Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests

The Thyrrenian-Adriatic Sclerophyllous and Mixed Forests Ecoregion, in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Biome, is in southern Italy, Sicily, Corsica, and the Dalmatian Islands.

Major forest zones

The Tyrrhenian-Adriatic Sclerophyllous and Mixed Forests ecoregion has four major forest zones.

• The Tyrrhenian mixed oak forests are dominated by the sclerophyllous evergreen oak Quercus ilex and Quercus suber, and by deciduous species such as Quercus pubescens, Fraxinus ornus, and Ostrya carpinifolia.

• Some surviving temperate deciduous oak woodlands, mainly of Quercus robur, appear in coastal wetlands on the Italian peninsula and on the island of Corsica. Stone pine Pinus pinea is found on some coastal sand dunes.

• The southeastern Italian woodlands, in the region of Apulia, contain the oak species Quercus trojana and Quercus macrolepis, endemic in the Eastern Mediterranean, together with the evergreen holm oak Quercus ilex and the deciduous oak Quercus pubescens. The Aleppo pine Pinus halepensis is also found in such woodlands.

• The islands of Dalmatia are dominated by Aleppo pine Pinus halepensis and holm oak Quercus ilex. A relict and endemic pine, Pinus nigra dalmatica also occurs.