Matorral is aSpanish word which, along with the near-synonymoustomillares, broadly applies toshrubland,thicket, orbushes.[1] It is used in naming and describing aMediterranean climate ecosystem inSouthern Europe.
Matorral originally referred to thematorral shrublands and woodlands in the Mediterranean climate regions ofSpain and otherMediterranean Basin countries. Thesescrub shrublands and woodlands are aplant community and a distincthabitat. Other common general names for this Mediterranean region shrubland habitat ecosystem aremaquis andgarrigue inFrance,macchia Mediterranea inItaly,phrygana inGreece,matoPortugal,batha inIsrael. The term is now used more broadly to include similar bio-assemblages wherever they occur.
In Portugal, the termmato ormatagal is used to refer to thescrublands, or heaths, that formed on theCambrian andSilurianschists in the north and central parts of Portugal.
Mediterraneanmatorral shrublands are often part of a mosaic landscape, interspersed withforests,woodlands,grasslands, and scrublands.[2][3]
The termmatorral followed theSpanish colonization of the Americas and is used to refer toMediterranean climate woodlands and scrub,[4] as well asxeric shrublands ecosystems inMexico,[5]Chile,[4] and elsewhere.
There areChilean Matorral areas in central Chile, including portions ofLa Campana National Park.
TheCentral Mexican matorral,Meseta Central matorral,Tamaulipan matorral, andTehuacán Valley matorral are xeric shrubland ecoregions of Mexico.
The Portuguese termmato was imported to colonial easternSouth America, where it was used to refer to the great scrublands,savannas, andflooded grasslands region called theMato Grosso, in present-day westernBrazil.
The regional Mexican bandLos Tigres Del Norte used the termmatorrales, the plural form ofmatorral, in its famous song "Pacas De A Kilo," an example of an infamousnarcocorridos, or drug ballads.
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