The Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in southwestern Europe. It extends along the Pyrenees mountains which run east and west along the border between France and Spain, and includes all Andorra. The ecoregion extends from the lower slopes of the Pyrenees to its highest peaks, which include Aneto (3,404 m), Posets (3,375 m), and Vignemale (3,298 m). The Pyrenees forests are at the transition between the Mediterranean climate regions of Spain and France, which lie to the south and east, and the more humid and temperate forests of Western Europe, which lie to the west and north. Flora The ecoregion's altitudinal range, and its various climatic regions (maritime temperate to the west, continental in the center, and Mediterranean to the east) support a variety of plant communities and species. The ecoregion has 3500 native plant species, including 200 endemic species. The forested foothills of the southern slope, known as the Pre-Pyrenees, have a transitional Mediterranean climate with dry summers. Characteristic trees include evergreen Holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia), Holm oak (Quercus ilex), Cork oak (Quercus suber), Kermes oak, Wild olive (Olea europaea), Sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), Rhamnus alaternus, Pistacia terebinthus, Erica arborea, Pinus pinaster, Juniperus oxycedrus and deciduous Quercus faginea, Quercus pubescens, Quercus pyrenaica, Tilia platyphyllos, and Acer opalus. Middle-elevation forests include deciduous broadleaf trees like Quercus robur, Quercus petraea, Q. pubescens, Castanea sativa, Ulmus glabra, Acer pseudoplatanus, Taxus baccata, Populus tremula, Betula pendula, Betula pubescens and European beech (Fagus sylvatica), and conifer forests of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Pyrenean pine (Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii var. salzmannii). Heathlands dominated by Calluna vulgaris, Ulex and Juniperus communis grow in the western part of the ecoregion. High-elevation forests are predominantly of European beech and silver fir (Abies alba). Mountain pine (Pinus mugo subsp. uncinata) is common in continental-climate areas of the central Pyrenees with colder winters. Subalpine and alpine plant communities occur above the timberline, are dominated by Juniperus communis and Calluna vulgaris and include many endemic species. Fauna Large mammals include Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos), Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus), Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica), wild boar (Sus scrofa), red deer (Cervus elaphus elaphus), and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). The reclusive Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) is a vulnerable small mammal that lives here and in the Cantabrian Mountains. The Cantabrian brown bear, a distinct southwest-European subspecies of Eurasian