The nature of Ukraine is very diverse. There are amazing faunal complexes represented by vast forests, endless steppes and meadows, majestic mountains and picturesque reservoirs. Thanks to this diversity natural complexes more than 45 thousand species of animals can be found on the territory of the country. Almost all species and classes of existing animals of the world are represented on the vast possessions of the country. The rich world of flora and fauna of Ukraine is an inexhaustible source for research by scientists. That is why global events are held in the country in the field of preserving unique nature.
Flora of Ukraine
On the territory of the country there are about 16 thousand varieties of plants. In the north of Ukraine there are mixed forests represented by oak-pine, hornbeam-oak-pine and oak-hornbeam forests. Beech, ash, linden and maple grow in the forest-steppe. Most of the steppes in the country are plowed up and occupied by agricultural land. Most of the natural flora can be found only in the reserves.
On the territory of the Carpathians, in the low-mountain areas, mixed forest prevails, and above - coniferous, consisting of spruces, firs and pines. Also on the territory of Ukraine you can find areas with untouched nature, where environmentally friendly mushrooms, berries and medicinal plants. In the highlands there are valleys and meadows, which are dotted with dozens of meadow plants and flowers.
The nature of Ukraine is the property of the country. That is why more than 20 nature reserves, 4 of which are biospheric. So, in the territory of only one Askania Nova reserve, 478 species of herbs grow. There are also 22 national parks and 28 botanical gardens.
Due to human activities, the area of forests has significantly decreased over the past centuries, including the area of valuable beech and oak forests. Great damage was done to the country's forest after the Second World War, when there was an active restoration of the economy. Currently, forests occupy about 14% of the total area of the country.
Animal world of Ukraine
About 70 thousand living organisms live in the republic. (Approximately 108 species of mammals, 344 species of birds, 270 species of fish, 39 thousand species of arthropods, 1400 species of worms and 1200 species of protozoa live in Ukraine).
In the forest there are bears, elk, roe deer, wild boars, wolves, foxes, lynxes and badgers. In the forest-steppe zones you can see deer, ferrets, ground squirrels and martens, as well as some birds - partridges, magpies, orioles. In the area of human settlements, white storks can often be observed making their nests on the roofs. Among the reptiles living in the country, there are vipers, snakes and lizards. Also in the zone of mixed forests there are a large number of newts, toads and frogs.
The world of animals in the zone of the Azov and Black Seas is distinguished by diversity. Gray geese, gulls, mute swans live here, in the seas - flounder, gobies, mackerels, sturgeons and three types of herring. Several varieties of dolphins also live here.
The valley-river zone of Ukraine is characterized by a large accumulation of waterfowl and marsh birds. Here you can see white herons, marsh turtles, cormorants, otters and beavers. Catfish, horse mackerel, bream, mollusks and fish are found in the rivers.
In general, wild animals can mostly be found only in the territories of wildlife preserves and nature reserves, which are quite large in Ukraine. The most popular is Askania - Nova. Here you can see such animals as the wolf, jackal, Przewalski's horse, wildebeest, ostrich, steppe eagle and many others.
Many rare species The animals living here are on the verge of extinction. They are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine and are strictly protected by law. Unfortunately, many species have disappeared due to environmental issues. Among the animals that have disappeared from the territory of the country, there are a kulan, a lion, a saiga, a white partridge, a white hare, a scoter, a tour and a bison.
It was formed over long geological epochs and went through many stages of development before it acquired a modern look.
Development of flora in Ukraine
In the Paleocene, and especially in the Eocene, tropical and subtropical flora prevailed in the country. Palm trees grew on the territory of Ukraine ( Sabal ukrainica, Nipa burtini sive ucrainica and other species), cassia ( Cinnamonum ucrainicum), figs, laurel, eucalyptus, podocarp, birch, sequoia and other trees.
In the middle of the Oligocene, Mediterranean plants began to gradually spread to Ukraine, including oleander, pomegranate, beech, maple and poplar. In the Miocene vegetable world predominantly consisted of broad-leaved and coniferous tree species with a predominance of deciduous forms such as beech, oak and walnut. Along with these species grew tulips, swamp cypress, sequoia and pine. The laurel continued to flourish in the southern regions of the country.
