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<!-- probably this should be transferred to a new article named "Biodiversity of Europe" and only the summary should be left here. Specific species should be added. -->
Having lived side-by-side with agricultural peoples for millennia, Europe's animals and plants have been profoundly affected by the presence and activities of man. With the exception of [[Scandinavia]] and northern [[Russia]], few areas of untouched wilderness are today to be found in Europe, except for different natural parks
The main natural vegetation cover in Europe is [[forest]]. The conditions for growth are very favourable. In the north, the [[Gulf Stream]] and [[North Atlantic Drift]] warm the continent. Southern Europe could be described as having a warm, but mild climate. There are frequent summer droughts in this region. Mountain ridges also affect the conditions. Some of these ([[Alps]], [[Pyrenees]]) are oriented east-west and allow the wind to carry large masses of water from the ocean in the interior. Others are oriented south-north ([[Scandinavian Mountains]], [[Dinaric Alps|Dinarides]], [[Carpathians]], [[Apennines]]) and because the rain falls primarily on the side of mountains that is oriented towards sea, forests grow well on this side, while on the other side, the conditions are much less favourable. Few corners of mainland Europe have not been grazed by [[livestock]] at some point in time, and the cutting down of the pre-agricultural forest habitat caused disruption to the original plant and animal ecosystems.
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