Spain’s Diverse Landscapes and Ecosystems
Landscapes and Environment in Spain
Ecosystems and Biodiversity
Living beings are distributed throughout Spain. The diversity in relief and climates results in a wide variety of ecosystems.
An ecosystem is the whole, the interrelation of all the creatures that live in a particular area, comprising biotic components and abiotic elements within an environment.
These ecosystems exhibit high biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety of creatures that live on planet Earth or within a determined region. This is a natural process of evolution over thousands of years.
Spain holds second place in diversity after tropical rainforests.
Landscape Composition and Change
The overall landscape is composed of an area’s ecosystem and economic, social, and cultural factors characteristic of a given society, called anthropogenic elements, which determine their influence on the ecosystem.
Thus, a landscape is the combination of different elements that form a system in constant change and evolution.
Main agents of change include:
- Agricultural work that has replaced forests or grasslands, or has dried up wetlands.
Plant Landscapes of Spain
In Spain, climatic diversity and relief make it possible for different types of vegetation to thrive, forming distinct landscapes along with other plant elements. It’s important to note that these plant landscapes, even if natural, are territories more or less modified by human intervention.
Highlights include 4 main domains:
Euro-Siberian/Oceanic Domain
This generally corresponds to the oceanic climate zones (Galicia), the Cantabrian Mountains, or mountain areas of the Central System, Iberian System, or Catalan ranges.
The main vegetation is the deciduous forest of oaks and beeches. These are often accompanied by chestnuts, hazels, elms, etc. In principle, these types of trees are tall, dense, with straight trunks and large leaves that fall in autumn. Little light reaches the ground, a circumstance that does not allow undergrowth to form.
In many cases, these oak and beech forests have been replaced by cultivated fields, pastures for animals, or by faster-growing species more profitable for wood exploitation, such as pines and eucalyptus.
Eucalyptus, in particular, can disrupt the ecological balance of the area.
Finally, where forests are absent, there are also the so-called landas (heaths), plant formations consisting of shrubs and dense vegetation. In the highest areas, natural meadows are found.
Mediterranean Domain
Corresponds to the Mediterranean climatic regions and interior domains. The typical Mediterranean forest consists of evergreen oaks, found together with carob trees, wild olives, etc.
This forest is called sclerophyllous and is adapted to withstand long periods of summer drought. The evergreen trees are small, tough, and often thorny. Hardwood species are not very suitable for timber exploitation because the trees do not have straight trunks.
Human activity has led to large areas of bushland, such as maquis, steppes, and scrub, often found under pines, firs, and white poplars.
High Mountain Domain
Vegetation is staggered according to altitude.
Macaronesian Domain (Canary Islands)
Specific plant landscapes found in the Canary Islands.