top of page
This site was designed with the
.com
website builder. Create your website today.Start Now

Fauna and Flora of Chablais

Chablais is an old province of the Duchy of Savoy whose historic capital is Thonon-les-Bains. This region depends on both countries and is divided into three areas : the ‘‘ chablais valaisan ’’ and the ‘‘ chablais vaudois ’’on the Swiss side and the ‘‘ chablais savoyard ’’on the French side.

 

 

Map of "le Chablais"

 

The French Chablais (Haute Savoie department) has many advantages due to its topography and its climate. Indeed, there are mountains (Dent d'Oche), plateaus (Morzine), plains, forests, ponds, lakes (Lake Geneva : the largest in Europe) and rivers (Rhône, Dranse ...). These places have very diverse plant and animal species. We will study the fauna and flora of Haute-Savoie.

 

1.Fauna

 

Despite the strong human presence, Haute-Savoie maintains original housing through its various animals that have their own role in nature. They are mammals, fish, or birds, they are all important. Without them, man could not live in the present conditions.

Mammals

First, our region is inhabited by various wild animals living in the forests or mountains, as chamois, deer, ibex, fox, groundhog, wild boar, ferret, weasel, hedgehog, rabbit and other small mammals again! For example, walking in the mountains (if we go on the Dent d'Oche), we will have the chance to meet some chamois or marmots, but if we go wandering in the forest, we can see foxes and wild boars. Unfortunately, we often find ferrets or weasels crushed on the side of the road ... As for hedgehogs, we sometimes find them in front of our houses!

                       Chamois                                                 Groundhog                              

Wild Boar

Fish

Then we'll talk about fish from Lake Geneva because it has many unique species. This lake has 27 species of fish. Those that are most frequently encountered are perch, Vengeron, sculpin, bleak, chub, tench and pike. Those that are not occasionally encountered are: whitefish, bream, carp, gudgeon and stickleback. Those that are rarely encountered are: char, rainbow trout, rainbow, lake trout, catfish, eel, perch solei, rudd, minnows, shadow the spirlin, barbel, crucian carp, loach and ruffe. Apart from fish are frequently encountered a crustacean crayfish.

  • Perch : It’s a voracious predator that lives in bench near the bottom. Also cannibal, it’s able to swallow smaller perches. Old solitary fish and hunt on the lookout . Spawning occurs in April-May at shallow depth.

  • Pike : This is the largest carnivore, hunter on the prowl, the most voracious fish and thanks to its large size, it can tackle everything, including waterfowl. They spawn in early spring shallow ; eggs are attached to plants.

  • Arctic char : This is a superb salmonid living in the open lake , he continued his hunt to the coast . They spawn from November to January on funds gravel at a considerable depth.

  • Trout : Predator and fast swimming, it lives in open water and it can be found in great depths. Trout like cool , well-oxygenated waters, it breeds fall into rivers, where she spent the first three years of his life.

  • Crayfish : It lives in the upper part of the lake, but you can see it in depth. It is omnivorous as juveniles, feeding mainly on plants and plankton. Older, she also eats snails , mussels, fish, insect larvae, congeners, dead animals, etc. .. Breeding takes place in late autumn. The female keeps the fertilized eggs under her abdomen until the larvae hatch.

  •  

  •  

  • Birds

 

1. Lake Geneva’s birds

We find several portraits of Lake Geneva birds, such as: Great Crested Grebe, Great Cormorant, Little Bittern, Gadwall, redhead Net, the Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, the Coot, the Black-headed Gull, the Yellow-legged Gull and the swan.

 

 

     Swan                                                            A Great Cormorant

2. Land’s birds.

There are also other species of birds, which do not depend on the lake, but the mountains or the forest as: the Vulture, the Brambling, the Redwing, the Wallcreeper, the Rock Bunting, Great Egret, the Barn Swallow, Swallow window, griffon vulture, the Whinchat, the Gull, the wall lizard and the fragile Orvet. But there are also owls, owls, cormorants, herons, eagles, pigeons, crows, hawks ...

     A Vulture                                                     A Wallcreeper

 

 

2. Flora:

 

The wealth of the region is not only due to the animals. Indeed, there are various trees, flowers and mushrooms, which provide basic needs for animals and humans, as well as the beauty of the landscape.

 

A) Trees:

There are various trees such as pubescent oak, hornbeam, sessile oak, alder, pedunculate oak ... But if we remove the specific names, we will retain only the pines, oaks, shrubs, fruit-bearing trees (apple, hazelnut, cherry, plum, chestnut ...), beech, pine, spruce, larches.

 

 A Chesnut Tree                                                                          A Spruce Forest

B) Flowers

There are so many that we could not all be mentioned as well as trees. Here are some pictures of flowers present in Chablais.

 A Gentiana flower                                 An Edelweiss flower

C) Mushrooms:

Mushrooms like trees and flowers are many and varied. However, they aren’t all edible. Here are a few that we can pick and eat : porcini, morels, the trumpets of death, boletes, the psathyrelles, ears Judas feet of sheep, ox-languages ​​.

 

3. To learn more about our region..

A) N.I.A.R (I.N.R.A in French)

The National Institute of Agricultural Research (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) is a French organization founded in 1946. Its role is to preserve lake ecosystems to climate change, that’s to say :  study the species in the lake (fish, plankton, small aquatic organisms). N.I.A.R is localized in several regions of France, Haute-Savoie, Thonon-les-Bains.

B) Geopark

A Geopark is a territory with geological attractions and seeking recognition from UNESCO. Chablais Geopark is the fourth of France. Indeed, it has been built since March 2012 by the network of European and Global Geoparks recognized by UNESCO. He joins three other French Geoparks (Geological Reserve of Digne les Bains, the Regional Natural Park of Luberon and Bauges).

  1. L'écomusée=> Museum of fishing?

The museum of fishing  is an institution dedicated to the study and conservation of the natural heritage. At the heart of the fishing port of Thonon-les-Bains, the museum of fishing and lake plunges visitors into the world of Geneva’s Lake’s fishermen of yesterday and today.

      Haute-Savoie is very diverse and unique due to its climate and mountainous flora and fauna. Animals and plants contribute to this beautiful scenery that you will watch when you come visit us!

 

http://www.sudleman.com/diaporama_faune.html /
http://presse.inra.fr/Ressources/Communiques-de-presse/preserver-ecosystemes-lacustres
/ http://christian.pourre.free.fr/photoschampi.htm /
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chablais

Choisissez votre langue

Choose your language

bottom of page