Editing Pyrenees (section)

== Flora and fauna ==

=== Flora ===
{{Main category|Flora of the Pyrenees}}
{{main|Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests}}
{{See also|Forests of the Iberian Peninsula#The Eurosiberian region|l1=Forests of the Iberian Peninsula - Eurosiberian region}}
[[File:Cascada aigualluts.jpg|thumb|Aigualluts cascade in Benasque Valley, [[Aragon]] (Spain)]]
A still more marked effect of the preponderance of rainfall in the western half of the chain is seen in the vegetation. The lower mountains in the extreme west are wooded, but the extent of forest declines as one moves eastwards. The eastern Pyrenees are peculiarly wild and barren, all the more since it is in this part of the chain that granitic masses prevail. Also moving from west to east, there is a change in the composition of the flora, with the change becoming most evident as one passes the centre of the mountain chain from which point the [[Corbières Massif]] stretch north-eastwards towards the central plateau of France. Though the difference in latitude is only about 1°, in the west the flora resembles that of central Europe while in the east it is distinctly Mediterranean in character. The Pyrenees are nearly as rich in [[endemic]] species as the Alps, and among the most remarkable instances of that [[endemism]] is the occurrence of the monotypic genus ''[[Xatardia]]'' (family [[Apiaceae]]), which grows only on a high alpine pass between the Val d'Eynes and [[Catalonia]]. Other examples include ''[[Arenaria montana]]'', ''[[Bulbocodium vernum]]'', and ''[[Ranunculus glacialis]]''. The genus most abundantly represented in the range is that of the [[saxifrage]]s, several species of which are endemic here.<ref name=EB1911/>

=== Fauna ===
In their [[fauna]] the Pyrenees present some striking instances of [[endemism]]. The [[Pyrenean desman]] is found only in some of the streams of the northern slopes of these mountains; the only other [[desman]], the [[Russian desman]], is confined to the [[Volga]] river basin in southern Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The [[Pyrenean brook salamander]] (''Calotriton asper''), an endemic amphibian, also lives in streams and lakes located at high altitudes. Among other peculiarities of Pyrenean fauna are blind insects in the [[cave]]rns of Ariège, the principal genera of which are ''[[Anophthalmus]]'' and ''Adelops''.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Pyrenees|inline=1 }}</ref>

The [[Pyrenean ibex]], an endemic subspecies of the [[Iberian ibex]], became extinct in January 2000; another subspecies, the [[western Spanish ibex]], was introduced into the area, with the population numbering over 400 individuals as of 2020. The native [[brown bear]] population was hunted to near-extinction in the 1990s, but its numbers rebounded in 1996 when three bears were brought from [[Slovenia]]. The bear population has bred successfully, and there are now believed to be about 15 brown bears in the central region around [[Fos, Haute-Garonne|Fos]], with only four native ones still living in the [[Aspe Valley]].