common plant community around the Mediterranean. Mediterranean shrublands are known as màquia in Catalan, macchia in Italian, maquis in French, and "matorral" in Spanish. In some places, shrublands are the mature vegetation type, and in other places the result of the degradation of former forest or woodland by logging or overgrazing, or disturbance by major fires. Savannas and grasslands occur around the Mediterranean, usually dominated by annual grasses. Woodlands are usually dominated by oak and pine, mixed with other sclerophyll and coniferous trees. Forests are distinct from woodlands in having a closed canopy, and occur in the areas of highest rainfall and in riparian zones along rivers and streams where they receive summer water. Mediterranean forests are generally composed of evergreen trees, predominantly oak and pine. At higher elevations Mediterranean forests transition to mixed broadleaf and tall conifer forests similar to temperate zone forests. The Mediterranean Basin is home to considerable biodiversity, including 22,500 endemic vascular plant species. Conservation International designates the region as a biodiversity hotspot, because of its rich biodiversity and its threatened status. The Mediterranean Basin has an area of 2,085,292 km2, of which only 98,009 km2 remains undisturbed. Endangered mammals of the Mediterranean Basin include the Mediterranean monk seal, the Barbary macaque, and the Iberian lynx. Ecoregions The WWF identifies 22 Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions in the Mediterranean Basin, most of which featuring sclerophyll plant species: Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests (Greece, Turkey, North Macedonia, Bulgaria) Anatolian conifer and deciduous mixed forests (Turkey) Canary Islands dry woodlands and forests (Spain) Corsican montane broadleaf and mixed forests (France) Crete Mediterranean forests (Greece) Cyprus Mediterranean forests (Cyprus) Eastern Mediterranean conifer–sclerophyllous–broadleaf forests (Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Turkey) Iberian conifer forests (Spain) Iberian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests (Portugal, Spain) Illyrian deciduous forests (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Slovenia) Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests (France, Italy, San Marino) Mediterranean acacia–argania dry woodlands (Western Sahara, Morocco, Canary Islands (Spain)) Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia) Mediterranean woodlands and forests (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia) Northeastern Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests (France, Monaco, Spain) Northwest Iberian montane forests (Portugal, Spain) Pindus Mountains mixed forests (Albania, Greece, North Macedonia) South Apennine mixed montane forests (Italy) Southeastern Iberian shrubs and woodlands (Spain) Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests (Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey) Southwest Iberian Mediterranean sclerophyllous and mixed forests