Country

Syria: 4 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Syria's four ecoregions split the country between a narrow mediterranean west and a broad dry interior. Along the coast and coastal mountains run the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-broadleaf forests, joined in the north by the Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests; both are ranked Nature Imperiled. Inland, the Syrian xeric grasslands and shrublands cover the steppe belt before the Mesopotamian shrub desert takes over toward the Euphrates and the eastern frontier. Winter rain, summer drought is the rhythm everywhere, but the totals fall off fast moving east. The mediterranean strip supports olives, conifers, and winter-green gardens without irrigation; the steppe and desert interior belong to grasses and drought-hardened shrubs, with cultivation tied to rivers and wells.