Flora and fauna

The dominant element of Kornati plant life is the vegetation of the rocky terrain, resistant to grazing and burning. The main plant community is the sage and feather grass (Stipo-salvie-turn).

As the practice of sheep farming is slowly dying away, new areas are becoming available for the natural renewal of the original and once prevailing forest species of holm oak (Quercus ilex) and its community including flowering ash (Omo quercetum ilicis). The sparse vegetation is responsible for the qualitatively and quantitatively sparse fauna in the non-marine parts of the national park.

Since information about the invertebrates is lacking, we can point to the ornithofauna (birds) as an important element of the island fauna. The following birds form colonies here: plain swift (Apus apus), Alpine swift (Apus sudba), rock dove (Columba livia), herring gull (Larus argentatus), common tern (Sterna hirundo), and shag (Phalcocorax aristotelis). The following birds of prey live on the islands: eagle owl (Bubo bubo), lanner (Falco biarmicus) and kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). The short-toad eagle (Cyrcaetus gallicus) has also been spotted here. Mammals are the least frequent element of the island fauna.

The only wild animal on Kornat and the neighboring Dugi otok is the beech marten (Martes foina). It is known locally as kamenica "rock creature" and is likely to belong to a separate subspecies. The brown hare (Lepus europaeus) may also belong to the Mediterranean subspecies of Lepus europaeus mediterraneus.

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Geography

Flora and fauna