Gradually, the flora was replaced by moderate heat-loving vegetation. Most of the Pliocene modern Ukraine was covered with forest. Among the evergreens, pines dominated, with an admixture of hemlock, spruce, fir, swamp cypress and others, and among deciduous trees birch, oak, hornbeam, maple, chestnut, walnut and magnolia were more common. The southern region was covered with steppe herbs and mustard. At the end of the Pliocene, the forest vegetation became depleted and resembled the flora of the early anthropogenic period (although a small amount of swamp cypress survived).
As the climate became colder in the Pleistocene, pine forests spread across northern Ukraine. Impoverished deciduous forests retreated to areas suitable for their development and free from glaciers (the right bank of the Donets River, the Dniester lowland, the southern slopes of the Crimea and the Caucasus). During the warmer interglacial periods, broad-leaved species were scattered and formed extensive deciduous forests in the forest-steppe belt. In some areas, swamps and meadows were inhabited.
At the beginning of the Holocene, pine and pine-birch forests predominated. In the middle of the Holocene, broad-leaved species from central and southern Europe - lindens, elms, hazelnuts, oaks - spread in Ukraine, and by the end of the Holocene they began to displace hornbeam and beech. The steppe vegetation in southern Ukraine was enriched by xerophytic migrants from the east, from the Aral-Caspian floristic center, the Caucasus and the Balkans. With the development of a favorable climate and the leaching of salts from the loess subsoil, deciduous forests moved to the humid steppe of Ukraine. They reached their maximum area about 5,000 years ago. Forests have always been more common in the Right-Bank Ukraine, especially in areas of dissected relief, which hindered the development of agricultural plants. In Left-bank Ukraine, forests are distributed mainly along the banks of the Sula, Psol, Vorskla, Donets rivers and in the high regions of the Donetsk Ridge.
Human agricultural activity has greatly changed the original vegetation of Ukraine. Almost the entire steppe is under cultivation and is occupied by agricultural species. Large areas of the forest belt have also been converted to agricultural land. Intensive long-term logging in the Carpathians has reduced the protective effect of forests, which has led to frequent floods and increased erosion. Between 1814 and 1914, the area of forests in Ukraine decreased by 30.5%. Only a few ancient sites remain untouched by people, as they are under the protection of the state.
forest belt
The forest belt extends through northern and western Ukraine. Its southern border with the forest-steppe runs along the line Lvov-Kremenets-Zhytomyr-Kyiv-Nizhin-Glukhov. This line also separates the podzolic soils of Polissya and the clayey chernozems of the forest-steppe. Within the forest belt there is a large island of forest-steppe, bounded approximately along the line Kholm-Lutsk-Rivne-Mezhirich-Krivin-Ostrikh-Stoyanov-Belz. The forest belt can be subdivided into the western part, or the belt of Central European deciduous forests, and the northern part, the belt of mixed forests of Polissya.
Central European deciduous forests occupy the western part of Podolia, the Siena lowland, Subcarpathia and Tiska lowland. Here the forests contain more variety trees than anywhere else in Ukraine. Beech is most characteristic of Western Ukraine, where the eastern border of its range is located. It grows in large numbers in Transcarpathia and the Roztochia reserve. White fir is also found in this belt. It is widespread in the Carpathians and some areas of the Subcarpathian and Roztochia regions (usually on the northern slopes) and less often in the lowlands. Oak, linden, elm, birch, maple, pine and spruce are also not rare. Larch and yew are less common.
Polissya forests belong to the mixed forest belt of Eastern Europe. In the past, Polissya formed a continuous forest swamp landscape, but reckless cutting of trees has significantly reduced their area. Today, forests cover about 30 percent of Polesye. The distribution of vegetation depends on the type of soil and topography. Many northern species grow here, especially on the border with Belarus, as well as some steppe plants (feather grass, adonis).
Natural vegetation is found in forests, meadows and swamps. The main forest tree species are pine (57.4% of the forest area), oak (21%), birch (10%), black alder (6%), European aspen (2%) and hornbeam (2%). Pine forests (pine forests) are widespread. They grow on slightly to moderately podzolized soils covering deep sands. In some places birches appear among the pines, but there is no undergrowth. These forests are not demanding on topography, moisture and soil.
