Carpathian flora and fauna. §60. Flora and fauna of the Carpathian Mountains. Carpathian healing herbs-charms

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Chervona rue, dream grass, fern, forest lily - these fabulous names actually lead to the fantastic world of the Carpathian Mountains for a visitor. Fantastic in its diversity, healing properties, charm. To get there, a holiday in the Carpathians must be combined with at least minimal knowledge about the unusual vegetation of our mountains.

East Carpathian rhododendron (photo taken from igormelika.com.ua)

Chernogora, or Hutsul Alps, decorated with flowers

June is the time of mountain flowers. Here, for example, is the eastern rhododendron, also called scarlet rue (or chervona, although scarlet monarda is also called chervona rue). At the beginning of summer, this Red Book species of plants densely covers the foothills of Pop Ivan Marmarosky and the mountain itself, blooms on Pop Ivan Chernogorsky, and decorates Chernogora and the foothills of Breskul with flowers.

It’s not for nothing that the Marmaros are called the Hutsul Alps - they are completely different from other Carpathian peaks. Marmaros is characterized by a subalpine relief, and the unique colors of the paints confirm this. In June, here, among the grasses, hides not only rhododendron, but also narrow-leaved narcissus (yes, the same one as near the Transcarpathian Khust), alpine bells, mountain arnica, dream grass, puff grass, unfeeling wind... And herbal experts in this time they can collect material for herbal tea. After all, real Carpathian tea, as you know, is brewed only with mountain water filled with clean air, and is easily seasoned with the aroma of a fire somewhere high in the mountains...

Photo taken from foxatechicken.com

A living carpet, woven from pink (and also purple-violet) rhododendron, also awaits in June in Gorgany, Bliznetsa, Dzembronya and Chivchin. The rarity and beauty of this flowering plant is a challenge even for experienced travelers, because Marmaros is traditionally rainy in June. When taking on this challenge, prepare accordingly! And remember that traveling to Marmaros requires special permits from border guards and respect for plants - most of them belong to the Red Book. Therefore, they can actually be seen and felt only in the place of flowering.

Ecological routes to the Carpathians

This is the path to conquer Goverla, a journey to pastures and to Lake Furious. This mystical lake is surrounded by flowers in summer, as well as entire fields of fluffy miracles - alpine pines. The weather here is amazing: the sun can disappear in literally 15-20 minutes, and such bad weather begins that even experienced travelers get scared. But the fierce beauty attracts them here again and again.

Near Lake Furious (photo taken from times.cv.ua)

Other ecological routes lead to Spitsy, Brebeneskul and Pop-Ivan. You can travel from Bystritsa to the Prut River valley. Ecological trails they lead from Topilche - through Dzembronya - to Pop-Ivan, from Rakhiv - to Petros and Hoverla, from Kvasy - to Petros, etc.

Other flourishing areas at this time are Dragobrat, the Transcarpathian foothills and valleys (in particular, Khustshchyna, Rakhivshchyna and the surrounding area of ​​​​the village of Kolochava). And if you want to get to the peak of cherry blossoms and magnolias, it often falls in mid-April.

Carpathian healing herbs-charms

If you don’t have a famous Carpathian herbalist or an experienced herbalist among your friends, then maps of the protected areas of the Carpathians will be a hint about where you can admire mountain herbs in spring and summer. In particular, the Carpathian National natural park, national natural park "Synevir", Carpathian biosphere reserve, Vyzhnytsia Park in Bukovina, Gorgany and Svyatosti Beskydy parks, as well as the world’s first international biosphere reserve “Eastern Carpathians”. Also pay attention to the Beech Forest in the Carpathians and the young national natural Park“Enchanted Land” in Irshavshchyna (Transcarpathia).

Strawberries (photo taken from ua.torange.biz)

In fact, the secrets of the Carpathian drink, which can give health even through the combination of flower aromas, are known only to local residents. For example, the fact that an elegant orchid is cute cuckoos, popular in the mountain folk medicine. Mountain daisies are helpers for those who have problems with vision and hearing. Thyme - its aroma has long meant the comfort and warmth of home, and blueberries - reconciliation. Blueberries are also sought after by everyone who has eye problems.

Lingonberry (photo taken from wiki.kubg.edu.ua)

If you see a young yellow swimsuit somewhere, know that you can swim in mountain rivers and lakes. It blooms when the air and water have already warmed up enough. And lingonberries are not only tasty as a berry, but also useful as a flower. Lingonberry blossom is brewed as tea. Also traditional among medicinal plants The Carpathians are called lemon balm, mint, St. John's wort, thyme, yarrow, oregano, fireweed, primrose, chicory, sage, Tatar potion (calamus), ivy, fresh spring nettle... All of them bring people a magical gift - health. How? This is truly known only in the protected Carpathians!

