Meditteranean Ecosystems and Vegetation Types in California and Israel

Abstract

A comparison of climate, soils, vegetation, and biotic history of mediterranean ecosytems revealed closest ecological equivalence between the blue oak grassland in California and the vallonea oak grassland in Israel, both mediterranean oak savannas in which overall environmental resemblance seems closest. Ecological amplitude and syndynamics in most other comparable types are similar, but the chamise chaparral on non—calcic brown upland and lithosols differs from its maqui counterpart by its adverse influence on the ecosystem. Annual grasslands in California foothills are comparable to seral batha dwarfshrub and grassland in Israel as human—induced degradation stages of chaparral and maqui. For such ecological comparisons a holistic ecosystem approach seems more suitable than any preconceived phytoclimatic and climax concepts.