Mediterranean grasslands ecological observations related to the climate of the past 55 years

Abstract

This evaluation was designed to gain insight into the ecological behaviour of herbaceous plant species growing in Mediterranean grasslands according to temperature and rainfall variations recorded over the past 55 years. Our evaluation included 100 sites in the central Iberian Península differing in terms of land use, but lying on the same substrato in the same climatic región. We report the initial results for species acting as indicators of marked soil aridity and species representing the sites with less rainfall. Also discussed are observations, which together with these data provide knowledge on the responses shown by plant distribution to global warming in a semi-arid Mediterranean setting.