Even with a cursory acquaintance with What is striking is not only the beauty of the green cover, but also, above all, its great diversity and originality.

As we see, in Carpathian mountains more than half of the representatives of the entire flora of Ukraine are concentrated. How can we explain such richness and diversity of the flora of the Carpathians? Before, their auspicious geographical location, great diversity of the environment due to the complex terrain and massiveness of the mountains, various types of soils and underlying rocks, and moderate climatic conditions. It is not without reason that botanists call the Carpathians the green treasure of Central Europe. For thousands of years, it has contributed to the enrichment of nearby and distant lowland landscapes with plant forms.

Let's get acquainted, at least briefly, with the life of plants in a strict mountain environment. As the altitude increases, the temperature decreases and the growing season shortens. Daily temperature fluctuations in the mountains are much greater than on the plains, and therefore heat is radiated more intensely from the soil, and the nights are always cold. But temperature fluctuations between summer and winter months there is less here, as in the lowland areas. Thanks to this, beech, fir, sycamore and others grow successfully in the Carpathians tree species mild Atlantic climate.

The higher you go in the mountains, the lower the content in the air becomes carbon dioxide, from which plants take carbon during the process of assimilation. At the same time, the amount of ultraviolet rays increases. Anyone who has been to the mountains can see how quickly you can tan even on winter days. Ultra-violet rays have a harmful effect on growth substances - auxins, destroy them and thereby inhibit cell division. Therefore, most highland plants are characterized by dwarf growth. It is also due to the action low temperatures and constant winds.

On rocky slopes, it is difficult for plants to obtain moisture from the soil. Therefore, their root system is widely branched. Fat cover tissue on the leaves ensures economical consumption of moisture. Here is a young rough thing that grows on limestone. Once picked, it can remain alive for several months. Leaves to protect against evaporation mountain plants densely covered with hairs.

What will happen if these plants are planted on the plain? Alpine milkweed (edelweiss) can also be grown on the plains. But its stems were already lengthening, the leaves were without their characteristic silky sheen, and this symbol of the highlands would lose its charm.
Traveling along mountain paths, one cannot help but admire the bright yellow arnica, golden wind hawks, sky-blue gentians, fiery red carnations, and many other flowers. Not a single artist has yet managed to reproduce the entire gamut of their colors on his canvas. It is caused by a special coloring substance - anthocyanins, the accumulation of which in cells is promoted by low temperature.

There is a lot of snow in the mountains. It protects green seedlings from freezing. Its loose blanket warms evergreens - fern, blechnum spicata, lingonberry, cranberry, dropsy, dryad. Creeping pine and alder are also hidden under it. The cell sap of mountain plants contains a lot of sugar. This also protects them from the harmful effects of low temperatures. Snow in the mountains lingers for quite a long time. Some plants have adapted to this and grow even under its cover. These are species such as Heifel saffron, white flint and others. And how do spruce, cedar and larch grow high in the mountains, whose trunks are exposed to the winds both in summer and winter? How do they provide themselves with moisture in frozen soil conditions?

These plants also have a number of adaptations to help them survive. Larch sheds its needles in the winter and thus protects itself from cold winds. The stomata in the needles of spruce and cedar close. This reduces evaporation, but does not always save. And often on the border of the forest you can see trees with ancestral crowns. Harsh winds dry out the windward part of the crown in winter.

Trees in the highlands have an extensive root system, strong, low trunks, and their branches descend very low. At an altitude of 1400 - 1500 meters, century-old spruce trees barely reach 10-15 meters, at an altitude of 1600 meters - no more than three or four. Spruce can grow even higher only under the cover of snow.

Rare plants that live only in a limited area and are absent in other places are called endemic. Endemics, of course, are rich, isolated islands and mountainous countries. For example, 6,683 plants are known in the Balkans, of which 1,000 are endemic. About 240 endemic species are known in the Carpathian mountain system, which constitutes 6.5 percent of the entire Carpathian flora.

The richest endemics are the southern Romanian Carpathians. In the Ukrainian Carpathians, 86 Trans-Carpathian endemics are known, including 18 East Carpathian ones. Lungwort Filyarsky is a resident of Chornohora, Svydovtsa and Gorgan, Astragalus Krajina is known from the peaks of the Twins, the Eastern Carpathian delphinium grows on the rocks of the Chivchyn mountains, and the Hungarian lilac is preserved in the upper reaches of the Latoritsa, Uzha, Riki and Stryi rivers. So, meeting a rare plant is an outstanding and joyful event.

It is difficult to overestimate the scientific and economic significance of the Carpathian endemics, which are found nowhere else in the world. The disappearance of such a species is a great loss for the flora, because humans will never be able to reproduce it. Therefore, it is quite clear that individual protection rare plants constant attention is paid. This is why nature reserves and nature reserves are created.

