FORESTS IN LATVIA,    FORESTS IN EUROPE

Latvia is located in the contact zone of boreal coniferous forests and nemoral summer green deciduous forests, therefore the species, which are typical for these both forest biomes, can be also found in the forests of Latvia.

The typical representatives of the Latvian forest fauna are roe deer (exemplar number according to the data of the State Forest Service is 240 thousands), red deer (37 ths), elk (15 ths), wild boar (67 ths), beaver (89 ths), brown and mountain hare (35 ths),  from large predators - lynx (1.3 ths) and wolf (0.8 ths), and also some small and medium sized predators – red fox (35 ths), pine marten (28 ths), badger (11 ths), western polecat and weasel. Most of them are game animals (in total 17 game animals are in Latvia). Widespread species in the forests of Latvia is also racoon dog (25 ths), which was introduced into Latvia in the last century (in 1948). Another introduced species is American mink, which nowadays has won a competition with native European mink. The rare and especially protected species in the forests of Latvia are brown bear (~ 10 individuals), flying squirrel, dormouse (forest, garden, common and fat dormouse), northern birch mouse and several species of flitter-mouse.  A protected species is also otter (9 ths).
From reptiles, the viviparous lizard, sand lizard, blind worm, common Northern wiper and grass snake occur in the forests of Latvia. The very rare and especially protected species are smooth snake and swamp turtle.

The diversity of bird species in the forests of Latvia is very large.  From 330 wild bird species, which have been detected in Latvia, more than one hundred can be found in the forests. The rare and protected bird species in the forests of Latvia are stock dove, black stork, pygmy owl, Tengmalm’s owl, middle spotted woodpecker, capercaillie, Ural owl, lesser spotted eagle. The very rare and endangered species are spotted eagle, red and black kite, eagle-owl, roller and green woodpecker.
More than 200 tree and shrub species are in the forests of Latvia, from which ~ 100 are native species, but others are foreign species. Without tree and shrub species, approximately 300 species of lichens, 298 species of mosses and 650 species of vascular plants are found in the forests of Latvia.
Main tree species are Scots pine, Norway spruce, silver birch, downy birch, black alder, grey alder, aspen, common ash and pedunculate oak. Other tree species – small-leaved lime, wych elm, fluttering elm, white willow, crack willow, Norway maple, goat willow, common hornbeam – are forming the forest stands with small area (together they constitute ~ 2 % of the total forest area). The rare and protected tree species in Latvia is common yew, which occurs mostly along the coastline. A protected species is also common hornbeam (occurs only in the state SSW part).

From introduced species, the European larch, poplars (Populus x Canadensis, P. Alba, P. trichocarpa), Jack pine, Weymouth pine, silver firs (Abies alba, A. sibirica), cedar pine (Pinus sibirica), Douglas fir, common beech occur more frequently. The total area of these species stands is very small.
The most common underbrush species are juniper, rowan, hazel, alder buckthorn, bird cherry, several species of willows, as well as fly honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum), guelder rose (Viburnum opulus), mountain currant (Ribes alpinum), and mezereon (Daphne mezereum). The rare and protected underbrush species are whortleberry willow (Salix myrtilloides), pallas honeysuckle (Lonicera pallasii), spindle (Euonymus verrucosa), wild cotoneaster (Cotoneaster scandinavicus), black-berried cotoneaster (Cotoneaster niger), dwarf birch (Betula nana).
Characteristic groundcover species for boreal coniferous forests are cowberry, bilberry, bog bilberry, crowberry, chickweed wintergreen (Trientalis europaea) etc. The unique pine forests with rare and very rare species for Latvia occur in the valley of the largest river Daugava, where the snowdrop windflower (Anemone sylvestris), owl-head clover (Trifolium alpestre), pyramidal and standing bugle (Ajuga pyramidalis, Ajuga genevensis) and vicic (Lathyrus pisiformis) are growing. The very rare and especially protected plant species in the pine forests are neottianthe (Neottianthe cucullata) and cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix).

The typical species of broadleaved forests are dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis), woodruff (Galium odoratum), yellow archangel (Galeobdolon luteum), ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraria) etc. The very rare and especially protected species are Lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium calceolus), rattlesnake Grape-fern (Botrychium virginianum), Baltic Ivy (Hedera helix).