Juvenille tawny owlThe Yorkshire Dales National Park is home to a wide range of species. Many of these are rare or scarce nationally and the Yorkshire Dales National Park is the last stronghold for many plant and animal species. Many species are adapted to certain conditions and these lead to a wide diversity of plants and animals in the Yorkshire Dales ranging from the lime-loving plants and invertebrates of the limestone country to the breeding birds of the moorland & moorland fringe. Many species have been identified in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as priorities for conservation at a national and international level. Many more have also been identified as priorities at a local level in Nature in the Dales – a local biodiversity action plan for the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
The aim of these species pages is to inspire you and to provide commonly sought information about the animals, fungi, lichens and plants found in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For each group of organisms we provide examples of some common, some less common and some rare species. Examples include a photograph, interesting facts, brief taxonomic information, useful links and other sources of information. For groups such as birds and plants we have provided numerous examples because these are the groups that the Yorkshire Dales National Park is famous for.
The structure of these species pages broadly reflects accepted scientific evidence on the relationships between different groups of organisms based on DNA studies (see Tree of Life link below). According to this evidence life on earth is grouped into three domains, the Eubacteria, the Eukaryota and the Archaea with the exception of Viruses. In this website the groups we are interested in are animals, fungi & lichens and plants, which are all included in the domain Eukaryota.