Mountain regions are also noted for their greater abundance of relict plants, that is, those that have been preserved from past geological eras. If you are interested in the cost of a water well, then contact us.

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Remember! How do they change natural areas on the plains? Which natural conditions characteristic of the Carpathians?

Look at the schematic drawing of the mountain. How does the vegetation change from the bottom to the top? Think about why.

1. Deciduous forests

2. Mixed forests

3. Coniferous forests.

4. Shrubs

5. Herbaceous plants (meadows)

Forests grow on a significant part of the Carpathian Mountains. They make up almost a fifth of all forests in Ukraine. This is the biggest forest area states.

At the foot, on the slopes of the mountains, on more fertile soils deciduous forest grows. It is formed by oak, hornbeam, linden, maple, ash, beech, birch, alder and poplar.

As you climb higher into the mountains, you feel how it gets colder. Appear coniferous trees. Deciduous forest becomes mixed. In a mixed forest of deciduous trees Beech predominates, conifers include fir and European spruce, which is called spruce, and in some places cedar.

Deciduous forest Mixed forest Coniferous forest

Cuckoo's Tears Rhododendron Edelweiss Arnica

cordifolia Carpathian mountain

Raspberry, hazel, blackberry, and rose hip bushes grow in the forest undergrowth. On the edges and clearings there are herbaceous plants. Among them are snowdrops, forest lilies, and cuckoo tears listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. There are many medicinal plants - St. John's wort, dandelion, celandine, common hemlock, spring primrose.

Mushrooms grow in the forest under the trees: white mushrooms, boletus, aspen, boletus, honey mushrooms.

Higher in the mountains, where it is colder and wetter, there are fewer and fewer deciduous trees. Coniferous forest predominates there. It is formed by spruce, fir and larches. On wet soil Mosses grow between the trees, and lingonberry and blueberry bushes in the clearings.

Closer to the mountain peaks, coniferous trees give way to shrubs of mountain pine, juniper and green alder, which spread near the surface of the earth, because it is warmer there and the wind is weaker. Evergreen bushes of Carpathian rhododendron also grow there.

It is very cold high in the mountains, so the warm period of the year during which plants can develop is short. There are mountain meadows - meadows. These are treeless flat tops of mountain ranges, covered with herbaceous plants, including many listed in the Red Book of Ukraine: yellow gentian, edelweiss (alpine bellweed), mountain arnica, Carpathian bluebells, alpine aster. Mosses and lichens grow on the rocks.

Look at the map of natural zones of Ukraine (p. 170). What animals live in the Carpathians?

Insects and their larvae live in the forest floor, on trees, bushes and grasses. Among the reptiles that live there are lizards - fast and viviparous, grass snake, common viper, and forest snake. Among the amphibians - spotted salamander, Carpathian newt, quick frog and tree frog. Trout, perch, bream, pike and other fish are found in mountain rivers.

Many birds nest in the forests - woodpecker, eagle, golden eagle, shishkarev spruce stork, black stork, snake eagle, woolly owl, wood grouse, black grouse, hazel grouse, tit. Among the animals that live there are squirrel, hare, marten, otter, Noble deer, fox, wolf, wild pig, badger, brown bear, forest cat, lynx. Only in the Carpathians are found the Carpathian squirrel, the snow vole, and the Carpathian capercaillie.

Think! Why in coniferous forest Are bushes and herbaceous plants not growing? Why are there no forests for meat?

Discuss! Why animal world Is the Carpathian region so diverse? Which forest in the Carpathian Mountains contains the most animals?

Poloniny.

Test your knowledge

1. How it changes vegetable world in the Carpathians from the foot of the mountains to the peaks?

2. What Red Book plants grow in the Carpathians?

3. Help Dima name the animals that are found in the Carpathians.

Make a summary

In the mountains, natural zones change with altitude - from the foot to the top. The flora and fauna of the Carpathians is diverse.

Medicinal, healthy and simply delicious plants that can be found during hikes in the Crimea and the Carpathians. Habitat, properties, methods of use.

Common oregano beneficial properties

Oregano - an aromatic perennial plant, very reminiscent of thyme in smell. Rhizome of creeping type, branched. The stems are erect, opposite, slightly pubescent in the upper part, reaching a height of up to 60 cm. The leaves are slightly downy, opposite, darker on top than on the underside. The flowers are purple, reddish-lilac, fragrant, very small and numerous, collected at the ends in a paniculate inflorescence. The fruit is located in a calyx and consists of 4 brown nuts about 1 mm in size. Blooms oregano in July-August, the fruits ripen by early September.

