Europe

Europe — page 3 — 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

Europe — page 4 — HABITATS THREATS AND CONSERVATION 7

Europe — page 5 — EX EW CR EN VU NT LC O Eurasian Beaver Castor fiber Easy to catch and traditionally of high commercial value the Eurasian beaver has been heavily hunted in the past Today threats include habitat loss and water pollution but reintroductions are taking place and the species has been restored to a wide area of Europe Beaver furs are warm and make good clothes Beaver meat is also edible and the animals produce an oily scent called castoreum that was once widely prized as a traditional medicine Beavers are in fact so useful to people that for centuries they were hunted and trapped in large numbers and as a result were driven to extinction over much of Europe In Britain for example the last animals were killed before the start of the 16th century By the early 20th century the world population of the Eurasian species had fallen to about 1,500 animals dispersed across five main sites with a few more in Siberia and western China DATA PANEL Eurasian beaver Castor fiber Family Castoridae World population About 650,000 Distribution Widespread although patchy from France to China Mediterranean countries north to Scandinavia Habitat Broad river valleys swamps and floodplains where trees are found beside slow-flowing water Size Length head body 30 36 in 75 90 cm tail 11 16 in 28 38 cm Weight up to 84 lb 38 kg Form Heavy body with dark fur and a broad flattened tail Large orange incisor teeth small ears and eyes set near the top of the head Diet Plant material mostly grasses leaves and twigs over 300 different species have been recorded Breeding One litter per year of up to 8 young usually 4 5 mature at just under 2 years Life span 10 years in wild up to 25 or more in captivity Related endangered species No close relatives that are endangered Status IUCN LC 8 The demise of the Eurasian beaver has now been halted by effective protection measures and the species fortunes have been revived by many successful reintroduction projects So far beavers have been restored to 13 European countries including Latvia the Netherlands France and Hungary all of which now have thriving new beaver populations Sweden has imported some animals from Norway while others have been released in Lapland although their chances of survival so far north are precarious There are now about 650,000 Eurasian beavers altogether mostly in Europe although a few can be found in Central Asia Some even live in semiurban areas There is a colony along a riverbank below the flight path into Geneva Airport After asking the public for their views a trial release was organized in Knapdale Scotland where 16 beavers were released into the wild in 2009 and seem to be thriving Shaping the Environment Eurasian beavers live in small colonies of closely related animals Although they sometimes use log piles for their dens they do not build dams like their North American cousins preferring instead to dig burrows Nevertheless each fall they gnaw and fell trees setting up stores of twigs and leaves for the winter an activity that has a major effect on their environment In summer they feed on aquatic plants more than bark but can still cause damage to trees and sometimes to crops as well Although some of the beaver’s habits can be destructive to the

Europe — page 6 — environment the same activities actually assist the survival of other animals By felling trees beavers create open clearings stimulating new growth that provides an ideal environment for warblers insects and shy mammals that find it difficult to live in unmodified forest The beaver’s large burrows can cause flooding and bank destruction but beavers also obstruct the water flow which is helpful to some species In good beaver habitat there may be one colony every 500 yards 450 m along a riverbank in poor conditions the gap between colonies may be over 3 miles 5 km New Hazards Although Eurasian beavers are still killed in some countries hunting is no longer a serious problem for the species Today there is a new danger in the increasing volume of road traffic The effects of road accidents can be particularly severe often wiping out whole families as they move between isolated ponds Youngsters also disperse away from their birth colony when they are about two years old sometimes traveling over 60 miles 100 km to find a new home In much of modern Europe such journeys are almost impossible to make without crossing roads and many young beavers are killed as a result There is also a new threat from detergent pollutants in the water which may interfere with the vital insulation provided by the beaver’s fur A potential problem for the future is that the American beaver was introduced to Finland in 1937 before it was realised it was a different species The two species do not interbreed but they do compete with each other for food resources EURASIAN BEAVER Beavers are at risk from natural hazards such as getting trapped under the ice in winter Natural predators like wolves do them little harm A greater danger is posed by highway traffic 9

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