scuola energia e ambiente
Mediterranean Scrub
This type of environment is characterized by warm dry summers and mild rainy winters. This remarkably influences the vegetation, which is therefore characterized by low, woody, evergreen plants with a sclerophytic type of structure, that is, with small and hard leaves that are suited to resist the summer draught.
For this reason the Mediterranean scrub is also called “sclerophyl forest” (skleros = hard, phyllon = leaf).
Total annual rainfall is approximately 250-500 millimetres and occurs mainly in the winter months. In summer the mean monthly temperature is often higher than 20°C and in this biome, in winter it very rarely freezes.
subjects dealt with in Mediterranean Scrub
Mediterranean Scrub
The most typical Mediterranean scrub area is the Mediterranean basin, but it can also be found in other regions of…
Man and the biome
Olive trees are the native arboreal species that is most commonly grown in the region of the Mediterranean scrub and…
Human impact
One of the main causes for the drying of the soil is excess pasturing. It occurs when the pressure of…
What to do
The Civil Defence suggests some sustainable behavioural rules to prevent fires: do not light fires near wood, flammable liquids in…
special reports
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10 February 2014 / Ecosystems
Coral turns pale!
The delicate balance of the coral reef “When looking at a coral reef, we are fascinated by the enormous variety…
29 April 2013 / Ecosystems
Intruders in the Mediterranean
Mare Nostrum The Mediterranean Sea (Mare Nostrum, Latin for “Our Sea”) has always been considered of fundamental importance for the…
1 August 2012 / Ecosystems
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
Sustainable holidays Lately we have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when…
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8 July 2011 / Ecosystems
Who's coming to dinner
A shark in my hamburger Summer is finally here! As usual, we have waited for it all year long and…
8 April 2011 / Ecosystems
Protected areas
Taking a look at the past Protecting nature, at least as a general concept, has rather old origins; in fact…
15 March 2008 / Ecosystems
Biodiversity
Defining biodiversity Much is said about biodiversity and of the need to protect it. But what is biodiversity? And why…
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1 November 2007 / Ecosystems
The environment and health
Two faces of the same coin The topic of the relationship between the environment and health is very transversal, i.e.…
13 October 2007 / Ecosystems
Environmental risk in Nepal
Institutional management The government institution in charge of management of natural resources in Nepal, is the Ministry of Population and…
1 June 2007 / Ecosystems
Nepal’s natural resources
The country Morphological characteristics Nepal is a relatively small country with a total area of little less than 150,000 square…
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10 February 2014 / Ecosystems
Coral turns pale!
The delicate balance of the coral reef “When looking at a coral reef, we are fascinated by the enormous variety…
29 April 2013 / Ecosystems
Intruders in the Mediterranean
Mare Nostrum The Mediterranean Sea (Mare Nostrum, Latin for “Our Sea”) has always been considered of fundamental importance for the…
-
1 August 2012 / Ecosystems
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
Sustainable holidays Lately we have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when…
8 July 2011 / Ecosystems
Who's coming to dinner
A shark in my hamburger Summer is finally here! As usual, we have waited for it all year long and…
-
8 April 2011 / Ecosystems
Protected areas
Taking a look at the past Protecting nature, at least as a general concept, has rather old origins; in fact…
15 March 2008 / Ecosystems
Biodiversity
Defining biodiversity Much is said about biodiversity and of the need to protect it. But what is biodiversity? And why…
10 February 2014 / Ecosystems
Coral turns pale!
The delicate balance of the coral reef “When looking at a coral reef, we are fascinated by the enormous variety…
29 April 2013 / Ecosystems
Intruders in the Mediterranean
Mare Nostrum The Mediterranean Sea (Mare Nostrum, Latin for “Our Sea”) has always been considered of fundamental importance for the…
1 August 2012 / Ecosystems
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
Sustainable holidays Lately we have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when…
from the Multimedia section
curiosities
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Mediterranean diet
Since the people who live in the Mediterranean basin live to a particularly old age and are immune from degenerative…
The myth of olive trees
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Projects to restock species
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A heavenly garden
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The concentration of elements
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Mediterranean diet
Since the people who live in the Mediterranean basin live to a particularly old age and are immune from degenerative…
The myth of olive trees
The ancients used to say: the Mediterranean begins and ends with the olive tree, to signify the deep and extremely…
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Various uses of the carob tree
Since the antiquity, this evergreen tree has been grown as a fodder plant in Asia, Europe and northern Africa. It…
Parks and wildlife sanctuaries
To protect nature threatened by man’s pressure, many reserves and wildlife sanctuaries have been established. In Italy, natural reserves amount…
-
Projects to restock species
The restocking of extinct species is one of the strategies that have been implemented in the attempt to protect and…
Purple gallinule, you will survive!
The purple gallinule lives all over Africa, in tropical Asia and in a large part of Oceania. The nominal subspecies…
Mediterranean diet
Since the people who live in the Mediterranean basin live to a particularly old age and are immune from degenerative…
The myth of olive trees
The ancients used to say: the Mediterranean begins and ends with the olive tree, to signify the deep and extremely…
Various uses of the carob tree
Since the antiquity, this evergreen tree has been grown as a fodder plant in Asia, Europe and northern Africa. It…