Habitats Threats and Conservation Europe is a relatively small continent stretching from the Atlantic coasts of Portugal Spain France Ireland and Norway in the west to Russia’s Ural Mountains in the east and from the Mediterranean Sea in the south to the Arctic Ocean Unlike South America Africa Asia and Australia no part of the continent is in the tropics Apart from one small area in the south of Spain there are no true deserts Nor are there any tropical rain forests Europe was the first continent where wholesale logging of forests took place so many declines in animal populations must have occurred long before people took much notice of such things What we do know is that in the United Kingdom the last brown bears were seen around 1000 CE gray wolves became extinct in the 14th century and Eurasian beavers suffered a similar fate two centuries later For these large forest-dwelling mammals a combination of forest clearance and hunting for meat fur or skins sealed their fate Bears and wolves were also persecuted because they were a threat to people and their livestock These animals now face less persecution and in many less densely populated areas they are experiencing a revival of their fortunes Varied Habitats Along the north coast of the Mediterranean Sea shores and coastal lagoons have been very important environments for large numbers of breeding and feeding herons shorebirds gulls terns and seals For example the Mediterranean monk seal is now considered to be Critically Endangered with a total population of only 350-450 It has suffered from accidental human disturbance and deliberate persecution by some fishermen also many animals have been caught accidentally in fishing nets These problems have cut numbers dramatically and this seal is at risk of extinction Ports vacation resorts and golf courses are concentrated along the coastal strip in Portugal Spain France Italy and Greece Beaches are more disturbed inshore waters have 4 been polluted and coastal lagoons have been drained for construction or to provide water for irrigation projects The Tablas de Daimiel National Park in southern Spain was once of international importance for its birds but was almost destroyed by an irrigation scheme in the 1970s wildfowl stopped visiting because it no longer contained enough water Much rocky chaparral which was not considered good enough for agriculture was turned over to housing schemes There are however many protected areas along the Mediterranean coast In Spain for example the Ebro Delta National Park protects the world’s largest breeding colony of Audouin’s gulls classified as Near Threatened as well as many other species of birds amphibians fish and invertebrates Mountains and Plains The mountain ranges of the Alps France Italy Switzerland and Austria Pyrenees Spain and France and Dinaric Alps Slovenia and Croatia are cloaked in forest at lower altitudes with grassy meadows above the tree-line The Pyrenees have small populations of brown bears and birds of prey called lammergeiers but sadly the Pyrenean ibex went extinct in 2000 The Alps have a great diversity of animal life including gray
HABITATS THREATS AND CONSERVATION wolves brown bears lynx chamoix ibex and marmots Some species are found nowhere else for example the Alpine field mouse and Bavarian vole One species the Alpine salamander was discovered as recently as 1988 and is one of the world’s rarest amphibians Even within mountains there are important habitats for animals Cave systems provide places for bats to hibernate in winter and roost during the summer The limestone caves in the mountains of Slovenia and Croatia are important too for the world’s only population of the olm a blind amphibian that is now considered Where once there was scrubby chaparral teeming with wildlife much of the Spanish coastal strip has witnessed the large-scale development of roads vacation apartments and golf courses Vulnerable This animal is dependent on clean fresh water Even though the olm is protected chemical-rich run-off from farms poses a threat In some areas of Spain the dehesa is an unusual habitat of undulating oak parkland with the ground between the trees being alternately grazed and 5
cultivated This environment provides food and breeding sites for azure-winged magpies golden orioles great spotted cuckoos shrikes and hoopoes while thousands of common cranes fly south in fall to feast on the acorns This is also where the last Spanish imperial eagles live This magnificent bird of prey is classified as Vulnerable since its world population numbers just 450 600 birds Rolling grasslands such as those found on the plains of Spain Hungary and Ukraine are hot and dry in summer but often cold and wet in winter Spanish ibex and Spanish imperial eagles live in Extremadura Spain as do large numbers of sandgrouse and bustards In Hungary where the grasslands are called pusztas there are Endangered saker falcons and in Ukraine the steppes have many wheatears and larks Forests and Wetlands Although nowhere near as extensive as they once were large areas of temperate broadleaved forest stretch across Europe some of it very old Bialowieza Forest in Poland and Belarus is a good example Much of the forest has been protected since 1923 because it supports the last herds of European bison Despite experiencing great destruction in both World Wars this forest wilderness supports populations of brown bear gray wolf Eurasian lynx Eurasian red squirrel wild boar moose deer and birds such as hazel grouse three-toed woodpecker and spotted nutcracker This forest type is also rich in invertebrates ranging from beetles to butterflies and moths Where drainage is poor on the floodplains of large rivers there are lakes and marshes While many of these wetland areas have been drained to meet the needs of agriculture some important ones remain including the Biebzra Marshes in Poland where Endangered aquatic warblers still breed along with great snipe and Eurasian beavers Farther west in France La Brenne is another important wetland an important wintering ground for white-tailed eagles and a stopover site for many migrant birds in transit between northern Europe and Africa A wide band of coniferous forest the taiga stretches from Scandinavia through Russia and into 6 Asia Lynx pine marten polecat brown bear gray wolf and flying squirrel are some of the well-known mammals of this region Eurasian beavers build their lodges and dams across streams they are known as keystone species because they create habitats for other animals Forest clearings attract nesting cranes sandpipers and black grouse while the densest areas of forest provide food for other birds including crossbills nutcrackers capercailies and hazel grouse This is one of the least-threatened environments but logging and clearance for development have nonetheless reduced its area In the far north conifers are replaced by birch and willow scrub with ptarmigan bluethroats and Lapland buntings This scrub is in turn replaced by treeless tundra completely inhospitable to all but the hardiest animals in winter but supporting massive numbers of breeding wildfowl and shorebirds in summer taking advantage of billions of invertebrates on which to feed Global warming will gradually melt the frozen ground or permafrost beneath the tundra damaging it Some bird species will decline as a result Beyond the tundra is the Arctic Ocean whose surface freezes during winter Again global warming will change the nature of this Despite the international ban on hunting whales illegal hunting of these magnificent mammals does still take place off the north coast of Norway and Russia Much of the coast of the Arctic Ocean is gently sloping but near-vertical sea-cliffs provide a very different kind of coastline in northwest Europe Ledges on these rocky cliffs make ideal places for millions of seabirds to lay their eggs Murres dovekies razorbills shags and gannets all use this specialized habitat while burrows in grassy slopes above the cliffs are used by Atlantic puffins and Manx shearwaters The rocky intertidal zone at the base of the cliffs is usually rich in aquatic invertebrates especially those that anchor themselves to the rocks In recent years marine preserves have been established to protect these environments European tundra is an environment of low plants and lichen-covered rocks with some stunted trees Barren in winter it supports many endangered animals during the summer months
