Plitvice National Park, Croatia Photograph by Pedro Regato/ WWF MedPO   Eastern Europe: along the Adriatic coast of Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, northern Italy, Slovenia, and Yugoslavia Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests   22,500 square miles (58,200 square kilometers) -- about the size of West Virginia Vulnerable

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

Large carnivores such as wolves, lynx, and bears roam the rugged mountains and oak forests of this ecoregion. The Dinaric Mountains Mixed Forests ecoregion has a mixture of fir and beech forests and patches of hardwood alluvial forests containing species such as English oak and European ash. Other plants common to the area include Norway spruce, wood fescue (a grass), sycamore, and distinctive Mediterranean plants such as tree heather.

Special Features

The Dinaric Mountains are not very high. In fact, there are no peaks higher than 6,500 feet (2,000 m). But these rugged mountains are a barrier to human and other animal travelers. From the coast to the interior of the Balkan Peninsula, there are no natural passes in these limestone and dolomite mountains. The region has a Mediterranean-like climate, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

	The forests of the Dinaric Mountains are among the largest and most continuous tracts of forested habitat remaining for large carnivores in Europe.

Wild Side

From owls and buzzards to pine martens and lynx, this ecoregion is known for its many predators. Among the smallest of these hunters, pygmy shrews move almost constantly through the forests in search of insects and other small animals. As evening falls, the haunting sounds of owls and howling wolves fill the forests. Red deer browse cautiously on oak saplings, constantly wary of wolves and other predators. In burrows, Balkan snow voles seek shelter from horned-nose vipers, weasels, and small raptors. Brown bears stop to drink at rivers and streams where otters playfully swim. Numerous amphibians inhabit the pristine wetlands and include yellow-bellied toads and European pond terrapins.

Cause for Concern

The greatest threats to the Dinaric Mountains Mixed Forests ecoregion is from forestry and mining. While this ecoregion was once teeming with wolves, lynx, and bears, these and other large carnivores have been reduced greatly because of the growth in human settlements and livestock raising. In western Europe, large carnivores were almost entirely decimated about 150 years ago. Even today, these animals continue to be the targets of eradication efforts in this ecoregion.

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