Large areas are covered with oak-pine forests, which grow in sandy, slightly podzolized soils with a rich fern cover ( Pteridium aquilinum). Hornbeam-oak-pine forests thrive on podzolized sandy soils underlain by clay. The grass cover is varied and contains ferns, blackberries, blueberries and other plants. Linden-oak-pine forests predominate in eastern Polissya. Spruce forests abound in the northern part of the Chernihiv region, and numerous birch groves grow in the southern part.
On the Left-Bank Ukraine there are oak-maple-deciduous forests. Alder groves appear on peat marsh-gley soils, sometimes with an admixture of birch. Pine with an admixture of birch dominates in less swampy areas. The forest areas are broken up by dry meadows that have developed in areas where trees have been cut down. The vegetation of the meadows is diverse: feather grass, sedge, Corydalis grass, etc. The flooded grasslands along the river valleys are rich in diversity and produce high yields of quality hay.
forest-steppe
The forest-steppe belt extends south of Polissya and east of the deciduous forests of Western Ukraine. In the south, the forest-steppe merges with the steppe belt. The boundary between them is indistinct (many forest islands are cut down) and is defined differently. The soils of the forest-steppe are deep chernozems, some of which, under the influence of forests, have changed to degraded chernozems and gray forest podzolized soils. A narrow forest-steppe belt occurs in the foothills and is associated with altitudinal zoning mountain vegetation.
In the forest-steppe, the elevated, more dissected right banks of rivers, watersheds, hilly areas and ravines are covered with forest. The oak is the predominant tree of the forest-steppe, covering almost half of its surface, but only a few large oak groves remain in the Kirovograd and Khmelnytsky regions. To the west of the Dnieper, hornbeam trees grow among the oaks. Ash, elm, linden, maple and beech are still found in the forest-steppe. The undergrowth consists mainly of hazel, field maple and warty euonymus. Under them grow some ferns and many types of flowering herbs. There are also hornbeam forests with very limited vegetation.
As we move east through the forest-steppe western views become rarer: beech does not grow beyond the western Podolia, and hornbeam is rarely found in the forest-steppe of the Left Bank, where oak-maple-linden forests are widespread. The river valleys are dominated by oak, ash, elm, black poplar and willow. On the sandy river terraces, especially on the left bank of the Dnieper, pine forests, mixed forests, hypno-sedge and sedge-sphagnum bogs are widespread.
The steppe regions of the forest-steppe belt are now almost entirely cultivated. Previously, it was a grassy colored broad-leaved steppe. Well-moistened soil supports the following meadow-steppe plants: low sedge, fescue, vine bentgrass, common feather grass, species of flowering northern grasses such as real bedstraw, meadow sage, crested mytnik and steppe varieties of clover. Shrub vegetation includes blackthorn, steppe cherry, wild rose and Rusyn broom. In the southern part, plum leaf spirea is also found. The left-bank terraces of the Dnieper serve as a habitat for holophytes (salty plants).
The forest steppe of the Tiyskaya lowland in Transcarpathia consists of oak forests, floodplain meadows and varieties of steppe plants that migrated there from the Danube River valley. Natural vegetation in the form of small oak and hornbeam groves has been preserved on this cultivated lowland only on steep slopes.
The Donetsk ridge, which by its nature belongs to the forest-steppe, is covered with various fescue-feather grass steppe vegetation with an admixture of ravines and watershed valleys made of oak, linden and ash. Here, hornbeam and a number of herbaceous plants, typical of deciduous forests, grow in limited quantities.
Steppe
This belt extends south from the forest-steppe belt to the foothills of the Crimean Mountains and the Caucasus. It can be divided into several smaller belts depending on climatic and soil conditions.
The northern part of the steppe is a more humid fescue-feather grass steppe or grass-meadow steppe. It is characterized by an abundance of thick, coarse herbs such as fescue, marsupial keleria, feather grass and dicotyledonous plants such as narrow-leaved peony, Volga adonis and three-veined knapweed. There are many broad-leaved grasses with creeping rhizomes: bonfire, bluegrass meadow, Polish wheat. Steppe groves of Ukraine contain steppe plum, caragana, cythis and low almond. Oak groves are found on the slopes of ravines. The natural vegetation of the steppe has been preserved only in protected areas. Further south, up to the Black and Seas of Azov, lies dry grassy steppe or narrow-leaved, fescue-feather grass steppe. Fescue and feather grass predominate among herbs.
