## 3 Does Evolutionary History Explicate the Resistance or Sensitivity to Climate Change? Some authors [21; 38] suggest that evergreen species react better to mild temperature seasonal fluctuations and to the absence of pronounced drought periods. In other words, evergreens are better adapted to semi-arid conditions in which dry spells are relatively short, while deciduous taxa may be better adapted to long (i.e., seasonal) droughts. The sclerophyll of Mediterranean species is hypothesized to originate from a similarity in leaf anatomical structure between species formerly adapted to humid environments, like tropical _taxa_, which later migrated to arid zones [39]. Indeed, the Mediterranean climate originated in the Quaternary [40; 41; 42], and the morpho-anatomical characteristics of plants that sign the evolutionary convergence between genera and species were evolved in Tertiary [39]. The current trait similarities among Mediterranean and tropical taxa may be due to phylogenetic constraints rather than evolutionary convergence [39; 40; 41]. These Authors argue that the current sclerophyllous Mediterranean vegetation derive from different evolutive lineages and migration routes and evolved partly from pre-adapted taxa from the Mediterranean basin, Macaronesia, and the tropics. Table 1 reports the era of origin of some relevant Mediterranean evergreen woody species. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Tertiary (Pre-Mediterranean *)** & **Quaternary (Mediterranean *)** \\ \hline _Ahies cephalonica_ & _Cistus albidus_ & L. \\ \hline _Ahies numilica_ & Leannoy ex Carrière & _Cistus creticus_ & L. \\ \hline _Arbutus unedo_ & _Cistus monspeliensis_ & L. \\ \hline _Buxus sempervirens_ & _Cistus salviofilus_ & L. \\ \hline _Cedrus libani_ & A. Rich. & _Lavandula_ spp. \\ \hline _Centonia siliqua_ & _Erica_ spp. & \\ \hline _Coryaria mitrifolia_ & _Genista_ spp. & \\ \hline _Cupressus sempervirens_ & _Rosmarius officinalis_ & L. \\ \hline _Daplune laureola_ & & \\ \hline _Epheda fragilis_ & Desf. & \\ \hline _llex aquifolium_ & L. & \\ \hline _Juniperus excelsa_ & M. Bieb. & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Mediterranean evergreen woody species listed on the basis of the era of origin. Today, Mediterranean sclerophyll species are widely distributed outside the Mediterranean basin, according to their evolutionary history. Therefore, their occurrence is not primarily related to the typical Mediterranean climate with winter-wet and summer-dry conditions. Species belonging to the Oleaceae family, such as _Olea europaea_ L. and _P. latiifolia_, spread from North Africa to Middle East in non-Mediterranean climates; the genus _Pistacia_ (family of Anacardiaceae) evolved in Central Asia under semi-arid climate [43]; while the distribution _A. unedo_ (Ericaceae) is connected to oceanic climatic conditions and it can be found also in the British Islands [43]. Evergreen sclerophyllous oaks of the section _Ilex_ (_sensu_[44], family of Fagaceae) originated from East Asia in a subtropical wet climate and migrated to western Eurasia (Europe), through the Himalayan corridor [45; 46] during the Pliocene era. In the Mediterranean basin, evergreen oaks followed ecological adaptation to the prevalent climatic conditions, i.e., level of dryness [47]. _Quercus ilex_ subsp. _ballota_ and _Quercus coccifera_ L. subsp. _callirrinos_