Ecosystems

Mediterranean Scrub

Animals in the scrub

At present, the scrub that surrounds the Mediterranean basin certainly hosts fewer animals because of the long history of man’s local activities: in other parts of the world, this biome houses, instead, many animals. Here one can find wild boars, roe deer, deer, squirrels, wolves, foxes, badgers, rodents, tortoises, lizards and many species of birds. Animals living on ground include snails, insects and earthworms, and twice a year they have to cope with two seasons in which they have to stop all activity: the winter cold (hibernation) and the summer dryness (aestivation). In early summer, the insects living on ground and the other small animals move many centimetres deep down, where they find the conditions they need to overcome the summer dryness before the autumn rains arrive. Other animals cope with daytime dryness by being active at night.