Wildlife of Finland is affected by prevailing environmental conditions.

Phytogeographically Phytogeography (from Greek language, Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographi ...

, Finland is shared between sosput, central European, and northern European provinces of the

Circumboreal Region The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan. It is the largest floristic region in ...

within the

Boreal Kingdom The Boreal Kingdom or Holarctic Kingdom (Holarctis) is a floristic kingdom identified by botanist Ronald Good (and later by Armen Takhtajan), which includes the temperate to Arctic portions of North America and Eurasia. Its flora is inherited f ...

. The territory of Finland can be subdivided into three

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

s: the

Scandinavian and Russian taiga The Scandinavian and Russian taiga is an ecoregion within the taiga and boreal forests biome as defined by the WWF classification (ecoregion PA0608). It is situated in Northern Europe between tundra in the north and temperate mixed forests in ...

Sarmatic mixed forests The Sarmatic mixed forests constitute an ecoregion within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature classification (ecoregion PA0436). The term comes from the word "Sarmatia". Distribution This e ...

, and

Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands The Scandinavian montane birch forests and grasslands is defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a terrestrial tundra ecoregion in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Conservation value The Scandinavian montane birch forests and grasslands is on ...

. Taiga covers most of Finland from northern regions of southern provinces to the north of Lapland. On the southwestern coast, south of the Helsinki- Rauma line, forests are characterized by mixed forests, that are more typical in the Baltic region. In the extreme north of Finland, near the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

and Arctic Ocean, Montane Birch forests are common.

Habitat types

The

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

types of Finland have been divided in eight groups by prevailing environmental conditions, and by the plant and animal species typical of such areas. The groups consist of habitat types of the Baltic Sea, its coast, inland waters and shores, mires, forests, rocky habitats, traditional rural biotopes and fell habitats.

Species

The number of species living in Finland has been estimated to be at least 45 000. At the moment, known

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

consists of 27 000 species, flora of 4500 species and fungi 7500 species. The largest group is insects, over 20 000 known species and estimated total 30 000 known species. The following estimates of numbers of species in different groups are primarily based on the 2010 Red List of Finnish Species.

Birds

In all 468 species of birds have been observed. Of these 256 are nesting species. The most common breeding birds are the

willow warbler The willow warbler (''Phylloscopus trochilus'') is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic, from Ireland east to the Anadyr River basin in eastern Siberia. It is strongly ...

common chaffinch The common chaffinch or simply the chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in ...

, and

redwing The redwing (''Turdus iliacus'') is a bird in the thrush family, Turdidae, native to Europe and the Palearctic, slightly smaller than the related song thrush. Taxonomy and systematics This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his ...

. The

Whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/) (''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, pronounced ''hooper swan'', is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type specie ...

is Finland’s national bird.

Mammals

A total of 80 species of mammals have been observed in Finland. The

Saimaa ringed seal The Saimaa ringed seal (''Pusa hispida saimensis'', Finnish: ''Saimaannorppa'') is a subspecies of ringed seal (''Pusa hispida''). They are among the most endangered seals in the world, having a total population of only about 400 individuals. The ...

''Pusa hispida saimensis'' is an endemic subspecies restricted to Lake Saimaa. In 2015 assessment of endangered Finnish bird and mammal species, mammal species classified as threatened included the

Natterer's bat Natterer's bat (''Myotis nattereri'') is a European vespertilionid bat with pale wings. It has brown fur tending to greyish-white on its underside. It is found across most of the continent of Europe, parts of the Near East and North Africa. It fee ...

''Myotis nattereri'' (

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

), the

Nathusius’ pipistrelle Nathusius' pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus nathusii'') is a small bat in the genus ''Pipistrellus''. It is very similar to the common pipistrelle and has been overlooked in many areas until recently but it is widely distributed across Europe. It was ...

''Pipistrellus nathusi'' (Vulnerable), the

arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in co ...

''Vulpes lagopus'' (Critically endangered), the

Gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

''Canis lupus'' (endangered), the

wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

Gulo gulo (endangered), the

European polecat The European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), also known as the common polecat, black polecat, or forest polecat, is a species of mustelid native to western Eurasia and North Africa. It is of a generally dark brown colour, with a pale underbelly ...

''Mustela putorius'' (Vulnerable) and the

''Pusa hispida saimensis'' (endangered).

Insects

Over 20000 species of insects have been identified in Finland. These include * Bristletails (

Thysanura Thysanura is the now deprecated name of what was, for over a century, recognised as an order in the class Insecta. The two constituent groups within the former order, the Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) and the Zygentoma (silverfish and fireb ...

): 6 * Leapers (

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...

): 32 * Earwigs (

Dermaptera Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forcep-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded ...

