A large part of central Chile from the Biobio River to north of Santiago is described as a Mediterranean Climate, or more precisely Chilean Matorral. We can use these unique conditions to mimic plant and animal strategies to design and create living landscapes that yield an abundance of goodness.

The Mediterranean manifests around the world in Chile, the ´´Mediterranean´´, California, South Africa and Australia. If you look at this link to Biomes you can see where the Mediterranean fits in.  

We can see that all of these areas are affected to some degree by ´subtropical high pressure air cells´ generated by the oceans. In these giant weather systems cool dry, sinking air, traps a surface layer of warm moist marine air. This makes rainfall almost impossible, or unlikely. The South Pacific High for example is a major factor in shaping the Atacama Desert and the dry climate of central Chile.

These regions are home to diverse habitats and species. Vegetation types can range from forests to woodlands, savannas, shrublands, and grasslands; "mosaic" landscapes are common, where differing vegetation types are interwoven with one another in complex patterns created by variations in soil, topography, exposure to wind and sun, and fire history.

Much of the woody vegetation in Mediterranean-climate regions is sclerophyll, which means 'hard-leaved' in Greek. Sclerophyll vegetation generally has small, dark leaves covered with awaxy outer layer to retain moisture in the dry summer months.

The natural vegetation of Mediterranean lands has to survive long, hot summer droughts and prolonged wet periods in winter. Mediterranean vegetation includes the following:

• Evergreen trees such as pine, cypress and cork oak
• Shrubs such as myrtle and laurel
• Garigue tough grasses and sweet-smelling herbs such as rosemary, lavender and thyme

Most natural vegetation in Mediterranean areas has long since been cleared for agriculture. In places such as the Sacramento Valley in California, irrigation has led to intensive farming. This has been replicated in the central valley of Chile. However, in both areas some native vegetation survives.

Acacia caven - fix nitrogen, shade, erosion control, bee fodder, tanin, charcoal, fuel wood, posts, seeds can be used as a coffee substitute. Here is a list of other legume trees.  

Jubaea chilensis - large hardy palm tree producing abundant small coconuts.

Here you can find an Archive for dryland permaculture strategies in Spain. 

Mediterranean is usually defined as hot and dry in summer, and cool and wet in winter.

Particularly distinctive of the climate are sclerophyll shrublands, called maquis in the Mediterranean Basin, chaparral in California, matorral in Chile, fynbos in South Africa, and mallee and kwongan shrublands in Australia.

An interesting feature of these landscapes is the presence of forest on riparian margins where there is more water in summer. 

Another interesting factor in these climates is the annual precipitation regime which has led to the adaptation of plant and animal species to flood, drought and fire.  

Plants for a Future is an international database of edible, medicinal and useful plants for a healthier world. You can search the database for many useful plants and their habitat requirements, cultivation, propagation and use etc. If you search for Chile in the database you will find various useful Chilean species.

Chileflora.com is a great place to find encyclopaedic information on Chileno flora. Here you can find many locally adapted species for your area and their uses etc. 

 

These zones have charachteristic features of plant communities etc. Here in Chile we can use the unique climatic relationshipssome of these similarities for our advantage, and use  to mimic plant strategies. 

Bill Mollison included the Medit. in the broad Temperate zone with generally cold wet climate strategies. We will split them up. Since the large majority of Chileans live in this climate region, it warrants a closer look, and the development of culturally specific design strategies for chilean landscapes.  

Here is a usefull tool for Mediterranean Herb Identification and use

Here you can find Plants commonly cultivated in the Mediterranean Basin including; pulses and olives, Figs, and citrus, especially lemons, grapes, rice and summer vegetables. It is interesting to note that wheat, chickpeas, and olives, along with sheep and goats, were all domesticated by humans in the eastern Mediterranean Basin.