Northwest Iberian montane forests

Northwest Iberian montane forests
Northwest Iberian montane forests
	Centro (Portugal) Castile and León; Extremadura; Galicia,; La Rioja (Spain);
Conservation
Conservation status	critical/endangered
Protected	15,628 km2 (27%)

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.

Geography

The ecoregion rings the upper basin of the Douro River, and the Douro River valley separates the northern and southern portions of the ecoregion. The northern portion includes the southern foothills of the

Mountains of León. The humid and temperate Cantabrian mixed forests

lie to the north and west.

The southern portion lies in the western

Ebro River

valley to the northeast.

A few mountaintop enclaves lie further south, in the

Sierra de las Villuercas and Sierra de San Pablo

in Spain.

Climate

The ecoregion has a Mediterranean climate – dry summers and rainy winters. Winters are cold, particularly at higher elevations.^[2]

Flora

The plant communities in the ecoregion vary with elevation and soils.

Evergreen broadleaf sclerophyllous trees, typical of Mediterranean lowland forests, predominate on low foothills and in river canyons. These include holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia), cork oak (Quercus suber), Olive (Olea europaea), Arbutus unedo, sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), Rhamnus alaternus, Pistacia terebinthus, Pistacia lentiscus, Erica arborea, Erica scoparia. Riparian areas with year-round moisture are refuges for Celtis australis and other less drought-adapted trees.^[2]

Forests of deciduous oaks, including

Stone pine (Pinus pinea) grow in the eastern part of the ecoregion. Woodlands of juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus, Juniperus thurifera, and Juniperus phoenicea

) are found on high rocky outcrops.

At high elevations forests of

Heather, Ulex and Juniperus communis

.

Fauna

The ecoregion is home to the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus).

In 2014, rare wild

Salamanca Province near the border with Portugal, in the southern part of the ecoregion. The reserve is owned by Fundación Naturaleza y Hombre, a Spanish conservation NGO. Retuerta horses were once widespread in Iberia, but over centuries have been reduced to a single small population in Doñana National Park in southwestern Spain.^[3]

Protected areas

15,628 km², or 27%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.^[4]

Protected areas include

Serra da Malcata Natural Reserve

in Portugal.

External links

"Northwest Iberian montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

References

^ 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. [1]
^ ^a ^b "Northwest Iberian montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
^ "Rare Horses Released In Spain As Part Of 'Rewilding' Effort". National Public Radio, 9 January 2014. Accessed 10 May 2020. [2]
^ 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. [3]

[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. [1]

[wwf-2] "Northwest Iberian montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

[3] "Rare Horses Released In Spain As Part Of 'Rewilding' Effort". National Public Radio, 9 January 2014. Accessed 10 May 2020. [2]

[4] 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. [3]

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