Eurasian Temperate Forests: Lost Forests of the Mediterranean and Europe Endangered Species Handbook

Forest

Eurasian Temperate Forests: Lost Forests of the Mediterranean and Europe

Forests of towering cedars, oaks, firs, pine and beech once blanketed the region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Wildlife abounded in these primeval forests. Some 8,000 years ago, forest cutting began (Mittermeier et al. 1999a). Livestock gradually replaced wildlife, stripping the vegetation. In 3,000 B.C., Phoenicians logged the great forests of Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) for ship and building construction to trade with Egyptians and other cultures (Mittermeier et al. 1999). These massive trees reach 130 feet in height and are among the most majestic and stately of all trees. On the island of Cyprus, an endemic cedar, the Cyprian Cedar (Cedrus brevifolia), covered the island. Centuries of tree cutting and livestock overgrazing have reduced this tree to a relict population. Other forests on the Mediterranean's eastern shores were felled for building and to clear land for agriculture and grazing. The Greeks cut their forests in spite of warnings by the philosopher Plato as early as 4,000 B.C. that water supplies and wildlife would disappear (Pontiff 1991). The country's climate grew dryer and its topsoil washed into the sea (Runnels 1995).

Italy's southern forests were cut in Roman times, but north of the Adriatic Ocean, large expanses of beech and oak forests remained intact until the 16th century when they became the raw material for ships and galleys that sailed the Mediterranean waging battles and trading. Enormous amounts of lumber were needed to build these ships. When an exact replica of a galley was reconstructed a few years ago, 650 mature trees were required: 50 beech trees were needed for oars, 300 pines and firs for planks and spars, and 300 mature oaks for hull timbers (Attenborough 1987). In 1571, Venetian fleets battled the Turkish fleet which had been attacking and looting their ships. The 500 vessels in the Venetian and Turkish fleets had required the felling of more than a quarter-million mature trees (Attenborough 1987). Soon thereafter, the building of Venetian galleys came to an end for lack of trees, and shipbuilding moved elsewhere in Europe where trees were still abundant (Attenborough 1987). A single forest resembling the original beech and evergreen forest remains intact near the Adriatic in the former Yugoslavia. Its beauty was filmed for the series, “The First Eden. The Mediterranean World and Man” (see Video section, Regional, Mediterranean).

Hardwood forests covered much of Spain until the early 16th century when, by royal decree, it was decided that the economy of the country could be expanded by developing a Spanish monopoly on the breeding of Merino sheep for their valuable wool (Attenborough 1987). Sheep herds became larger and larger, and forests were cut to provide grazing land. Within decades, the forests that had covered central Spain were gone, and topsoil had eroded, leaving shrubland (Attenborough 1987). These forests have not regenerated. Some oak forests have survived in parts of Spain, but intact ecosystems with native ungulates and predators have disappeared. Livestock grazes in all but the most remote areas. The few remaining Gray Wolves, as well as the endemic Iberian Lynx (Felis pardina), are critically endangered due to loss of forests and persecution. As an indication of the degradation of habitat, many species of Spanish wildlife are threatened with extinction. Worldwide, about 11 percent of the world's birds are threatened with extinction (Collar et al. 1994), but 37 percent of Spain's birds are threatened, 53 percent of its mammals, 41 percent of its reptiles, and 45 percent of its amphibians (Peters and Lovejoy 1990).

Forests of pine, cedars and oaks blanketed the slopes of the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco prior to the Roman conquest. Logging by the Romans and people in the intervening centuries has destroyed all but fragments of these forests. The Atlas Bear (Ursus arctos crowtheri) originally ranged in these forests but was gradually pushed toward extinction by loss of its forest habitat, hunting and capture. The last of these bears was killed in the late 19th century (Day 1981). The endemic Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica) has wide girths and grows to heights of more than 125 feet. They are often covered in moss and lichens in the cool altitudes (color photo, see Mittermeier et al. 1999a). Unfortunately, they are fast being depleted by timber cutters in Morocco and Algeria (Mittermeier et al. 1999a). North Africa's forests have become fragmented by centuries of logging and heavy grazing by cattle, sheep, and goats. The native Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) have also been extremely destructive to the few forests that remain, endangering many birds (Collar and Stuart 1985).

Surprisingly, a bird species native to the Atlas Mountain forests remained unknown until 1975. The Algerian Nuthatch (Sitta ledanti), a small, buffy songbird with white eyebrows, was discovered in a national park on Mont Babor (Collar and Stuart 1985). Even in national parks in this region, however, livestock are permitted to graze, consuming young trees and other vegetation. After conservationists protested that this little bird's entire habitat would be eliminated if livestock were not excluded, sheep and goats-- but not cattle--were banned from the park in 1981. To prevent forest cutting by the local people, propane gas has been supplied to use as fuel for cooking and heat (Collar and Stuart 1985). The forest on Mont Babor consists of mixed Atlas oak, Atlas Cedar and the Algerian Fir (Abies numidica), a threatened species which grows only on this mountain (Walter and Gillett 1998). The Algerian Nuthatch uses cedars, oaks and, especially, the Algerian Fir for seeds and nesting (Harrap and Quinn 1995). The population of about 80 pairs of Algerian Nuthatches censused in Mont Babor National Park in the early 1980s remained constant, and in 1989, a second population of about 350 birds was discovered in a nearby oak forest within the Taza National Park (Collar et al. 1994). Even though the Taza has National Park status, conservation of the forest has been hindered by cattle grazing that prevents tree regeneration. Also, wood-cutting is allowed that removes potential nest sites, and fires are set, killing many types of animals (Harrap and Quinn 1995). These birds also survive in two small isolated tracts of unprotected, degenerating forest 30 kilometers away, but the total population probably does not exceed 1,000 birds (BI 2000).

