List of ecoregions in France explained

The following is a list of ecoregions in France as identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Metropolitan France

The ecoregions of Metropolitan France are as follows:

Terrestrial ecoregions

Terrestrial ecoregions of Metropolitan France are listed by biome. All them are in the Palearctic realm.

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

• Atlantic mixed forests
• Cantabrian mixed forests
• Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests
• Western European broadleaf forests

Temperate coniferous forests

• Alps conifer and mixed forests

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

• Corsican montane broadleaf and mixed forests (Corsica)
• Northeastern Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests
• Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests
• Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests (Corsica)

Freshwater ecoregions

• Cantabric Coast - Languedoc
• Central & Western Europe
• Italian Peninsula & Islands (Corsica)

Marine ecoregions

Marine ecoregions of France are listed by marine province. All of them are in the Temperate Northern Atlantic realm.

Northern European Seas province

• Celtic Seas
• North Sea

Lusitanian province

• South European Atlantic Shelf

Mediterranean Sea province

• Western Mediterranean

Overseas France

This is a list of all terrestrial ecoregions of France's overseas departments and territories.

Nearctic realm

Boreal forests/taiga

• South Avalon-Burin oceanic barrens (Saint Pierre and Miquelon)

Neotropical realm

Deserts and xeric shrublands

• Leeward Islands xeric scrub (Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy)
• Windward Islands xeric scrub (Martinique)

Mangroves

• Guianan mangroves (French Guiana)
• Lesser Antilles mangroves (Guadeloupe, Martinique)

Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

• Lesser Antillean dry forests (Martinique)

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

• Guianan moist forests (French Guiana)
• Leeward Islands moist forests (Guadeloupe)
• Windward Islands moist forests (Martinique)

Afrotropical realm

Deserts and xeric shrublands

• Ile Europa and Bassas da India xeric scrub (Bassas da India, Europa Island)

Temperate grasslands and shrublands

• Amsterdam and Saint-Paul Islands temperate grasslands (Île Amsterdam, Île Saint-Paul)

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

• Comoros forests (Mayotte)
• Mascarene forests (Réunion)

Australasian realm

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

• New Caledonia rain forests (New Caledonia)

Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

• New Caledonia dry forests (New Caledonia)

Oceanian realm

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

• Fiji tropical moist forests (Wallis and Futuna)
• Marquesas tropical moist forests (French Polynesia)
• Society Islands tropical moist forests (French Polynesia)
• Tuamotu tropical moist forests (French Polynesia)
• Tubuai tropical moist forests (French Polynesia)

Antarctic realm

• Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra (Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands)

References

• Abell, R., M. Thieme, C. Revenga, M. Bryer, M. Kottelat, N. Bogutskaya, B. Coad, N. Mandrak, S. Contreras-Balderas, W. Bussing, M. L. J. Stiassny, P. Skelton, G. R. Allen, P. Unmack, A. Naseka, R. Ng, N. Sindorf, J. Robertson, E. Armijo, J. Higgins, T. J. Heibel, E. Wikramanayake, D. Olson, H. L. Lopez, R. E. d. Reis, J. G. Lundberg, M. H. Sabaj Perez, and P. Petry. (2008). Freshwater ecoregions of the world: A new map of biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation. BioScience 58:403-414, http://www.feow.org/downloads/Abell_et_al_08_BioScience.pdf.
• Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson et al. "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". Bioscience Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–583.