Print Report
F038 Mediterranean Scrub & Grassland Formation
Type Concept Sentence: Mediterranean Scrub & Grassland includes the sclerophyllous scrub that develops in Mediterranean climates found in the Mediterranean Basin, lowland California in the United States, west-central Chile, the western Cape Province of South Africa, and southwestern and southern Australia. It also includes Mediterranean grasslands, "wildflower fields," and prairies from California.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Mediterranean Scrub & Grassland Formation
Colloquial Name: Mediterranean Scrub & Grassland
Hierarchy Level: Formation
Type Concept: Mediterranean Scrub & Grassland includes sclerophyllous scrub and herbaceous vegetation, which develops in Mediterranean climates (moderately dry, warm-temperate, maritime climates with little or no summer rain). It occurs in the Mediterranean Basin, southwestern California in the United States, west-central Chile, the western Cape Province of South Africa, and southwestern and southern Australia. Sclerophyll-leaved growth forms prevail, but facultatively drought-deciduous "soft chaparral" forms may also occur. Mixed annual and perennial grasslands and non-grass "forblands" may also occur, with only scattered scrub. Shrub growth forms range from low, open subshrubs (<1 m) to arborescent (2 to 5 m tall) shrubs with a closed canopy, in response to moisture, fire and other factors. Dominant plants are affected by frequent fires, except for in Chile. Sclerophyll woodlands and forest are excluded from this classification of Mediterranean Scrub & Grassland. Grasslands are a mix of annual and perennial growth forms. (Whittaker 1975, Faber-Langendoen et al. 2016).
Diagnostic Characteristics: Sclerophyll-leaved shrub growth forms prevail, but soft chaparral and drought-deciduous forms may also occur. Shrub growth forms range from arborescent (2 to 5 m tall) shrubs with a closed canopy, to <1 m and quite open. Mixed annual and perennial grasslands may also occur, with only scattered scrub. The vegetation tends to produce the most biomass in the cool rainy winter and becomes dormant in the summer drought. Above-ground portions of perennial grasses dry and wither, or annuals set seed and die by mid-spring to early summer. The type is restricted to the Mediterranean Basin, southwestern California in the United States, west-central Chile, the western Cape Province of South Africa, and southwestern and southern Australia.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Each region of Mediterranean scrub has developed unique names for the type, including in California, chaparral and coastal scrub; in Chile, matorral and espinal; in Spain, tomillares; in France or French-speaking countries, maquis or garrigue; in Greece, phyrgana; in Israel, bath''a or goresh; in South Africa, fynbos and strandveld; and in Australia, kwongan and mallee (Kuennecke 2008).
California "coastal prairies," including diagnostics such as Festuca rubra, Festuca idahoensis, Danthonia californica, etc., are placed in 2.B.2 ~Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation (F012)$$ and, within that formation, in 2.B.2.Na ~Southern Vancouverian Lowland Grassland & Shrubland Macrogroup (M050)$$.
Placement of montane (oro-) Mediterranean vegetation needs further review. In California, the growth forms of this vegetation are common to other, primarily cool-temperate vegetation, placed in 2.B.2 ~Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation (F012)$$. In Europe, "oro-Mediterranean grasslands and scrub" is treated as a separate formation from either "Temperate grasslands, heaths, and fringe vegetation" or "Mediterranean garrigue, maquis, mattoral, tomillar, and phrygna" vegetation (Rodwell et al. 2002). Perhaps the "oro-Mediterranean" distinction in Europe includes a "warm-temperate montane grassland and scrub" not found in other continents. Such a distinction could be made at the division level, if the flora of the montane Mediterranean vegetation was largely distinct from the lowland coastal Mediterranean vegetation.
California "coastal prairies," including diagnostics such as Festuca rubra, Festuca idahoensis, Danthonia californica, etc., are placed in 2.B.2 ~Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation (F012)$$ and, within that formation, in 2.B.2.Na ~Southern Vancouverian Lowland Grassland & Shrubland Macrogroup (M050)$$.
Placement of montane (oro-) Mediterranean vegetation needs further review. In California, the growth forms of this vegetation are common to other, primarily cool-temperate vegetation, placed in 2.B.2 ~Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation (F012)$$. In Europe, "oro-Mediterranean grasslands and scrub" is treated as a separate formation from either "Temperate grasslands, heaths, and fringe vegetation" or "Mediterranean garrigue, maquis, mattoral, tomillar, and phrygna" vegetation (Rodwell et al. 2002). Perhaps the "oro-Mediterranean" distinction in Europe includes a "warm-temperate montane grassland and scrub" not found in other continents. Such a distinction could be made at the division level, if the flora of the montane Mediterranean vegetation was largely distinct from the lowland coastal Mediterranean vegetation.
