Part 9
Another important part of the forest is its animal population. It is difficult to imagine a forest without animals, birds, insects, earthworms, etc. They can be found everywhere and are an indispensable part of the forest. There are many species of these living creatures, especially insects. Their activity is very diverse and has a great impact on the forest.
In our forests, large mammals (elk, deer, wild boar, fox, etc.) are widespread. However, their impact on the forest life as a whole is less significant in comparison with small mammals (forest mouse-like rodents). Large herbivores gnaw at branches, bark and leaves of trees, causing them damage. Small animals do more damage to trees - they destroy the seeds of these plants, which have fallen to the ground and thus prevent the emergence of sprouting. The scale of acorns extermination by rodents is especially high, in particular by the yellowthroat. This animal not only eats acorns fallen to the ground in large quantities, but also makes their huge reserves for the winter (up to 16 kg).
Protein has a significant impact on the forest. It destroys the seeds of coniferous trees and their buds.
Among forest animals, of course, there are not only herbivores. Some of them are real predators (wolf, fox), others omnivorous (bear, wild boar).
In the forest we meet a lot of birds of all kinds. A feathery population of the forest is counted by many dozens of species. Forest birds vary greatly in their diet, nesting place, among them there are settled and migratory birds, etc. The influence of birds on the forest is diverse. The most important role of birds in the destruction of harmful insects, including such dangerous ones, causing huge damage to the forest, such as unpaired silkworm, oak leaflet and some others. Destroying pests, the avian "forest attendants" bring great benefit to the forest. Birds also play a significant role in the distribution of seeds of forest shrubs, shrubs and herbs with juicy fruits. Raspberry, beresklet, honeysuckle, crumble, blueberry, cowberry, bone and many others can be named among the plants of this kind. Birds also distribute tree seeds. Joy, for example, spreads acorns in large quantities, helping oak to settle. As you know, this bird makes acorns for itself, hiding them in moss on the ground. A significant part of its stock of jay then does not find jay, and acorns hidden by the bird germinate, giving rise to young oaks.
Small invertebrate animals (earthworms, mollusks, insects, spiders, etc.) should also be considered as forest fauna. Some of these creatures spend their lives mainly above the ground (many butterflies), while some remain in the soil (earthworms) almost all the time. There are some that live in the soil as well as above the ground (ants). The forest is inhabited by living creatures at all its levels, from the tops of tree crowns to the ends of their roots.
Rainworms play a very important role in the forest. Worms bring great benefit to the forest by processing dead organic remains, loosening and "airing" the soil, fertilizing it with their excreta, etc. Their useful role is well known and does not need to be explained.
The role of insects in the forest is also very great, but it is not always positive. The most useful forest insects are ants: they are peculiar "sanitary" of the forest. Ants kill many pests, especially caterpillars that eat leaves, bug larvae, etc. They play a well-known role in the distribution of seeds of forest herbaceous plants, in their settlement. This applies to those plants whose seeds are provided with a juicy meaty appendage (hoof, crestnut, etc.). This appendage attracts ants ants and they carry the seeds to the anthill. However, along the way, insects sometimes lose their weight and unwittingly "sow" seeds in different parts of the forest, and the lost seeds then germinate.
Insects that visit flowers of forest plants and carry out pollination (mainly bees, butterflies, bumblebees, and some beetles) play a useful role in the forest, thus contributing to better formation of seeds and fruits.
However, there are also many insects in the forest that cause damage to plants. This includes all sorts of pests that feed on leaves and roots, such as butterfly tracks, beetle larvae, beetles themselves, etc.
Finally, insects also damage plants in another respect - they damage flowers and immature fruits, preventing the seeds from ripening; a good example of this kind of damage to oak acorns in the crown of a tree, before they fall to the ground. Such damage is caused, in particular, by the larvae of an acorn weevil beetle and the butterfly caterpillar of an acorn fetus. Damaged acorns die, do not mature. In some years, pests destroy a significant proportion of acorns, and sometimes the entire crop.
This is often the case in bayran oak forests, which are common in the steppe zone. These forests are confined to beams and other depressions on the terrain, where more favorable conditions of moisture are created than in the steppe. The following can be developed here.
It is clear from this that the large and diverse animal population of the forest plays an important role in the life of the forest. All living beings living in the forest form an indispensable part of it. It is an important and indispensable element of the forest.
So far, we have only talked about the living organisms that inhabit the forest - its flora and fauna. But it is impossible to imagine all these forest people outside the environment - soil and atmosphere. No living organisms can exist outside the environment, in isolation from it: living and nonliving matter is an inseparable unity.
The continuation should be...