The ecoregion covers most of the Italian Peninsula and includes both evergreen and deciduous forests.

The coastal lowlands and foothills of Campania, Calabria, and Apulia in southern Italy are part of the Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests ecoregion.

[2] In the highest portions of the Apennines, the sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests transition to the Apennine deciduous montane forests and South Apennine mixed montane forests, which are dominated by deciduous European beech (Fagus sylvatica), together with other deciduous broadleaf trees Acer pseudoplatanus, Acer obtusatum, and the strict endemic A. Lobelii, Sorbus aria, Sorbus aucuparia, Sorbus torminalis, Ulmus glabra, Tilia platyphyllos, Populus tremula, Ilex aquifolium and conifers Taxus baccata and Silver fir.

Grazing and timber harvesting has altered the forest structure and species composition across much of the ecoregion.

Many rural areas have been abandoned since World War II as Italy urbanized and industrialized.