Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs) are located today in southwestern Australia, the Cape Region of South Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, California, and central Chile. These MTEs possess the highest levels of plant species richness in the world outside of the wet tropics. These ecosystems include a variety of vegetation structures that range from the iconic mediterranean-type shrublands to deciduous and evergreen woodlands, evergreen forests, and herblands and grasslands. Sclerophyll vegetation similar to today's mediterranean-type shrublands was already present on oligotrophic soils in the wet and humid climate of the Cretaceous, with fire-adapted Paleogene lineages in southwestern Australia and the Cape Region. The novel mediterranean-type climate (MTC) seasonality present since the middle Miocene has allowed colonization of MTEs from a regional species pool with associated diversification. Fire persistence has been a primary driving factor for speciation in four of the five regions. Understanding th...

中文翻译：

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地中海生物群落：植被、植物群和气候的演变

地中海型生态系统 (MTE) 今天位于澳大利亚西南部、南非开普地区、地中海盆地、加利福尼亚和智利中部。这些 MTE 拥有除湿热带以外世界上最高水平的植物物种丰富度。这些生态系统包括各种植被结构，从标志性的地中海型灌木林到落叶和常绿林地、常绿林以及草本和草地。在白垩纪潮湿气候中的贫营养土壤中已经存在类似于今天的地中海型灌木地的硬叶植物，在澳大利亚西南部和开普地区具有适应火的古近系谱系。自中新世中期以来出现的新型地中海型气候 (MTC) 季节性允许来自区域物种库的 MTE 定植，并伴有相关的多样化。在五个地区中的四个地区，火持续性是物种形成的主要驱动因素。了解...