Many ephemeral annuals and perennials bloom in spring: umbellate kostenets, spring stonefly, desert beetroot, elongated breakwort, small-flowered forget-me-not and Schrenk's tulip.
Meadow vegetation is found in floodplains and includes: meadow foxtail, couch grass, ground marten and sandy sedge, as well as dicotyledons such as caustic buttercup, horned bird and clover. Various sedges and herbs grow on moist lowland meadows. Small tracts of oak, elm, black poplar and alder grow in the valleys of large rivers. Swamp vegetation can also be found in river floodplains, on the banks of estuaries and lakes, which are periodically flooded; Such vegetation includes common reed, broad-leaved cattail, lake bulrush and common calamus. Floodplains cover large areas along largest rivers Ukraine.
Along the coast of the Black Sea there is a strip of saline chestnut soils that supports the grassy wormwood steppe. This is a transitional form between the steppe and.
mediterranean vegetation
A narrow zone of Mediterranean vegetation extends along south coast Crimea and the Caucasian coast of the Black Sea. Typical forests of this zone consist of oak, high juniper, Crimean pine and Stankevich pine. The undergrowth consists of red arbutus, butcher's broom and other species. Today, the Mediterranean vegetation is different from what it used to be: wild plants were replaced by vineyards, orchards and ornamental gardens.
mountain vegetation
The Carpathians are a sub-province of the Central European Hardwood Province. They contain a large number of Western European species (mainly beech, Carpathian hornbeam, common and holm oak, linden and maple), a number of endemic species and some representatives of the North Balkan, Mediterranean, European-Siberian and Alpine vegetation. Diverse climatic zones in the mountains they reproduced the altitudinal distribution of flora in several altitudinal zones.
The foothills and lower slopes up to 500-600 m above sea level are a mixed-forest belt, consisting mainly of oak, as well as pine, fir, hornbeam, beech, Norway maple and large-leaved linden. At higher elevations, the share of beech and conifers increases. At an altitude of 600-1200 m there is a belt of beech, mixed beech-fir and spruce forests. In Subcarpathia, this forest belt faces north and contains mainly coniferous trees, but in Transcarpathia, the belt is occupied by large beech forests. Spruce forests dominate only in higher elevations.
The upper limit of the forests reaches 1500-1600 m. Above this line lie subalpine and alpine belts with a dense scrub of dwarf mountain pine, Siberian juniper, mountain alder and Carpathian rhododendron. Extensive mountain meadows (meadows) and clearings at this height are used for pastures in summer. The Alpine belt (above 1800-1850 m) contains mountain arnica, gentian, various orchids, etc. At higher elevations, the ground is covered with white mosses and lichens.
The date: 03.01.2016
Flora of Ukraine
Flora of Ukraine is characterized by a significant diversity of species composition. On the territory of Ukraine there are up to 16 thousand species of plants, including more than 4 thousand species of higher wild plants. From angiosperms, plants of the family Asteraceae (700 species) and legumes (about 300 species) are found in total. The modern flora of Ukraine was formed at the end of the Anthropogen, after the continental glaciation. During the previous periods, it experienced significant changes. From the beginning of the Neogene, the plant world gradually acquires the features of a broad-leaved zone. Among the species, beeches, oaks, chestnuts, and walnuts begin to manage. In the second half of this geological period, forest vegetation was spread over almost the entire territory of Ukraine. Its species composition was dominated by: from deciduous - birch, oak, hornbeam, beech, maple, walnut, and from conifers - spruce, fir, swamp cypress.
In the Anthropogen, as a result of continental glaciations in the north of Europe, there were significant changes in the composition of vegetation. During cooling, pine-birch forests spread, and broad-leaved tree species survived only in certain favorable places. Steppe vegetation reigned in the south of Ukraine during the Anthropogen.
Some plants ( yew berry, rhododendron yellow, cedar pine) have remained unchanged for several geological epochs and are now found on the territory of Ukraine. Such plants, which now live in some inconsistency with modern conditions of existence, called relic.
Under influence economic activity human modern vegetation cover has undergone significant changes. The area of forests has decreased and the steppe vegetation has almost disappeared, the species composition flora. Now more than 400 species grow within Ukraine. cultivated plants, as well as decorative ones imported from other countries (pyramidal poplar, white acacia, Canadian oak, garden lilac, etc.).
The main types of vegetation in Ukraine are forest, steppe, meadow and marsh.
