Recovery and Rehabilitation of Mediterranean Type Ecosystem: A Case Study from Turkish Maquis

TLDR: The Mediterranean type ecosystem shows a restricted distribution as compared to other major ecosystem types of the world as mentioned in this paper, and two of the typical Mediterranean ecosystems are maquis and phrygana, both being shrub formations.

Abstract: The Mediterranean type ecosystem shows a restricted distribution as compared to other major ecosystem types of the world. Two of the typical Mediterranean ecosystems are maquis and phrygana, both being shrub formations. This vegetation type in general shows indisputable similarities in Mediterranean regions. Similarities are visible in forest formations as well as their principal stages of degradation. Studies on these ecosystems have attracted the attention of many investigators such as Akman (1982), Akman and Ketenoglu (1986), Akman et al. (1978,1979), Aschmann (1973), DiCastri and Mooney (1973), DiCastri et al. (1981), Flauhalt (1937), Kilickiran (1991), Mooney and Dunn (1970b), Mooney et al. (1970,1974b), Nahal (1981), Naveh (1971,1973,1975), Pons (1981), Specht (1969ab), Tomaselli (1974,1976), Trabaud (1981) and Zohary (1973). In these investigations, three types of studies have been followed; phyto-ecological, energy-budget ecology and an evolutionary approach. However, a complete synthesis of the results is rather difficult due to their multilingual publication as well as different approaches used in studying these heterogenous ecosystems.