Flora and fauna

Flora

The Mountains have a diverse variety of plant life. They are home to more than 1,000 species of vascular plants, about 450 mosses, 200 liverworts, 700 lichens, 900 fungi, and 70 slime moulds. There are five climatic-vegetation belts in the Tatras.

The distribution of plants depends on altitude:

  • up to 1,300 m: Carpathian beech forest; almost no shrub layer, herb layer occupies most of the forest floor
  • to 1,550 m: Spruce forest; shrub layer poorly developed, mosses are a major component
  • to 1,800 m: Mountain Pine, numerous herbs
  • to 2,300 m: high altitude grasslands
  • from 2,300 m up: Subnivean – bare rock and almost no vegetation (mostly lichens)

Fauna

The Tatra Mountains are home to many species of animals: 54 tardigrades, 22 turbellarians, 100 rotifers, 22 copepods, 162 spiders, 81 molluscs, 43 mammals, 200 birds, 7 amphibians and 2 reptiles.

The most notable mammals are the Tatra chamois, marmot, snow vole, brown bear, wolf, Eurasian lynx, red deer, roe deer, and wild boar. Notable fish include the brook trout and alpine bullhead.

The endemic arthropod species include a caddis fly, spider Xysticus alpicola and a springtail.

Zdroj: wikipedia.org