FAUNA
The
term fauna is used to describe the total number of animal species
(Vertebrates and Invertebrates) inhabiting a certain area. Our knowledge about the Greek fauna begins a long time ago, when Aristotle wrote "On the History of Animals", where he described in detail, about 600 species. According to recent studies (Fauna Europea 2004), Greece hosts 23,130 land and freshwater species (Legakis, 2004). Another 3,500 species live in the Greek seas. If we add several species that have been recorded but are not yet listed, Greek fauna comprises approximately 30,000 species.
The
Hellenic fauna is very poorly studied. Vertebrates
are better known than Invertebrates. It is believed that if the Hellenic Fauna is fully studied, it will include c. 50,000 species. Of these:
•
555 are fishes (447 saline and 108 freshwater species)
•
22 amphibians
•
61 reptiles
•
436 birds
•
111 mammals (98 terrestrial and 13 saline)
• 24,747 invertebrates
Press here to download data for the Hellenic Fauna, by Anastasios Legakis, Assistant Professor of the Department of Biology, University of Athens.
The Greek Fauna is more related to the fauna of East Mediterranean, an area influenced by Europe, central Asia, Anatolia, Middle East and Africa. Another characteristic of the Greek Fauna is the endemism. According to the Fauna Europaea Project, 3,956 endemic species have been recorded so far on land and freshwater, a percentage of 17,1%. There are certain groups, such as terrestrial Isopods and Orthoptera, with endemism higher than 30% (64% and 32% respectively). The main reasons for these high percentages are the long-lasting isolation of the Greek Islands and the existance of mountain refuges during ice ages.
So
far, reference is made only to the number of species and not
to the number of subspecies, who increase even more the diversity
of the Greek fauna. This is done because taxonomic ranking of
several subspecies is yet to be determined.
The
large diversity of the Greek fauna is justified by the same
terms as the diversity of the Greek flora. Primarily, the hellenic
territory acted as a shelter to the animals of N Europe during
the ice ages. Secondly, the huge variety of biotopes (in a relatively
small area, several different habitats are observed) contributed
in the development of different isolated populations of wild
animals, which consequently evolved
into new species and subspecies, several of which are now Greek
endemics.
As
far as Parnitha is concerned, available historical data and
previous research show that until recently, most of the
country’s
large mammals were present on the mountain. Among them, brown
bear (Ursus arctus, existed until mid-19th century),
grey wolf (Canis lupus, until 1940-50), lynx (Lynx
lynx, existed until the last century, now extinct from
whole Greece). There were also bobcats (Felix sylvestris)
and large herbivore mammals, such as wild boars (Sus scrofa)
and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), which disappeared
from Attica in the beginning of the 20th century.
The
species mentioned above no longer exist on Parnitha, because
they were forced to move to much northern habitats (Pindos,
N Greece), due to human activities. However, despite the extinction
of these species from the area, Parnitha with its rich flora,
its forests, its variable topography and its high protection
status (as National Park, Game Reserve, Special Protection Area
for the Birds (SPA), Natura 2000 site), offers a suitable ecosystem
for supporting various wild fauna species.
In
conclusion, Parnitha’s fauna remains among the richest in the
Attica plain 
and
despite human impact, it sustains a
significant number of red
deer (Cervus elaphus), which, along with a small
population on Rhodopi mountain, form
the only wild populations of this species in Greece.
Of
the animals living on Parnitha, 23 bird species, 12 mammal species
(bats especially) and 12 amphibian and reptile species are included
in the Annex of "Strictly protected" fauna species
in the Bern Convention. Furthermore, according to the "Red
Data Book of Endangered Vertebrates of Greece" (Karandeinos,
1992) there are 11 Endangered και 8 Vulnerable species. There
have also been observed 10 bird species with relatively limited
distribution in the world, but with important european populations
and 1 threatened species. It is noteworthy that 5
reptile species and 6 mammal species of Parnitha
are
cited in Annex ΙΙ of the EEC Directive 92/43.
Synoptic table of Parnitha’s protected fauna species
|
Number
of protected species
|
Directive
92/43
|
Directive
79/409
|
IUCN
Red List
|
RDB
|
P.D.
67/1981
|
Bern
Convention
|
|
ΙΙ
|
ΙV
|
Ι
|
ΙΙ
|
| Amphibians |
_
|
4
|
_
|
_
|
1
|
_
|
6
|
7
|
| Reptiles |
5
|
18
|
_
|
_
|
3
|
_
|
19
|
22
|
| Birds |
_
|
_
|
23
|
14
|
_
|
11
|
_
|
85
|
| Mammals |
6
|
21
|
_
|
_
|
3
|
19
|
21
|
12
|
