In nature: for body and soul : June 2014

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Fauna of Lithuania

Fauna of Lithuania

Facts and numbers:

The total number of vertebrate animals found in Lithuania is over 500.

Among them 70 are mammals, 369 – birds, 100 – fish.

The total number of Lithuania’s invertebrate species is estimated at over 200,000. Among them 150,000 are insects, about 1,200 – arachnids and about 170 – molluscs.

The total number of animal and plant species included into the Red Data Book of Lithuania (Lietuvos Raudonąją knygą) is 768.

Beavers

- they are the most numerous animals in Lithuania. The extraordinarily prolific beavers are busy building their dams and lodges on our streams, lakes and rivers.

The extraordinarily prolific beavers are busy building their dams and lodges on our streams, lakes and rivers.

Storks

Lithuania has the highest density of white stork population in Europe with 13 000 pairs. That is why Lithuania is known as a land of storks and the stork is our country’s national bird.

Black storks

Lithuania still has rare cattle species - wild European bisons - left in the wild. In 2010, there were 60 bisons living in the wild, and each year their herds are growing in number to once again roam in Lithuania forests.

Meetings

Flora / Lithuania

Flora of Lithuania

Lithuania lies in the area of temperate forest zone, which has its characteristic flora and fauna. Most of forest is coniferous, spruce and birch, with alder, ash, aspen and oak found in smaller numbers - forest land makes up almost one third of the country’s area.

Facts and numbers:

The total number of plant species recorded in Lithuania is near 2,000, of which 16 species are already extinct;

The total number of Lithuania’s invertebrate species is estimated at over 200,000. Among them 150,000 are insects, about 1,200 – arachnids and about 170 – molluscs;

The total number of animal and plant species included into the Red Data Book of Lithuania (Lietuvos Raudonąją knygą) is 768

Oregano named Origanum vulgare by Carolus Linnaeus, is a common species of Origanum, a genus of the mint family (Lamiaceae). It is native to warm temperate western and southwestern Eurasia and the Mediterranean region.

Oregano is a perennial herb, growing from 20–80 cm tall, with oposite leaves 1–4cm long. It is sometimes called wild marjoram, and its close relative O. majorana is known as sweet marjoram.

Uses:

Culinary: Oregano is an important culinary herb, used for the flavour of its leaves, which can be more flavourful when dried than fresh. It has an aromatic, warm and slightly bitter taste, which can vary in intensity. Good quality oregano may be strong enough almost to numb the tongue, but the cultivars adapted to colder climates often have a lesser flavor. Factors such as climate, seasons and soil composition may affect the aromatic oils present, and this effect may be greater than the differences between the various species of plants. Among the chemical compounds contributing to the flavour are carvacrol, thymol, limonene, pinene, ocimene, and caryophyllene.

Medicinal: Hippocrates used oregano as an antiseptic, as well as a cure for stomach and respiratory ailments. A Lithuania oregano is still used today in Lithuania as a palliative for sore throat.

Oregano is high in antioxidant activity, due to a high content of phenolic acids and flavonoids. In test-tube studies, it also has shown antimicrobial activity against strains of the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.

In the traditional Lithuania medicine Origanum vulgare herb has been used internally (as tea) or externally (as ointment) for treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, and nervous system.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis, Valerianaceae) is a perennial flowering plant, with heads of sweetly scented pink or white flowers that bloom in the summer months. Valerian flower extracts were used as a perfume in the sixteenth century.

Valerian, in pharmacology and herbal medicine, is the name of a herb or dietary supplement prepared from roots of the plant. Crude extract of the root is often sold in the form of capsules. Valerian root has sedative and anxiolytic effects.

Valerian has been used as a medicinal herb

The name of the herb is derived from the personal name Valeria and the Latin verb valere (to be strong, healthy).

