Western European broadleaf forests

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This palaearctic ecoregion covers a large area in Western Europe (France, Austria and Germany), with in particular Central Massive, Jura, Central German Uplands, Bavarian Plateau and Bohemian Massive. It is essentially lowland and altimontane beech and mixed beech forests. It also includes small part of sub-mediterranean areas. The total area is around 490,000 km².

The area biome is best defined by temperate broadleaf and mixed forests.

This area has been inhabited for thousands of years. It hosts large cities (Lyon, Nancy, Munich), some forests, but most of the countryside is agricultural land, cultivated with cereals (corn, wheat, oats). This ecoregion hosts a good variety of animal species, birds in particular, but most large mammals are in decline.