The island of Great Britain, along with the rest of the archipelago known as the British Isles, has a largely temperate climate. It contains a relatively small fraction of the world's wildlife. The biota was severely diminished in the last ice age, and shortly (in geological terms) thereafter was separated from the continent by the English Channel's formation. Since then, humans have hunted the most dangerous forms (the wolf, the brown bear and the wild boar) to extinction, though domesticated forms such as the dog and the pig remain. The wild boar has subsequently been reintroduced as a meat animal.
Overview
In most of Great Britain there is a temperate climate, with high levels of precipitation and medium levels of sunlight. Further northwards, the climate becomes colder and coniferous forests appear, replacing the largely deciduous forests of the south. There are a few variations in the generally temperate British climate, with some areas of subarctic conditions, such as the Scottish Highlands and Teesdale, and even sub-tropical in the Isles of Scilly. Animals have to cope with seasonal changes across the British Isles, such as in levels of sunlight, rainfall and temperature, as well as the risk of snow and frost during the winter. Since the mid 18th century, Great Britain has gone through industrialisation and increasing urbanisation. A DEFRA study from 2006 suggested that 100 species became extinct in the UK during the 20th century: about 100 times the background extinction rate, according to DEFRA in 2006. This has had a major impact on indigenous animal populations. Song birds in particular are becoming scarcer, and habitat loss has affected larger mammalian species. Some species have however adapted to the expanding urban environment, particularly the red fox, which is the most successful urban mammal after the brown rat, and other creatures such as common wood pigeon.
Invertebrates
Molluscs
There are 220 species of non-marine molluscs that have been recorded as living in the wild in Britain. Two of them (Fruticicola fruticum and Cernuella neglecta) are locally extinct. In addition there are 14 gastropod species that live only in greenhouses.
Insects
There are more than 20,000 species of insects of Great Britain.
Spiders There are some 650 species of spider in the UK. Ten of the more common are:
Garden spider Giant house spider Zebra jumping spider Cucumber spider Nursery web spider Buzzing spider Money spider Labyrinth spider Cave spider Noble false widow spider
Annelida (segmented worms)
Leeches
Vertebrates
Amphibians
The species of amphibian native to Britain are the great crested newt, smooth newt, palmate newt, common toad, natterjack toad, common frog and the pool frog. In addition, the agile frog, moor frog and (perhaps) European tree frog are regarded as extirpated natives, lost likely prior to 1800 CE. Several other species have become naturalised.
Reptiles
Like many temperate areas, Great Britain has few snake species: the European adder is the only venomous snake to be found there. The other notable snakes found in Great Britain are the barred grass snake and the smooth snake. Great Britain has three native species of lizard: slowworms, sand lizards and viviparous lizards. There are also turtles, such as leatherback turtles to be found in the Irish Sea, although these are rarely seen. Other reptile species exist but are not native: aesculapian snake, wall lizard and green lizard.
Birds
In general the avifauna of Britain is similar to that of Europe, consisting largely of Palaearctic species. As an island, it has fewer breeding species than continental Europe. Some species, like the crested lark, breed as close as northern France, but have not colonised Britain. The mild winters mean that many species that cannot cope with harsher conditions can winter in Britain, and also that there is a large influx of wintering birds from the European continent and beyond. There are about 250 species regularly recorded in Great Britain, and another 350 that occur with varying degrees of rarity.
Mammals
Large mammals are not particularly numerous in Great Britain. Many of the large mammal species, such as the grey wolf and the brown bear, were hunted to extinction many centuries ago. However, in recent times some of these large mammals have been tentatively reintroduced to some areas of Britain. The largest wild mammals that remain in Britain today are predominantly members of the deer family. The red deer is the largest native mammal species, and is common throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The other indigenous species include the roe deer and the wild boar. The common fallow deer was not naturally present in Britain during the Holocene, having been brought over from France by the Normans in the late 11th century. It has become well established, though the fallow deer was naturally present in Britain during the previous Eemian interglacial. The sika deer is another small species of deer which is not indigenous, originating from Japan. It is widespread and expanding in Scotland from west to east, with a strong population in Peeblesshire. Bands of sika exist across the north and south of England though the species is absent in Wales.
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