Because of valerian's historical use as a sedative, anticonvulsant, migraine treatment and pain reliever, most basic science research has been directed at the interaction of valerian constituents with the GABA neurotransmitter receptor system

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is a perennial herbaceous plant that spreads by seeds and rhizomes. Tussilago is often found in colonies of dozens of plants. The flowers, which superficially resemble dandelions, appear in early spring before dandelions appear. The leaves, which resemble a colt's foot in cross section, do not appear usually until after the seeds are set. Thus, the flowers appear on stems with no apparent leaves, and the later appearing leaves then wither and die during the season without seeming to set flowers. The plant is typically 10–30 cm in height.

Traditional uses

Coltsfoot has been used in herbal medicine and has been consumed as a food product with some confectionery products, such as Coltsfoot Rock. Tussilago farfara leaves have been used in the traditional Lithuania medicine internally (as tea or syrup) or externally (directly applied) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, locomotor system, viral infections, flu, colds, fever, rheumatism and gout. Coltsfoot-inflammatory, so it can be used in the treatment of bronchitis, laryngeal and tracheal inflammation, asthma and pleurisy, even in the initial phase of tuberculosis treatment. Coltsfoot is a mitigating measure expectorant. In order to reduce coughing and hoarseness to be several times a day to drink very hot tea with honey, coltsfoot. The leaves and flowers of the steam used to treat chronic bronchitis

Food source

Coltsfoot is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the gothic and small angle shades. The coltsfoot is also worked by the honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera).

Relief /Lithuania

Relief of Lithuania

Underlying rock structures are of little significance for the contemporary Lithuanian terrain, which basically is a low-lying plain scraped by Ice Age glaciers that left behind thick, ridgelike terminal deposits known as moraines. The Baltic coastal area is fringed by a region characterized by geographers as the maritime depression, which rises gradually eastward. Sand dunes line an attractive coast; the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršiu Marios), almost cut off from the sea by the Curonian Spit, a thin 60-mile (100-km) sandspit, forms a distinctive feature. It is bounded by the Žemaičiai Upland to the east, which gives way to the flat expanses of the Middle Lithuanian Lowland.

The lowland, consisting of glacial lake clays and boulder-studded loams, stretches in a wide band across the country from north to south; some portions of it are heavily waterlogged. The elevated Baltic Highlands, adjacent to the central lowland, thrust into the eastern and southeastern portions of the country; their rumpled glacial relief includes a host of small hills and numerous small lakes. The Švenčioniai and the Ašmena highlands—the latter containing Mount Juozapinė, at 957 feet (292 metres) above sea level the highest point in Lithuania—are located in the extreme east and southeast.

Čepkeliai marsh (Lithuanian: Čepkelių raistas) is the largest swamp in Lithuania, in the territory of Dzūkija National Park. The area of the swamp is protected as a natural rezerve. In Lithuania there are 34 swamps – natural rezeves

Lithuania counts around 29 thousand watercourses, longer than 0.25km. The total length of all these watercourses would be around 65,000km

There are about 6,000 lakes in Lithuania,

covering 950km², or 1.5% of the territory of Lithuania

Climate / Lithuania

Climate of Lithuania

Lithuania’s climate is characterized by seasonal weather changes, so when you come to our country in different seasons you can see how different it looks - we know what a really sunny spring, hot summer, long and warm autumn and a nippy winter are like.

In recent decades the climate of Lithuania has become warmer – the average annual temperature in the whole territory is 6.5-7.9° C. The warmest month of the year is July (with an average temperature – about 19.7° C, and a maximum - over 30° C), and the coldest is January (with an average temperature – about -2.9° C, its lowest temperature during severe frosts may occasionally drop below -30° C).

The most rainfall is recorded from April to October (60-65% of annual rainfall). Heavy rains are common nearly every summer with precipitation exceeding 30 mm per day.

The seaside and the Curonian Spit have the most sunny hours per year – about 1 860. The sunniest months in Lithuania are between May and August, the lowest amount of sunshine is from November to January.

The strongest winds blow in the months between November and January (at speeds of 5-6 m/s near the coast and 3-5 m/s elsewhere), the weakest winds occur between May and September (4-5 m/s near the coast and 2-3 m/s elsewhere). Occasionally, the winds get dangerously strong, with gusts reaching over 15 m/s. Such winds occur on the coast on average 60 days a year. As the temperatures warm up, tornado-like winds are more likely to be seen.