São Miguel, Azores, Portugal Photograph by Jørn Rosenkilde   Palaearctic Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests   1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers) -- about the size of Rhode Island Critical/Endangered

· Island Life
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Island Life

Rising from the floor of the North Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of miles from any continent, are the Azores--a set of volcanic islands that house the Azores Temperate Mixed Forests ecoregion. The islands are home to dense evergreen forests, damp cloud forests, and short "elfin" forests that reach no taller than 3 feet (1 m). Despite the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that are common here, bats, birds, and all other biodiversity have adapted to life on these isolated volcanic islands.

Special Features

Life in the Azores Temperate Mixed Forests is different almost everywhere you go. The vegetation along the coastline, in wetlands and lava flows, and on cliffs and mountaintops varies widely and includes evergreen forests in the lowlands and cloud forests at higher elevations. At the highest elevations, moorlands and grasslands also can be found.

	Sperm whales, found in the waters around the Azores, are the largest of the toothed whales. Males can reach lengths of over 60 feet (18 m)--a length equal to the height of a six-story building.

Wild Side

Many of the plants and animals of the Azores Temperate Mixed Forests are endemic, including more than a quarter of the vascular plants and almost three quarters of the trees. The islands are also home to several endemic birds, including the Azores bullfinch, and an endemic bat, the Azores noctule. Of the eleven species of trees found on these islands, eight occur nowhere else in the world.

Cause for Concern

A variety of human activities, from the clearing of forests for agriculture to coastal development, threaten the islands’ diverse habitats. Introduced plants out-compete native species, and garbage dumps threaten their surrounding areas with pollution.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.