Winter cave trips endanger wintering bats Bats spend almost half a year hibernating, thus avoiding the harshness of the winter. For the winter, bats hide in underground spaces – in Estonia, they favour basements, mines, caves, old military tunnels and shelters. The main criterion for the choice of wintering grounds is the temperature, which must not fall below zero; high humidity is also a plus...

Welcome to the introduction page of the nature observations database! We invite everyone to enter their nature observations (the first springtime common hepatica, the roe deer you saw, the nightingale you heard, etc.) in the nature observations database. This database has been created for all nature lovers who want to keep a so-called nature observations diary and share their observations with...

What are nature observations campaigns? Although you can enter data into the nature observations database all year round, at the exact time you are actually in the wild, and observe the species that interest you most, there are sometimes targeted campaigns as well. Campaigns are designed to draw attention to a specific species or group of species, or to a region. For example, sometimes researchers...

A new Atlas of the Estonian mammals is being prepared, which will provide an up-to-date overview of the distribution of all wild mammal species in Estonia WATCH the actively updated MAP STORY of the mammal atlas HERE. More than 20 years have passed since the previous compilation and collection of a comprehensive mammal distribution data set. Major changes in land use (suburbanisation, changes in...

Greater genetic variability allows a population to better adapt to the changes in the environment Genetic diversity is the diversity of the units of heredity (genes). Genetic diversity, or gene pool, is usually understood in the meaning of genetic diversity within a species or within a population. Genetic diversity is crucial for nature. Greater genetic variability allows a population to better...

Preservation of forest biodiversity, i.e. the ability to function and provide benefits even in the face of unexpected changes, requires historical continuity and ensuring spatial coherence Approximately 20,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi live in Estonian forests [1]. Our most abundant species group is insects (estimated at about 10,000), and we have 2,000 to 2,500 species of fungi and up...

One of the key reasons behind global biodiversity loss is change in land use, which includes agricultural practices that cause extensive damage to the environment. Even though we don’t want to admit this to ourselves, Estonia’s landscapes, soil and water environment and biodiversity have been seriously affected by agricultural techniques that prioritise high yields. Valuable yet vulnerable islands...

The diversity and species richness of a landscape is not just a value in itself, but it also provides direct economic benefit for farmers. At first, it might seem that leaving a buffer strip between crop fields doesn’t have a direct effect on the crops. However, research has shown that the wildlife and vegetation of these buffer strips can migrate to the fields. According to an outdated belief...

A growing concern about the quality of landscapes and insufficient measures for landscape management led the European Conference of Local and Regional Authorities to approve the proposal to develop a landscape convention draft in 1994. After years of preparation, the European Landscape Convention was adopted in Florence on 20 October 2000. The convention entered into force four years later, when...