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4 Ecosystem
Glaciation during the most recent ice age affected the distribution of European fauna. Having lived side-by-side with agricultural and industrial civilizations for millennia, Europe's animals and plants have been profoundly affected by the presence and activities of man. Deforestation in the Mediterranean basin has been affecting siltation rates and climate for more than 2000 years. With the exception of Scandinavia and northern Russia, few if any areas of untouched wilderness are today to be found in Europe.
The main natural vegetation cover in "mainland" Europe is deciduous forest. Coniferous forests prevail as one moves north within Russia and Scandinavia, giving way to tundra as the Arctic is approached. The semi-arid Mediterranean region hosts much scrub forest and species such as olive trees and grapes which are adapted to the dry climate to which the region gives its name. A narrow east-west tongue of Eurasian grassland— the steppe— extends eastwards from Ukraine and southern Russia and ends in Hungary.
As to the animals, most large animals and top predator species have been hunted to extinction. The wooly mammoth and aurochs were extinct before the end of the Neolithic period, and wolves and bears are today found only in the far north. Few corners of mainland Europe have not been grazed by livestock at some point over the millennia, and the cutting down of the pre-agricultural forest habitat caused incalculable disruption to the original plant and animal ecosystems.
5 Independent states
Europe comprises the following independent states (in alphabetical order):