Another rare animal, the Barbary Deer (Cervus elaphus barbarus), barely clings to life in the disappearing Algerian forests. It is now extinct in Morocco and survives only in a small forest of cork oak and pine on the border between Tunisia and Algeria. They number only a few hundred, including a captive population, and are declining each year. This subspecies of the European Red Deer is listed as Endangered onthe US Endangered Species Act.

Israel has reintroduced related subspecies of some wildlife that have become extinct, bringing in closely related races of gazelles, wild goats, wild asses and Ostriches. The forests, however, are unlikely to return. The

vegetation surrounding the Mediterranean today is dominated by shrubland that can regenerate after frequent burning (Mittermeier et al. 1999a). Livestock in vast numbers consume tree saplings and pull plants out by the roots. Goats are able to climb low bushes and graze their tops. The soil structure is very loose and alkaline, and the nutrients have been leached out by thousands of years of cultivation, overgrazing and erosion. Only plants that survive in arid climates on poor soil, such as succulents, annuals and those that regenerate from roots, can grow here (Peters and Lovejoy 1990). In many areas, exotic species, such as American prickly pears and Australian eucalyptus, have taken over as a result of the impoverished soil. The remaining bits of forest in southeastern Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Syria and Israel are being cut for fuel at a rate of 14 percent per year (Peters and Lovejoy 1990). The net result of the widespread loss of forests in the Mediterranean is that only about 1 to 2 percent of pristine, original forest remained at the end of the 20th century, all in small fragments surrounded by farmed and developed land (Mittermeier et al. 1999a).

The transitions that brought about the present state of affairs occurred over many centuries. So gradual was the environmental deterioration that one generation of people was usually unaware of the ecological changes wrought by previous generations. Once the forests were lost, succeeding generations may have been unaware that they had ever existed. Whether any progress can be made in regenerating forests by bringing in topsoil and replanting in protected areas will depend on the concerns and will of the people of the Mediterranean, who number more than 300 million (Peters and Lovejoy 1990).

North of the Mediterranean, vast forests covering most of Western Europe remained until a few hundred years ago. Deciduous and mixed pine forests were logged over the centuries near towns and cites, and the forests retreated, replaced by agriculture and grazing land. By the 18th century, 90 percent of the forests had disappeared. In Scandinavia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, tree farms have taken the place of natural forests. Man-made hallmarks of civilization now cover northern Europe except for a few isolated pockets of original virgin forest. Along with these forests, went the Auroch (Bos primagenius), an immense wild cow that became extinct in the 17th century. The large predators, Gray Wolves, Lynx and Brown Bears, that preyed on deer, elk and European Bison (Bison bonasus) were persecuted to near extinction and remain very rare. The largest remnant of these once vast forests is Bialowieza, on the Polish-Belarus border. It harbors the last herd of free-ranging European Bison and a small number of Gray Wolves.

An organization to protect these wolves, The Association for Nature "Wolf" is also concerned about the cutting of the old-growth trees in Bialowieza Primitive Forest, of which only 22 percent is protected in Poland (Nowak and Myslajek 1999). The "Wolf" organization is working to stop logging and protect this forest for future generations by the creation of a transnational park with Belarus (Nowak and Myslajek 1999). As the top predator in this and other forests of Poland and other European countries, the Grey Wolf helps maintain the health of the forest and cull overpopulations of hoofed animals such as deer. Wolfnet, the bulletin published by The Association for Nature "Wolf," is helping to educate the public about this maligned animal, which is often killed on sight in Europe. The organization is also sponsoring studies of the estimated 500 wolves in Poland and training livestock owners in the use of guard dogs to protect sheep (Nowak and Myslajek 1999).

Eurasia's northern boreal forests, or taiga, are far more extensive than North America's, stretching 6,000 miles from the Atlantic coast of Norway east to the Sea of Okhotsk on the Pacific rim (Sparks 1992). The western section in Scandinavia is almost gone: more than 90 percent of the taiga in the Scandinavian peninsula has been replaced by tree farms, which support almost no wildlife (Walsh 1995). Norway has lost 100 percent of its natural forests, and Sweden and Finland nearly all of theirs (Walsh 1995). The result of this destruction has been a crash in forest biodiversity and declines in many forest species. Seventy‑three species of birds are declining or vulnerable in this region, including the Siberian Jay (Perisoreus infaustus) and White‑backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) (Walsh 1995). Sweden's tree farms have replaced more than 200 species of plants and animals, and 800 species are rare or declining, as reported in Taiga News: Newsletter on Boreal Forests in 1992. The same publication noted that 805 species are endangered from clearcutting old-growth forests in Finland, and conservation groups have formed to try to save them from corporate logging. The Russian portion of taiga forest, which makes up the majority of these forests, has been less damaged, but with the fall of the Soviet Union, forests are now open to international lumber companies. Much of this forest is so remote that it may never be logged, but millions of acres are likely to be leveled over the next century.