Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe

The Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion of North Africa. It occupies interior plateaus and mountain ranges of the Maghreb region, lying generally between the coastal Mediterranean woodlands and forests to the north and the Sahara to the south.

The Mediterranean woodlands and forests occupy an area of 291,700 square kilometers (112,600 sq mi) in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia. The main portion of the ecoregions extends from the southern slopes of the High Atlas in eastern Morocco across Algeria and Tunisia, where it meets the Mediterranean shore at the Gulf of Gabes. In Algeria, it lies south of the coastal Tell Atlas, covering the high plateau and Saharan Atlas. Further east, several enclaves of the ecoregion lie nearer the coast. In western Tripolitania it lies to the Mediterranean shore, and on the Cyrenaica peninsula it forms a belt between the Mediterranean woodlands and forests and the Sahara. The easternmost portion of the ecoregion is a small coastal enclave lying just west of the Nile Delta in Egypt, near the city of Alexandria.

The climate of the region is arid and annual rainfall is between 100 and 300 mm. The rainfall occurs mainly during the winter months, normally as intermittent storms. It can get as cold as O°C during the winter and temperatures can climb to 40 °C during the summer months, the mean annual temperature is around 18 °C.

The human population of these regions is low, settled agriculture is only viable in valleys where there is a supply of water, such as dayas, depressions with good quality soil, and the beds of wadis. In these areas it is possible to cultivate fodder and food crops. Such agriculture may not be possible in every year and they farmers shift to follow the rainfall.. Poupulation densities are low and most of the population are somewhat nomadic, however, there are some permanent settlements in coastal towns where the main economic activity is fishing.

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