Oregano is widespread in Ukraine and Russia; it loves dry soils, forest edges, clearings, roadsides, and yaila.

Common yarrow, beneficial properties

– a medicinal herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae family. The stems are straight, ribbed, reaching a height of 20-60 cm. The rhizome is creeping. The leaves are split, there is an incredible amount of space on one petiole. a large number of, this is where the name comes from - yarrow. It blooms in June and blooms until September with white collected inflorescences. It grows on the side of roads and fields, in meadows, unpretentious to the climate and soil.

St. John's wort herb

has long been considered one of the main medicinal herbs They say it cures 99 diseases! It is included in many different collections and is widely used in medicine. These are perennial herbaceous plant with many bright yellow flowers collected in paniculate inflorescences. It blooms in June-August and these months are ideal for its collection and preparation. The flowering tops of stems 20-30 cm long are valuable. They need to be dried in the shade and the dried plant should be stored for no longer than three years.

Lingonberries - beneficial properties, recipes

– perennial evergreen shrub creeping type, reaches 10-30 cm in height. The stem is erect with many small dark green shiny leaves. Lingonberries bloom in May-June with small pale pink flowers. The fruit is a bright red berry with a xylo-sweet taste, ripening in late August-September. It is found in the European part of Russia, Ukraine, the mountains of the Caucasus, Crimea and the Carpathians. Grows best in coniferous and mixed forests, together with blueberries in swamps, sometimes on mountain slopes and yaylas.

The flora of the Carpathians is richness, diversity and abundance of colors. Forests are a real pride and asset. Only in the territory of the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine are forests of the Central European type widespread. Admire the light oak and beech groves, and feel the gloom of the spruce forests. No wonder eastern part The Carpathian Mountains are called Wooded, while in the southeast there is historical region- Bukovina. No less beautiful are the local meadows, which literally paint the entire territory with colored lines.

The flora of the Ukrainian Carpathians is incredibly diverse. Today there are about 2000 plants in the Carpathian Mountains. They are represented primarily by forests of the Central European type with broad-leaved trees, which occupy 35% of all vegetation. This includes beech, hornbeam, etc.

The second place is occupied by Euro-Siberian plants: different kinds spruce, juniper, etc. Arcto-alpine flora is also present: willow, dryad, etc. You can even see edelweiss among the rocks and cliffs. Steppe vegetation also occurs. In some places, representatives of the Crimean-Caucasian vegetation are found.

Rare plants of the Carpathians represent about 2% of the total species diversity. This includes rhododendron, from whose small flowers Romanians make jam. Carpathian sorrel and euphorbia also grow only here.

The Red Book of the Carpathians includes unique relics that have managed to survive to this day from the prehistoric period. These are yew, European cedar and others.

Before we look at the main representatives of the Carpathian flora, we recommend taking a look at. Affordable price and comfortable conditions: what else is needed to enjoy the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains?

Beech is the most common tree in the Carpathians. An entire historical region was named after him - Bukovina. The tree has a dense crown, through which almost no light penetrates. Growth is slow: in ideal conditions in 350 years a tree can reach a height of 50 meters. The trunk width is about 120 centimeters. Beech loves soft climatic conditions. A feature of beech forests is a weak undergrowth (due to strong shadow).

Common oak

Oak is a tree known to every Ukrainian, which reaches a height of 30 meters. The trunk girth is up to 9 meters. Some native oak trees are over 1,100 years old. This means that the trees date back to the princely era. In the Carpathians you can find common oak and sessile oak. As a rule, it grows in mixed forests, but there are also entire oak forests.

Spruce forests reaching the horizon are one of the main assets of the Carpathians. Carpathian forests consist of 40% spruce. This is a long-lasting, powerful tree that can grow up to 50 meters. The trunk diameter of the oldest trees is 1.5 meters, and their age is up to 400 years. The beautiful wide-pyramidal crown makes spruce one of the most popular trees for urban landscaping.

At an altitude of 1600 meters above sea level and more, cold and humid climate, which is why trees no longer grow here. Instead, less demanding shrubs, moss and lichens grow.

Occupy most highlands of the Carpathians. It's about about thickets of bushes with monotonous species composition. Zherep pine covers almost the entire surface of the rock slopes. Due to its height of up to 2 meters, the plant makes slopes difficult to pass. Juniper and willows (dwarf type) grow on the slopes.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the alpine vegetation, represented by lichens, low shrubs and herbs. You can meet it on the tops of several massifs. Small flowers make the local landscapes more picturesque.

The main feature of the Carpathian Mountains is that their nature is practically untouched by humans. Locals They try to live in harmony with nature and protect it. So if you are looking for a place where you can relax and forget about the city routine, you will not find anything better than the Carpathians.