Mediterranean Basin Greer Manton Ben Hughes Brandi Alfaro

 Location:  Covers from Portugal to Jordan (W  E) and Italy to Morocco (N  S)  Europe, Asia, Africa)  Climate:  Cool, wet winters  Hot, dry summers  Ratio:  111:5 (population to extinct species) Population of people being low makes extinction low More people = more development = less habitat  Additional Info:  One of largest chain of islands  4,500 m. high mountains  Population increase = development increase

 Hot spot  Rare and native species  Needs a lot of protection  Threatened species  More people = more development  22,500 different plant species

 Vertebrates: 1,240 species  Monk seal: flagship specie- less than 400 in the wild  Spanish Imperial Eagle: threatened endemic; only 350 grown adults  Plants: 22,500 species  52% are found nowhere else in the world  endemics are mainly on islands and peninsulas Argan tree

 Habitat Fragmentation  Only scattered patches of vegetation  extremely vulnerable to habitat loss, urban expansion, and overgrazing  Human Development  Settlers for over 8,000 years  Deforestation to create agricultural lands  Tourism  Shores are biggest large-scale tourist attraction Direct impact on native species

 Started with Greeks and Romans (approx years ago)  Only 90,000 sq. km. protected  Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria are expanding their areas of protection  European Union’s Habitats Directive (Natura 2000) allows European nations to map out the sites in need of protection

 Many species of plants unique to only this place  If the plants become extinct so will herbivores  Some amphibians and fish indigenous only to here