Previous Year Question

The correct matching is—Maquis–Mediterranean Sea Coastal Region, Fynbos–South Africa, Chaparral–California and Matorral–Chile.

All four vegetation types are broadly associated with a Mediterranean-type climate. The major characteristics of this climate are hot and dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Mediterranean-type ecosystems occur mainly in the Mediterranean Basin, California, central Chile, the Cape region of South Africa and south-western Australia.

Maquis is the local name for dense evergreen shrub vegetation found around the Mediterranean Sea. The shrubs generally possess small, hard and drought-resistant leaves adapted to the prolonged dry summer.

Fynbos is the distinctive vegetation of South Africa, particularly the Western Cape and Cape Floral Region. It is dominated by evergreen plants with small, hard leaves, while proteas, ericas and restios are among its characteristic plant groups. The South African Government describes it as a distinctive and highly biodiversity-rich vegetation of the Cape region.

Chaparral is the Mediterranean-climate shrub vegetation found mainly in California. It consists largely of drought- and fire-adapted evergreen woody shrubs. In contrast, similar shrub vegetation in the Mediterranean climatic region of Chile is known as Matorral. The U.S. National Park Service explicitly identifies the regional counterparts as California–Chaparral, Mediterranean–Maquis, Chile–Matorral and South Africa–Fynbos.