﻿ Сочинение NATURE AND FAUNA IN IRELAND Новикова А. Лицей 55 г. Пенза | Школьная лига РОСНАНО



Ireland is an island on the west side of Europe. The capital of Ireland is Dublin. There are about 5 million people in the Republic of Ireland. It is a small country but a lot of people know about it. In many countries there are Irish priests and nuns. People left Ireland to find work in those countries and they stayed there. All over the world there are people with Irish blood. The country is in two parts. The larger part, the Republic of Ireland, is in the south. The smaller part of Ireland, Northern Ireland, is part of the United Kingdom and its big city is Belfast. Like a lot of other countries, Ireland had sad and difficult times, but it had good times too. The Irish are kind and polite people, they welcome strangers. The Irish love to talk. Ireland is a beautiful country with fine lakes, tall mountains and attractive beaches. It has two great rivers. It is a very green country. It is green partly because it rains too much

As Ireland was isolated from mainland Europe by rising sea levels after the ice age, it has less diverse animal and plant species than either Great Britain or mainland Europe. There are 55 mammal species in Ireland and of them only 26 land mammal species are considered native to Ireland. Some species, such as, the red fox, hedgehog and badger, are very common, whereas others, like the Irish hare, red deer and pine marten are less so. Aquatic wildlife, such as species of sea turtle, shark, seal, whale, and dolphin, are common off the coast. About 400 species of birds have been recorded in Ireland. Many of these are migratory, including the Barn Swallow. Most of Ireland's bird species come from Iceland, Greenland and Africa. Several different habitat types are found in Ireland, including farmland, open woodland, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, conifer plantations, peat bogs and a variety of coastal habitats. However, agriculture drives current land use patterns in Ireland, limiting natural habitat preserves, particularly for larger wild mammals with greater territorial needs. With no top predator in Ireland, populations of animals, such as semi-wild deer, that cannot be controlled by smaller predators, such as the fox, are controlled by annual culling. There are no snakes in Ireland and only one reptile (the common lizard) is native to the island. Extinct species include the Irish elk, the great auk and the wolf. Some previously extinct birds, such as the Golden Eagle, been reintroduced in about the year 2000 after decades of extirpation.

The red fox is the largest of the true foxes and the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America and Asia. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been introduced to Australia, where it is considered harmful to native mammal and bird populations. Because of these factors, it is listed as Least Concern for extinction by the IUCN. Due to its presence in Australia, it is included among the IUCN's list of the "world's 100 worst invasive species». The red fox originated from smaller-sized ancestors from Eurasia during the Middle Villafranchian period, and colonised North America shortly after the Wisconsin glaciation. Among the true foxes, the red fox represents a more progressive form in the direction of carnivory. Apart from its large size, the red fox is distinguished from other fox species by its ability to adapt quickly to new environments and, unlike most of its related species, is not listed as endangered anywhere. Despite its name, the species often produces individuals with abnormal colorings, including albinos and melanists.Forty-five subspecies are currently recognized, which are divided into two categories: the large northern foxes, and the small southern foxes of Asia and the Middle East.Red foxes are usually together in pairs or small groups consisting of families, such as a mated pair and their young, or a male with several females having kinship ties. The young of the mated pair remain with their parents to assist in caring for new kits. The species primarily feeds on small rodents, though it may also target leporids, game birds, reptiles, invertebrates and young ungulates. Fruit and vegetable matter is also eaten on occasion. Although the red fox tends to displace or even kill smaller predators, it is nonetheless vulnerable to attack from larger predators, such as wolves, coyotes, golden jackals and medium- and large-sized felines. The species has a long history of association with humans, having been extensively hunted as a pest and furbearer for centuries, as well as being prominently represented in human folklore and mythology.


The Barn Swallow is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts, a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the Swallow; in Northern Europe it is the only common species called a "swallow" rather than a "martin». There are six subspecies of Barn Swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Four are strongly migratory, and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia. Its huge range means that the Barn Swallow is not endangered, although there may be local population declines due to specific threats. The Barn Swallow is a bird of open country which normally uses man-made structures to breed and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight. This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by man; this acceptance was reinforced in the past by superstitions regarding the bird and its nest. There are frequent cultural references to the Barn Swallow in literary and religious works due to both its living in close proximity to humans and its annual migration. The Barn Swallow is the national bird of Austria and Estonia.

Spartina anglica is a species of cordgrass that originated in southern England in about 1870. It is an allotetraploid species derived from the hybrid Spartina × townsendii, which arose when the European native cordgrass Spartina maritima (Small Cordgrass) hybridised with the introduced American Spartina alterniflora (Smooth Cordgrass).It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing 0.4-1.3 m tall, yellowish green in spring and summer, and turning light brown in autumn and winter. The leaves are 20-60 cm long, and 1.5 cm broad at the base, tapering to a point. It produces flowers and seeds on only one side of the stalk. The flowers are a yellowish-green, turning brown by the winter.

The algal and seaweed flora is that of the cold-temperate variety. The total number of species is 574. The island has been invaded by some algae, some of which are now well established. Because of its mild climate, many species, including sub-tropical species such as palm trees, are grown in Ireland. Phytogeographically, Ireland belongs to the Atlantic European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. The island itself can be subdivided into two ecoregions: the Celtic broadleaf forests and North Atlantic moist mixed forests.