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This vegetation type is found on
the coastal plain and north-facing
slopes of the Atlas in north-west
Africa, from Morocco across the
top of Algeria to northern Tunisia.
It is also present on the eastern
coast of the Mediterranean Sea,
across the south, west and north-
west of Turkey, and to a lesser
extent in northern Syria and
Iraq. The general term for this
vegetation type is maquis. It consists mostly of tall, dense evergreen
shrubs and low trees, but varies greatly in species composition from
area to area. Various species of oak are associated with certain maquis
systems. The countries in the region with the greatest extent of
maquis vegetation are Turkey, Morocco and Algeria. Exploitation of
forests in this vegetation type has been going on for thousands of
years and they are but a shadow of what they once were. Overgrazing
and clearing of maquis is an ongoing problem.
SUCCESSFUL MAMMAL WATCHING
There are a number of basic steps to follow in order to identify a
mammal you have seen. Initially try to establish the group to which
the mammal belongs. For example, is it an antelope, dog or cat?
Then try to make an estimate of shoulder height or, in the case of
smaller species, total length and tail length: is the tail shorter or longer
than the head and body length? Are any features very obvious and
Forest
The once-great forests of the
region have been greatly depleted
and they are associated with the
better-watered mountainous
areas. As is the case with so many
habitats in the region, destruction
and modification of forests has
been considerable. A depressing
example of this is the once-
mighty forests of the Caspian hill
and mountain slopes, where only
about 8 per cent of what was present at the turn of the 20th century
still remains. The structure of forests varies depending on the ranges
and even on different parts of the same range. In the Atlas ranges
there are cedars, pines, juniper, oaks and thuya. The Zagros has
remnant oak forests. The Alborz hosts a mixture of deciduous trees
on its north-facing slopes, while oak forest dominates in its upper
reaches and remnant patches of juniper grow on its southern slopes.
The Iranian Caspian coastal plain region has lost all its lowland forests.
Turkey’s forests are strongly associated with mountain ranges and
contain a mixture of conifers and deciduous species. The most densely
forested area in Turkey is situated along the Black Sea coast.