Forest vegetation. The total area of forests in Ukraine is about 10 million hectares, which is approximately 14% of its territory. The highest forest cover is in the Ukrainian Carpathians (40.5%) and the Crimean Mountains (32%). forest cover natural areas the flat part naturally decreases from north to south from 26.1% (mixed forest zone) to 12.5% (forest-steppe) and 3.8% (steppe). Young and medieval trees predominate in the forests, such species as pine, spruce, beech, oak are common. They occupy about 90% of the forested area. In addition, there are plantations of hornbeam, linden, maple, birch, poplar, alder, etc. Pine (upland) forests occupy large areas in Polissya, as well as in the valleys of the Forest-Steppe and Steppe rivers. They grow on soddy-podzolic sandy soils, poor in humus and nutrients. Oak-pine forests are widespread on the best soils.
steppe vegetation in its natural form, it was preserved only on the slopes of the beams, in the foothills of the Crimea, on the sandy spits of the Azov-Black Sea coast. Plots of virgin steppes are protected in nature reserves. Grasses predominate among herbs - feather grass, fescue, thin-legged narrow-leaved; from herbs - clover, viper, marenka, meadow sage, etc .; from ephemera and ephemeroids - forget-me-not, fracture, krupka.
meadows depending on the conditions of placement, they are divided into floodplain, land, lowland, mountain. Thickets of vines, fescue herbs, bentgrass, keleria, as well as stable, zhovtets, sorrel, yarrow, etc. are common in floodplain meadows. On the upland meadows grow mitlitsa, fragrant spikelet, fescue, dandelion, cornflowers. Low-lying meadows are confined to depressions on watersheds, terraces, and valleys, so they are flooded for a long time. Their grass cover is dominated by red fescue, meadow timothy, common sedge, red clover and white. Onions are used as hayfields. Mountain meadows are common in the Ukrainian Carpathians. In the herbage of mountain meadows, fescue, white-beard, clover, and bird-foot are common. In the subalpine zone, meadows of belus, timothy grass, evergreen sedge, and fescue have formed.
Bolotnaya vegetation develops in depressions with excessive moisture. Bogs occupy about 2% of the territory of Ukraine. They are most widespread in Polissya. The swamps have significant reserves of peat. According to the location, floodplain, lowland, valleys, terraced, old riverbeds are distinguished. The most common are low-lying swamps. Their vegetation cover is dominated by grass and grass-moss groups. Sedge, reed, cattail, reed, horsetail, flatbread, etc. are common. From the trees - black alder, less - pine, birch, willow, shrubs from willow and birch.
Many marshes have been drained. The reclaimed swamps are used as hayfields; technical, fodder and grain crops are grown on them.
Flora of Ukraine- one of the most important components of nature, which is represented by a combination of various plant communities growing on the territory of Ukraine. A wide variety of climatic conditions and soil cover, as well as the influence of past geological epochs and increasing human activity, causes the existence of many types of vegetation that have complex combinations with each other.
general characteristics
The flora and mycobiota of Ukraine includes more than 27,000 species (mushrooms and slime molds - 15 thousand, algae - 5 thousand, lichens - 1.2 thousand, mosses - 800 and vascular plants - 5.1 thousand, including the most important cultivated species, and taking into account exotic , which are grown in botanical gardens - more than 7.5 thousand species, of which 826 species are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine (third edition of 2009).
Natural vegetation covers 19 million hectares, which is about a third of the country's territory. More endemic, rare and endangered species grow in the Crimean mountains (2.3 thousand species) and the Carpathians (over 2 thousand species), where almost half of all endemic and about 30% of all rare and endangered species are concentrated.
In the process of human anthropogenic activity, the flora of Ukraine has changed significantly: during the 16th-19th centuries, the forest area in the forest-steppe zone decreased by more than five times, and the area of the most valuable oak and beech forests decreased by a quarter only in the 19th century. In the 20th century, great damage was done to forests in the years after the Second World War during the restoration of the national economy.
To date, 14% of the territory of Ukraine is occupied by forests. The composition of tree species in forests changes under the influence of human activities. Planting valuable species (oak ( Quercus), beech ( Fagus)) increase, while less valuable ones (hornbeam ( carpinus betulus), aspens ( Populus tremula)) - decrease [ ] . About half of the total wood stock in Ukraine falls on coniferous trees -
