Diversity, distribution and conservation of Mediterranean trees: a synthesis

What is a tree? What is a Mediterranean tree? Where are Mediterranean trees native, in which botanical territories, and are they endemic to this territory? What do we know about their genetic diversity, their extinction risk?

These are the topics covered in this article:

Fady B., Farsakoglou AM., Caron M. et al. (2025). Native trees of the Mediterranean region: distribution, diversity and conservation challenges. Current Forestry Reports, DOI : 10.1007/s40725-025-00252-w

coordinated by INRAE and EFI. A consortium of 30 authors based in countries around the Mediterranean identified 496 species and 147 subspecies of trees in 39 botanical territories in the Mediterranean region, from the Atlantic to the Zagros mountains. Among them, 48 are newly considered to be trees. 

In addition to its value as an inventory, the article and its associated open-access database show in particular that endemism and taxonomic richness vary from one territory to another, with a tendency to increase as the ‘roughness’ of the landscape increases. Knowledge about the risk of extinction is often lacking, as is knowledge about genetic diversity, with the exception of species with proven forestry or agronomic uses. At a time of climate change and renewed interest in Mediterranean trees, which are thought to be adapted to the future climate of Europe, these gaps need to be filled, using this work as a foundation.

Translated from French with DeepL.com (free version)

See also the press release (in French).