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Shrubs have adaptations to drought, nutrient-poor soils and fire. Broad-leaved evergreen, sclerophyllous shrubs dominate the vegetation in areas with higher and more predictable winter rainfall, while facultatively deciduous shrubs, or perennial or annual herbs dominate where precipitation is lowest and less predictable. Depending on the interactions of rainfall, soil texture, and type and intensity of natural processes such as fire, browsing/grazing, and bioturbation, there is a complex variation of growth forms. This ranges from woody sclerophyll to woody drought-deciduous shrubs and from perennial bunchgrasses to perennial geophytes (bulbs, corms, etc., especially common in South Africa) and to ephemeral annual herbs. Generally, sclerophylls occur where winter rain is adequate and predictable and soils are well-drained. Facultatively deciduous scrub occurs in areas with drier or more unpredictable rainfall patterns and often on finer textured soils than sclerophyll scrub. Perennial herbaceous vegetation such as bunchgrasses occur in areas with relatively high precipitation, while annual herbs (forbs) dominate episodically following favorable winter rainfall events, but may be largely stored as seedbanks in the soil in low rainfall years. The vegetation tends to produce highest biomass in the cool rainy winter and becomes dormant in the summer drought. Above-ground portions of perennial grasses dry and wither, or annuals set seed and die by mid-spring to early summer. Small numbers of summer annuals also occur (mostly Asteraceae tribe Madiae in California), which take advantage of lingering deep soil moisture by having evolved long taproots.
Floristics: No Data Available
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Climate: The Mediterranean climate is characterized by dry summers and mild, humid, sometimes rainy winters. Annual precipitation averages 25-100 cm. Freezing temperatures are relatively rare. Wherever mountains and predominant wind directions cause orographic effects (for example the rainfall increases on the windward side), annual precipitation at the higher elevations may be sufficient to support a change from scrub to woodland or forest. With increasing latitude, rainfall totals and length of the rainy season also increase, causing a comparable shift to woodland or forest (Kuennecke 2008). Many Mediterranean climate areas have been "invaded" by exotic annual grasses and other species that have tended to modify natural disturbance patterns such as fire (Faber-Langendoen et al. 2016).
Geographic Range: This formation or biome occurs in the Mediterranean Basin, and in the Mediterranean climate regions of southwestern California in the United States, west-central Chile, the western Cape Province of South Africa, and southwestern and southern Australia, at latitudes between 31° and 46°N in the Northern Hemisphere and between 28° and 42°S in the Southern Hemisphere. These areas form on the western or southern margins of continents where warm-season high pressure tends to settle offshore driving all precipitation to the north or south of the adjacent shore areas. Each region of Mediterranean scrub has developed unique names for the type, including in California, chaparral and coastal scrub; in Chile, matorral and espinal; in Spain, tomillares; in France or French-speaking countries, maquis or garrigue; in Greece, phyrgana; in Israel, bath''a or goresh; in South Africa, fynbos and strandveld; and in Australia, kwongan and mallee (Kuennecke 2008).
Nations: AU,CL,ES,FR,GR,IL,IT,MA,MX,TN,US,ZA
States/Provinces: No Data Available
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.860273
Confidence Level: High
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
| Subclass | 2.B Temperate & Boreal Grassland & Shrubland Subclass | S18 | 2.B |
| Formation | 2.B.1 Mediterranean Scrub & Grassland Formation | F038 | 2.B.1 |
| Division | 2.B.1.Na Californian Scrub & Grassland Division | D327 | 2.B.1.Na |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: > Chaparral-like Shrublands (Dallman 1998)
> Coastal Scrub (Dallman 1998)
= Mediterranean Woodland & Scrub Biome (Kuennecke 2008) [Approximately equivalent. Despite including woodland in the name, the author emphasizes that the concept of this type is primarily that of the scrub.]
> Coastal Scrub (Dallman 1998)
= Mediterranean Woodland & Scrub Biome (Kuennecke 2008) [Approximately equivalent. Despite including woodland in the name, the author emphasizes that the concept of this type is primarily that of the scrub.]
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