The largest of the world's five Mediterranean-climate regions and one of the largest archipelagos in the world, the Mediterranean Basin is located at the intersection of two major landmasses, Eurasia and Africa, which contributes to its cultural and high biodiversity. Although much of the hotspot was once covered by a dense cover of forests, the Basin has experienced intensive human development and impact on its ecosystems for at least 8000 years, significantly longer than any other hotspot. The greatest impacts have been deforestation, habitat fragmentation, intensive grazing and fires, and infrastructure development, especially on the coast, which have distinctly altered the landscape. The agricultural lands, evergreen woodlands and maquis habitats dominating the basin are the result of these disturbances over several millennia. Many of the endemic species are narrow endemics, being confined to very small areas, and thus are extremely vulnerable to the anthropogenic pressures. Probably more species have gone extinct here than in any other hotspot. At present approximately 300 million people live here and water shortages and desertification will be the serious problems in the near future. Tourism is placing a significant pressure on the coastal ecosystems. The construction of infrastructure and the direct impacts of people using and trampling sensitive dune ecosystems remains a key threat to coastal areas. In view of the valuable natural heritage there is a great need for weighing our ecological impact in order to achieve a balance between biodiversity conservation and human development and above all, how to maintain traditional rural livelihoods in a way that benefits biodiversity. The changes in the atmosphere, geomorphological processes, and most natural cycles involving a biomass of any substantial size denote the arrival of a new geological period the Anthropocene. We the humans are actively changing the overall conditions of our existence by terraforming the earth, changing the overall patterns of basic life systems in the process of remaking our specific contexts, not least to supposedly secure our modes of life. This book is thus synthesizing knowledge from many disciplines to throw some light on the unpredictability of forthcoming changes.
About the Author: Prof. Dr. Recep Efe was born in Turkey (1958). He has authored a number of scientific books, more than 90 papers in refereed scientific journals and conference proceedings. His research emphasis has been ecosystem analysis, ecology, geomorphology, land cover change, vegetation analysis, climate, coastal zone and river basin management. He is, or has been, on the editorial boards of five international journals in Ecology and Geography. He is member of the European Geosciences Union, Balkan Geographical Association, and International Geographical Union. Georges G. Cravins is Professor of Geography at University of Wisconsin -La Crosse, USA. He obtained his Ph.D., Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1988. He has authored several Research Reports, Articles in refereed journals, and Monographs on Human Geography. He has been involved in numerous research activities associated with Political and human geography. His research interests include political and economic geography, as well as the processes of globalization and its impacts on people and the environment. Prof. Dr. Munir Ozturk-born in Kashmir-India (1943) has a proven track record of over 200 research publications in highly reputed professional journals, in the fields of ecology and environmental sciences, in addition to 20 chapters in Int. Books. Has published 21 books (2 by Birkhauser Verlag and 1 by Springer), and received more than 15 honours or awards. Two plant species named after him are; Sideritis ozturkii and Verbascum ozturkii. Prof. Dr. h. c. Ibrahim Atalay was born in Turkey in 1947. He received his bachelor and master degrees in Geography from the University of Istanbul. He obtained his Ph.D. in Geography from Istanbul University; He has authored more than 30 scientific books and over 100 paper in scientific journals and conference proceedings. He was awarded Professoris Honoris Causa title by the University of Bucharest. He was selected in 500 Greatest Geniuses of the 21 th Century due to dedicated and influential success in the field of Geography and Ecology by the American Biographical Institute.