Climate of Portugal
Climate, through its effect on vegetation, divides Portugal. As in Spain, three sets of influences are involved: Atlantic, continental (Mesetan), and Mediterranean. The Atlantic climate predominates overall, putting most of the country into the humid zone of the Iberian Peninsula; this is especially true in the northwest, where the climate is mild and rainy. Summer temperatures near sea level may average up to 76 °F (24 °C) but are rather lower at exposed higher elevations. Winter temperatures average 37 to 40 °F (3 to 4 °C) but tend to be milder south of the Douro. Annual rainfall averages more than 40 inches (1,000 mm).
In the extreme northwest, much of the Minho receives 40 to 80 inches (1,000 to 2,000 mm) of precipitation, with more than 100 inches (2,500 mm) falling on mountain slopes. Inland, lee slopes are arid, receiving at most 20 inches (500 mm), much of which is lost through high evaporation rates. In the interior, continental influences increase the duration of the summer drought to more than a month and intensify winter severity. High-pressure conditions from the Spanish Meseta or from Siberian anticyclones bring very cold temperatures. The Alentejo can experience both acute winter cold and extreme summer heat. In the highest areas of the Estrela Mountains and northern ranges, temperatures drop to 32 °F (0 °C), and snow remains on the summits for several months. In the south, where the Azores high-pressure system prevails in summer, the period of drought lengthens to two months or more. Temperatures average about 75 °F (24 °C) in summer and 50 °F (10 °C) in winter. Mean annual precipitation is slightly more than 20 inches (500 mm) along the coast and a bit higher in the mountains of the Algarve. Nevertheless, there is considerable climatic variability from one year to the next.
Mediterranean, Saharan, and oceanic influences produce seasonal precipitation, occasional dry winds, and thermal equability, respectively, in the Madeiras. Climate varies markedly with altitude. In the Azores the anticyclone dominates, though conditions can be highly variable. Rainfall, for example, is irregular both in annual total and in regime: Horta (on Faial Island) may have more than 40 inches (1,000 mm) a year or may suffer severe drought.
Plant and animal life
Vegetation
Portugal’s vegetation is a mixture of Atlantic, or European, and Mediterranean (with some African) species. Overall, the former accounts for some two-thirds of species, but the regional distribution is revealing. North of the Mondego valley, nearly three-fifths of the plants are European species (some seven-eighths in the northern interior), and only one-fourth are Mediterranean. In the south the proportions are three-tenths and nearly one-half, respectively. One-third are foreign species, introduced in periods of colonization.
Millennia of human activity have left Portugal with only one-fourth of its area under woodland. The remainder of the country features two types of Mediterranean scrublands—called maquis and matorral, or steppe. Mixed deciduous trees are confined to the north and northern interior, where the landscapes of the Minho are lush and green except for the heaths (mato) of the Cambrian schists. These carry erica, heather, cistus, and bracken. The original oak climax (with Quercus robur as the dominant species) has been largely replaced by maritime pine with some cork oak and extensive plantations of eucalyptus. Olives extended into the north in Roman times but are now generally limited to elevations below 1,200 feet (400 metres); inland, where the summer drought is longer, they can be found in some areas with elevations as high as 2,200 feet (700 metres). In the Douro valley, juniper scrub has been replaced by vineyards.
The thickest forests in Portugal are found in the traditional province of Beira, where cultivation is limited to less than one-fourth of the area. Pines prevail in the north, chestnut groves on the granites, and ericas on the dense maquis. The elevational succession of vegetation is strongly marked on the Estrela Mountains, where a zone of Pyrenean oak extends above the pedunculated oaks, chestnuts, and pines to 5,500 feet (1,700 metres), while southern slopes are covered with a maquis of cistus and tree heath. The central ridge marks the southern limit of deciduous oak, which is thereafter replaced by Q. lusitanica (Portuguese oak). Heat-loving stone pines mix with maritime pines.
In the south the Alentejo still has extensive matorral and charneca, uncultivated land dominated by cistus or groves of cork oak, often managed in estates, and holm oak. Most of the Algarve landscape is dominated by the vine and by trees typical of Mediterranean arboriculture—olive, fig, almond, and carob.
The rich vegetation of both Madeira and the Azores has been Europeanized. The climate encourages year-round growth of a considerable variety of flora. A wealth of ferns, mosses, heaths (especially tree heaths), and junipers reflects the influence of grazing and human activities on these islands. About 100 plants are peculiar to Madeira, either as indigenous or as highly individualized varieties. Only Madeira has much woodland, most of it the result of reforestation (e.g., of poplar, pine, and eucalyptus). Two-thirds of Madeira is a conservation area; its Laurel Forest (Laurisilva) was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999.
Parks, reserves, and other protected areas covering more than 5 percent of the mainland have been declared from the far north of Portugal (Peneda-Gerês and Montesinho) to the extreme south (Formosa River), from the east (Malcata Mountains and Guadiana valley) to the west (Berlengas Islands, Sintra), and in several areas of natural beauty in between. Since the mid-1980s, environmental concerns and ecological associations have grown slowly but steadily. In 1990, as part of an effort to expand protection of the environment, the government established an environment ministry.