of the Iberian Peninsula, where it might have been introduced.
References
- Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson et al. "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". Bioscience Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573-583.
- Thieme, Michelle L. (2005). Freshwater Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC.