It is now clear that the Mediterranean region is one of the most important geographical areas on the planet in terms of biodiversity. Moreover, there is a continuously growing interest in the preservation, adaptive management, and restoration of the unique natural ecosystems and cultural landscapes that characterize this area.

The biological and cultural heritage of the Mediterranean, as well as its extremely rich biodiversity, are currently in real danger. This makes the need for disseminating detailed yet easily accessible information about the Mediterranean biosphere even more urgent, along with an ecological, historical, and evolutionary perspective of the changing context within which the region's flora and fauna continue to evolve.

No other recent handbook is exclusively dedicated to the evolutionary ecology of the Mediterranean, while the synthesis of the many significant developments in recent years is now imperative. This book continues in the spirit of the first successful and popular edition, although the text has been updated and expanded to document recent changes in biodiversity, new ecological and evolutionary perceptions, as well as future challenges.

These changes include the addition of two new chapters dedicated to the Mediterranean Sea itself, particularly its coastal areas. Throughout the book, pressing issues of global change (especially climate warming) are examined, combined with changes in land use, and with the terms of potential impacts on the biosphere, human communities, ecosystems, and landscapes.

This book is suitable for anyone interested in the natural history of the area, especially for graduate students and researchers in the evolutionary ecology of the Mediterranean, biogeography, and conservation biology who require a comprehensive overview of the subject.