Country

Malta: one ecoregion. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Malta belongs to a single ecoregion, the Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests, the Mediterranean woodland type shared with the central Mediterranean's islands and coasts. On these small, low limestone islands the type expresses itself in its most wind- and drought-pressed form: hot dry summers, mild wet winters, and natural vegetation of hard-leaved shrubs and garrigue rather than tall forest. That is the honest planting brief. Sclerophyllous natives, winter-growing bulbs, herbs, and drought-proven Mediterranean ornamentals thrive with little help; summer-thirsty plants need irrigation on islands where fresh water is scarce. Salt-laden wind is the other constant, so shelter and tough foliage matter as much as water. The ecoregion's Nature Could Recover tier hints at the restorable native maquis.