Abstract
The island of Crete, as one of the first places of civilization, has been subject to intensive human activities for the last 6.000 years. During this long period, fire, grazing and wood cutting have degradated and drastically changed the natural climatic sclerophyllous-evergreen forests (Kermes Oak -Quercus coccifera- and Pine -Pinus brutia) and high matorrals (Wild Olive -Olea europaea var. sylvestris- and Carob -Ceratonia siliqua-) to lower vegetal formations. Nowadays, the additional impact of the dry Mediterranean climate and the eroded soils, make phrygana, a low matorral of hemishperical dwarfshrubs, the most common natural ecosytem in Crete with a cover of about 25% of the island (Kypriotakis et al., 1996).
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References
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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Tsiourlis, G.M., Tsekoura, Z., Kasapidis, P., Chatzaki, M., Maroukli, M. (1998). Preliminary Results on the Woody Plants Composition of Cretan Phryganic Ecosystems. In: Tsekos, I., Moustakas, M. (eds) Progress in Botanical Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5274-7_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5274-7_39
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