): 3 * Cockroaches (

Blattodea Blattodea is an order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach lineage, cladistically ...

): 4 * True bugs (

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...

): 1542 * Net-winged insects (

Neuroptera The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in th ...

): 57 * Dobsonflies and fishflies (

Megaloptera Megaloptera is an order of insects. It contains the alderflies, dobsonflies and fishflies, and there are about 300 known species. The order's name comes from Ancient Greek, from ''mega-'' (μέγα-) "large" + ''pteryx'' (πτέρυξ) "wing ...

): 5 * Snakeflies (

Raphidioptera Snakeflies are a group of predatory insects comprising the order Raphidioptera with two extant families: Raphidiidae and Inocelliidae, consisting of roughly 260 species. In the past, the group had a much wider distribution than it does now; sn ...

): 3 * Scorpionflies (

Mecoptera Mecoptera (from the Greek: ''mecos'' = "long", ''ptera'' = "wings") is an order of insects in the superorder Endopterygota with about six hundred species in nine families worldwide. Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their lar ...

): 6 * Booklice (

Psocoptera Psocoptera are a paraphyletic group of insects that are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies. The name Psocoptera has been replaced with Psocodea in recent literature, with the inclusion of the former order Phthiraptera into Psocode ...

): 71 * Thrips (

Thysanoptera Thrips ( order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...

): 151 * Caddisflies (

Trichoptera The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the b ...

): 218 * Butterflies and moths (

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

): 2559 * Flies and mosquitoes (

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

): 6400 * Twisted-winged parasites (

Strepsiptera The Strepsiptera are an order of insects with eleven extant families that include about 600 described species. They are endoparasites in other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches. Females of most species never ...

): 5 * Fleas (

Siphonaptera Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, ar ...

): 54 * Ants, bees and wasps (

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

): 7100 * Beetles (

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

): 3697 Insects unique to Finland include a leafroller moth ''

Exapate bicuspidella ''Exapate bicuspidella'' is a species of moth belonging to the family Tortricidae The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species ...

'', a grass-miner moth '' Elachista saarelai'', a braconid wasp '' Phaenocarpa ungulosetosa'', an ichneumon wasp '' Fennomacrus koponeni'', and a chalcidoid wasp '' Anaphes crassipennis''.

Other animals

*Reptiles (Reptilia): 5 *Fishes (Pisces s.l.): 102 *Amphibians (Amphibia): 7 *Annelids (Annelida): 179 *Molluscs (Mollusca): 165 *Arachnids (Arachnida): 2200 *Crustaceans (Crustacea): 350 *Myriapods (Myriapoda): 63

Plants

Total of 3550 species of

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

, 892

bryophytes The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited i ...

and 1832

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus, fungi species in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship. The only endemic vascular plants in Finland are microspecies of

dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

s and

hawkweed ''Hieracium'' (), known by the common name hawkweed and classically as (from ancient Greek ιεράξ, 'hawk'), is a genus of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and closely related to dandelion (''Taraxacum''), chicory ('' Cichorium'') ...

Fungi

At the moment 5584 species of Fungi and Myxomycetes (Protista) have been identified in Finland. Roughly 200 species are edible, and people commonly pick around 10 species which are relatively easy to find and identify. It has been estimated that around 40% of people in Finland pick wild mushrooms multiple times a year. Finland’s most important commercial varieties of forest mushrooms are cep (''

Boletus edulis ''Boletus edulis'' (English: cep, penny bun, porcino or porcini) is a basidiomycete fungus, and the type species of the genus ''Boletus''. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere across Europe, Asia, and North America, it does not occu ...

'') and northern milkcap ('' Lactarius trivialis''). Fungi are further classified to * Agaricoid & Boletoid fungi: 1 821 species * Aphyllophorales & Heterobasidiomycetes: 950 * Gasteromycetoid fungi: 79 * Pucciniomycetes, Ustilaginomycotina: 407 * Ascomycota: 2 106 * Myxomycetes: 204

Threatened habitat types and protected areas

According to an evaluation finished in 2008, there are fewer than 400 habitats in Finland and 51% are endangered. The most seriously endangered habitats are 52, of which over half are traditional rural biotopes, such as meadows. The threat assessment was based on changes in the number and quality of the habitat type from the 1950s to the 2000s. According to the study, the main reasons for the threats to the habitat types were forestry, drainage for forestry (ditching), eutrophication of water bodies, clearing of agricultural land, and water engineering. Nature reserves, wilderness areas and hiking areas established on state-owned lands are the central parts of the protected area system in Finland. Almost all of these are included in the European Union’s network of

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

areas. In 2012 Finland had 1,865 Natura 2000 areas, the combined area of which measures 49,000 km² or 15% of Finland’s territory.

References

{{Europe topic, Wildlife of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Environment of Finland