Animals of Great Britain. Flora and fauna of Great Britain

The island state is located in the north-western part of Europe and is famous for its inconstant and somewhat harsh climate with rains, fogs and frequent winds. All this is directly related to the flora and fauna. Perhaps the flora and fauna of Great Britain is not as rich in species as in other countries of Europe or the world, but from this it does not lose its beauty, charm and uniqueness.

Characteristics of the relief

The territory belonging to the United Kingdom can be divided into two areas: High and Low Britain. The first region also includes Northern Ireland and is located in the west and north of the country. The area is characterized by stable ancient bedrock, it is a severely disconnected elevations and a small number of lowlands. Low Britain stretches in the south and east of the country. It is characterized by a hilly landscape and small hills, in the basement there are young sedimentary rocks. Together with the climate and soils, the terrain has an impact on the characteristics of the flora and fauna of the United Kingdom.

Climate and water resources of Great Britain

The Gulf Stream has a significant influence on the climatic conditions in the country. It creates a moderate oceanic with a high humidity background. Winters are mild, and summers are cool with frequent fogs and strong winds. The average annual temperature is +11 ° C in the south and approximately +9 ° C in the northeast. Precipitation falls a lot. The reason lies in the low-pressure region, which stretches eastward across the Atlantic Ocean, in the south-west winds that prevail throughout the year, and in the mountains located in the western part of the country.

The Kingdom is rich in water resources. Due to the large amount of precipitation exceeding evaporation, in almost the whole country the deep rivers are connected to a dense network. The largest lakes are in Northern Ireland (Loch Tey) and Scotland (Loch Lomond, Loch Ness in the photo above). The places are very picturesque, there are various kinds of animals.

Soil and vegetation

Great Britain is characterized by the prevalence of brown forest and podzolic soils, on rocks of limestone nature - humus-carbonate. In connection with heavy rainfall, they are all usually leached. Therefore, the flora of England is very scarce, forests occupy only about 10% of the area of the region. So the animals of Great Britain are mainly inhabitants of plains, meadows and reservoirs. The forest is a bit larger in Scotland, but there are also heathlands, meadows and peat bogs. The predominant tree species are pine, larch, spruce and oak. In the lower reaches of the mountains of Wales and England, hornbeam, elm, beech, ash are also found. In the south of the country, some evergreen species, characteristic of the Mediterranean, are growing. The plant and animal life of Great Britain determines its climate. Natural meadows in Wales and England - the birthplace of wild daffodils pale yellow (emblem of the Welsh), orchis and primroses. Above the mountain areas there are grass-and-motley territories with juniper, blackberry and blueberry. The Scottish highlands are characterized by the prevalence of sphagnum-chernozem peat bogs with meadow rue and alpine mountaineer.

Some plants from picturesque meadows have long become symbols of both the English themselves and their neighbors. Shamrock, or an ordinary clover, is probably familiar to many, it is associated with the name of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. A wild leek is an emblem of the inhabitants of Wales. Thorny weed thistle (pictured) for more than 500 years - a symbol of Scotland, embodying the same unruly and proud disposition of the inhabitants of the region.

Fauna of Great Britain

The fauna of the country also does not differ too much in diversity and is typical for northern Europe. At the moment there are about 70 species from the class of mammals, while 13 of them are imported, and not indigenous, there are no endemics. The birds differ in diversity (588 species). At the same time, there are about 250 habitats on the territory, and 300 are rarely seen or during the flight. The cold climate does not contribute to the variety of reptiles that are sensitive to temperature changes. There are only six indigenous terrestrial species, plus sea turtles (5) and reptiles brought to the island by humans (7).

Class mammals: animal species

The coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and this explains the large number of marine inhabitants. So, on sandy and pebble beaches you can meet the ordinary and long-sea seals. In the territorial waters there live blue and humpback whales, seyval, fin whale, minke whale, dolphins (gray, Atlantic white-bearded, ordinary grinda, white-mare, striped, bottlenose, killer whale), as well as sea pig, highbrow bottlenose, beltedot, beak and sperm whale.

Some animals in the UK, as a result of active hunting for centuries, have by now become rare. Not so much in the forests of wild artiodactyls as before: European roe deer, noble, spotted and watery (rare, vulnerable species) deer, fallow deer, Chinese muntjak. From large predators there are a fox, a wolf, a forest cat, marten, ermine, weasel, ferret, otter, etc. Habitual inhabitants - badgers, wild boars, shrews. The order of the lagiformes is represented by a sufficient number of species: the hare, the white fowl and the wild rabbit, the voles, the dorms, the rats and mice, the Caroline and the ordinary squirrels.

It is also worth noting the diversity of representatives of the family Bats (a total of 20 species). Some names of animals are unusual, and others are familiar to many: big and small horseshoe, European broadsword, late and bicoloured leather, long-eared, watery, moustached, night and nightmare Brandt, a small and red evening, bat, brown and gray ears.

Birds of Great Britain

Out of more than five hundred species of birds, more than half in the country are just a span. Human activities have a huge impact on their natural habitats. This leads to fluctuations in the number of different species. Thus, as a result of draining the marshes, the number of waterfowl has decreased noticeably, but sparrows and pigeons are very well in the cities, populations of which are very large. The fauna of Great Britain is not too rich in terms of diversity, and birds are no exception. Of the indigenous inhabitants it is worth noting finches, starlings, tits, robins, kingfishers (pictured), red-breasted zaryonka (symbol of the country), petrel, thistle, etc. The number of commercial birds is small, but still there are pheasants and partridges.

What kinds of reptiles live?

Conditions for reptiles, to put it mildly, are not the best. Therefore, there are only 11 species, five of which are marine inhabitants (turtles). The first three representatives are lizards: a quick, viviparous and fragile spindle (pictured). The latter looks more like a snake, since it has no legs. These are quite ordinary wild animals, common everywhere. From snakes there are three kinds: ordinary, copper and adder. The indigenous inhabitants of the coast include sea turtles: loggerhead, Bissa, green and Atlantic ridleya.

In addition to these reptiles, at least seven more species were imported to the country at different times. These include the red-eared and European swamp turtles, wall and green lizards, viper and water snakes, and esculapius skid. Some animals of Great Britain once lived on its territory, but became extinct, and later were again imported.

Representatives of the amphibian class

Aboriginal species of amphibians are few, only eight (5 tailless and 3 tailed). Tritons are found in rivers and standing reservoirs: nithenous, common and comb (in the photo). Among the representatives of taillesses, gray and reed frogs, frogs (pondaceous, pry and grassy) are common. It is known at least about eleven introduced species. Among them, newts (alpine, gray-spotted and marbled), an edible frog, a fire salamander, a yellow-bellied fence, etc.

Invertebrate inhabitants of Great Britain

These wild animals are hardly noticeable, but they are the most numerous both in the total number and in species diversity. The mollusks are represented by over 220 species. The most common and numerous class is, of course, insects. In the UK, there are more than 20 thousand species, including beetles, lepidopterans, orthopterans and dragonflies.

Animals in the UK are characterized by a scanty number of species and a general low population. This is due not only to the climate. The economic activities of man, deforestation, drainage of swamps and extermination, which lasted for centuries, certainly contributed to it.