Sarmatic mixed forests

{{Short description|Ecoregion in Europe}}

{{Infobox ecoregion

| name = Sarmatic mixed forests

| image = File:Haanja Upland.jpg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| image_caption = Deciduous trees mixed with conifers

| map = File:Ecoregion PA0436.png

| map_size =

| map_alt =

| map_caption = Ecoregion PA0436

| country1 = Norway

| country2 = Sweden

| country3 = Åland

| country4 = Finland

| country5 = Estonia

| country6 = Latvia

| country7 = Lithuania

| country8 = Belarus

| country9 = Russia

| state =

| border = Scandinavian and Russian taiga

| border1 = Urals montane tundra and taiga

| border2 = East European forest steppe

| border3 = Central European mixed forests

| border4 = Baltic mixed forests

| bird_species =

| mammal_species =

| habitat_loss =

| habitat_loss_ref =

| protected = 84,571 km2 (10

| protected_ref = )Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix014]

| area = 846100

| biogeographic_realm = Palearctic

| biome = temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

| conservation =

| coordinates = {{coord|56|43|N|27|27|E|display=inline,title}}

|footnotes =

}}

The Sarmatic mixed forests constitute an ecoregion within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature classification (ecoregion PA0436).{{cite web|title=Sarmatic mixed forests|url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/pa0436|publisher=World Wildlife Federation|language=en|access-date=October 21, 2020}}{{cite web|title=Sarmatic mixed forests|url=https://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Sarmatic_mixed_forests|publisher=Encyclopedia of the Earth|language=en|access-date=September 12, 2020}} The term comes from the word "Sarmatia".

Distribution

This ecoregion is situated in Europe between boreal forests/taiga in the north and the broadleaf belt in the south and occupies about 846,100 km2 (326,700 mi2) in southernmost Norway, southern Sweden (except southernmost), southwesternmost Finland, northern Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, northern Belarus and the central part of European Russia.{{cite web|title=Sarmatic mixed forests|url=https://dopa-explorer.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ecoregion/80436|publisher=Digital Observatory for Protected Areas|language=en|access-date=October 19, 2020}}

It is bordered by the ecoregions of Scandinavian and Russian taiga (north), Urals montane tundra and taiga (east), East European forest steppe (southeast), Central European mixed forests (southwest) and Baltic mixed forests (west), as well as by the Baltic Sea.

Description

The ecoregion consists of mixed forests dominated by Quercus robur (which only occasionally happens further north), Picea abies (which disappears further south due to insufficient moisture) and Pinus sylvestris (in drier locations). Geobotanically, it is divided between the Central European and Eastern European floristic provinces of the Circumboreal Region of the Holarctic Kingdom.

Sarmatic forest Stockholm.JPG|Stockholm - Swamp in a sarmatic mixed forest.

Fagus sylvatica.jpg|Norway - Winter in the beech forest in Larvik, Norway. Aside from conifers, black alder, white birch and elm are more common in the Sarmatic mixed forest.

Keskuspuisto.jpg|Coniferous trees in southernmost Finland dominate this Sarmatic mixed forest.

Haanja Upland.jpg|South Estonia - Deciduous and coniferous trees clearly differentiate on this springtime photo.

References

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