Résumé
While being steeped in a long history of human impact, Mediterranean forests are among the most diverse ecosystems in France, but they are also faced with multiple societal challenges, from both production and leisure activities. In fact, how can we reconcile both the conservation of biodiversity that is under increasing threat and society’s demand for more wilderness on the one hand, with increasingly anthropogenic pressures to satisfy economic needs on the other? Furthermore, these issues are being magnified by the climate change that is strongly affecting Mediterranean forests. In effect, the warming and increasing intensity and frequency of droughts directly affect forest-related ecosystem services and processes but also alter forest ecosystems indirectly by modifying their biodiversity. The role of diversity in the functioning of Mediterranean forest ecosystems could well be the keystone to reconciling numerous challenges which, in any case, can only be achieved through as-yet-to-be-invented compromise and solutions.