This is a list of the ecoregions in Bulgaria - terrestrial ecoregions and freshwater ecoregions as defined by the World Wildlife Fund and the Marine Ecoregions of the World—MEOW global classification system.
Biogeography Broadly, Bulgarian nature belongs to the Palearctic realm. The freshwater ecoregions in Bulgaria are examples for temperate coastal rivers habitat (one of the twelve major types of freshwater ecoregions) and form part of the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea Freshwater biogeographic realm. The European Environment Agency classifies different parts of Bulgaria as belonging to the Continental, Alpine and Black Sea biogeographic regions. The Black Sea marine ecoregion is classified as part of the Mediterranean–Atlantic region marine biogeographic realm according to Briggs (1995)Briggs, J.C. (1995). Global Biogeography. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Morrone, J. J. (2009). Evolutionary biogeography, an integrative approach with case studies. Columbia University Press, New York, . or, alternatively, to the Temperate Northern Atlantic marine realm according to the WWF scheme (Spalding, 2007).Spalding, M. D. et al. (2007). Marine ecoregions of the world: a bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas. BioScience 57: 573-583, .
Biomes Apart from the 4 Marine world biomes, the terrestrial biomes that can be found in Bulgaria are: temperate deciduous forest, temperate coniferous forest (Taiga in the mountains), Woodland, Tundra (Alpine tundra in the highest mountains, being Snezhnika glacier (41°46′09″) in Pirin massif the southernmost glacial mass in Europe,) Chaparral or Shrubland in the south-western corner of Bulgaria., and Grassland in Dobruja, which is 6 out of the 9 world terrestrial biomes (according to the classification of the terrestrial biomes proposed by Kendeigh (1961).Kendeigh, S.C. (1961). Animal ecology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, [Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall,1961.]. With a relatively limited territory of 110 993 km2., Bulgaria presents diverse nature with great variety of biomes, habitats and ecoregions, thanks to its peninsular location, varied topography and climate, coasts and rivers. The interaction of complex climatic, hydrological, geological and topographical conditions make Bulgaria one of the most biologically diverse countries of Europe.
This list may not reflect all the relevant information.
Terrestrial ecoregions Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests Balkan mixed forests (main ecoregion) East European forest steppe Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests Pontic (Black Sea) steppe Rodope montane mixed forests (main ecoregion in the mountains)
Freshwater ecoregions Temperate coastal rivers 423 Thrace
Temperate floodplain rivers and wetlands 418 Dniester - Lower Danube
Marine ecoregions Black Sea marine ecoregion
Gallery
See also
Geography of Bulgaria List of protected areas of Bulgaria
References