Editing Azores (section)

===Biodiversity===
The archipelago lies in the [[Palearctic realm]] and has a unique biotic community that includes the [[Macaronesia]]n [[subtropical]] [[Laurel forest|laurissilva]], with many [[Endemism|endemic species]] of plants and animals.<ref name=Kostas2010/><ref name="Species">{{cite book |title=A list of the terrestrial and marine biota from the Azores |editor=Borges, P.A.V. |editor2=Costa, A. |editor3=Cunha, R. |editor4=Gabriel, R. |editor5=Gonçalves, V. |editor6=Martins, A.F. |editor7=Melo, I. |editor8=Parente, M. |editor9=Raposeiro, P. |editor10=Rodrigues, P. |editor11=Santos, R.S. |editor12=Silva, L. |editor13=Vieira, P. |editor14=Vieira, V. |display-editors=3 |year=2010 |publisher=Princípia, Cascais |isbn=978-989-8131-75-1 |pages=432 pp |no-pp=y |url=http://www.azoresbioportal.angra.uac.pt/files/publicacoes_Listagem_ml.pdf |access-date=11 April 2016 |archive-date=14 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414235554/http://www.azoresbioportal.angra.uac.pt/files/publicacoes_Listagem_ml.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> There are at least 6,112 terrestrial species, of which about 411 are [[endemic]]. The majority (75%) of these endemics are animals, mostly [[arthropod]]s and [[Mollusca|mollusks]]. New species are found regularly in the Azores (e.g., 30 different new species of land snails were discovered circa 2013<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.acorianooriental.pt/noticia/investigador-dos-acores-descobriu-30-novas-especies-de-moluscos-nas-ilhas |title=Investigador dos Açores descobriu 30 novas espécies de moluscos nas ilhas |website=Açoriano Oriental |access-date=11 May 2020 |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804001419/https://www.acorianooriental.pt/noticia/investigador-dos-acores-descobriu-30-novas-especies-de-moluscos-nas-ilhas |url-status=live }}</ref>).

[[File:Açores 2010-07-20 (5068665946).jpg|thumb|right|Human impact on the [[Laurel forest#Macaronesia and the Mediterranean Basin|native flora]] of São Jorge can be seen by the [[hydrangea]]s (blue markings) and ''[[Pittosporum undulatum]]'' (centre-right)]]
Even though the Azores look very green and sometimes wild, the vegetation has been extremely altered. A great part of it has been wiped out in the past 600 years for its valuable wood (for tools, buildings, boats, fire wood, and so on) and to clear land for agriculture. As a result, it is estimated that more than half of insects on the Graciosa island have disappeared or will become extinct.<ref name="Kostas2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Triantis |first1=K. A. |last2=Borges |first2=P. A. V. |last3=Ladle |first3=R. J. |last4=Hortal |first4=J. |last5=Cardoso |first5=P. |last6=Gaspar |first6=C. |last7=Dinis |first7=F. |last8=Mendonça |first8=E. |last9=Silveira |first9=L. M. A. |last10=Gabriel |first10=R. |last11=Melo |first11=C. |last12=Santos |first12=A. M. C. |last13=Amorim |first13=I. R. |last14=Ribeiro |first14=S. R. P. |last15=Serrano |first15=A. R. M. |last16=Quartau |first16=J. A. |last17=Whittaker |first17=R. J. |title=Extinction debt on oceanic islands |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0587.2010.06203.x |journal=Ecography |volume=33 |pages=285–294 |year=2010 |issue=2 |bibcode=2010Ecogr..33..285T |hdl=10400.3/1712 |url=http://repositorio.uac.pt/bitstream/10400.3/1712/1/P130_%202010%20-%20Triantis%20et%20al%20Ecography%20%2b%20suppl%20mat.pdf |citeseerx=10.1.1.730.8154 |access-date=20 April 2018 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809121002/http://repositorio.uac.pt/bitstream/10400.3/1712/1/P130_%202010%20-%20Triantis%20et%20al%20Ecography%20%2b%20suppl%20mat.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many cultivated places (which are traditionally dedicated to pasture or to growing [[taro]], potatoes, maize and other crops) have now been abandoned, especially as a result of emigration. Consequently, some [[Invasive species|invasive]] plants have filled these deserted and disturbed lands. [[Hydrangea]]s are another potential pest, but their threat is less serious. Notwithstanding the fact that hydrangeas were introduced from America or Asia, some locals consider them a symbol of the archipelago and propagate them along roadsides. ''[[Cryptomeria]]'', the Japanese cedar, is a [[conifer]] extensively grown for its timber. The two most common of these alien species are ''[[Pittosporum undulatum]]'' and ''[[Hedychium gardnerianum]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Invasive Alien Plants in the Azorean Protected Areas: Invasion Status and Mitigation Actions |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255710470 |publisher=L.C. Foxcroft, D.M. Richardson, P. Pyšek, P. Genovesi |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-date=11 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611101243/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255710470_Invasive_Alien_Plants_in_the_Azorean_Protected_Areas_Invasion_Status_and_Mitigation_Actions |url-status=live }}</ref> Reforestation efforts with native [[Laurel forest|laurissilva]] vegetation have been accomplished successfully in many parts of the Azores.<ref>{{cite web |title=APGHE da Tronqueira e Planalto dos Graminhais |url=http://www.azores.gov.pt/Gra/srrn-cets/conteudos/livres/APGHE_tronqueira.htm |website=azores.gov.pt |access-date=26 February 2017 |archive-date=27 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227063121/http://www.azores.gov.pt/Gra/srrn-cets/conteudos/livres/APGHE_tronqueira.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Laurel |first=Project Life Sustainable |year=2011 |title=Laurissilva Sustentável: Plantação de endémicas dos Açores |url=http://lifelaurissilva.blogspot.com/2011/02/plantacao-de-endemicas-dos-acores.html |access-date=4 October 2018 |archive-date=4 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185751/http://lifelaurissilva.blogspot.com/2011/02/plantacao-de-endemicas-dos-acores.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=LIFE Laurissilva Sustentável |url=http://life-laurissilva.spea.pt/noticias/detalhes.php?id=32 |website=life-laurissilva.spea.pt |access-date=26 February 2017 |archive-date=27 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227062628/http://life-laurissilva.spea.pt/noticias/detalhes.php?id=32 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Azores has at least two endemic living bird species. The [[Azores bullfinch]], or ''Priolo'', is restricted to remnant laurisilva forest in the mountains at the eastern end of São Miguel<ref name="AzoresforestsWWF">{{cite web |title=Azores temperate mixed forests |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/pa0403 |publisher=World Wildlife Fund |access-date=7 March 2017 |archive-date=26 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226212854/https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/pa0403 |url-status=live }}</ref> and is classified by BirdLife International as [[Endangered species|endangered]]. [[Monteiro's storm petrel]], described to science as recently as 2008, is known to breed in just two locations in the islands but may occur more widely. An extinct species of owl, the [[São Miguel scops owl]], has recently been described, which probably became extinct after human settlement because of habitat destruction and the introduction of alien species. Five species of flightless [[Rail (bird)|rail]] (''[[Rallus]]'' spp.) once existed on the islands, as did a flightless quail (''[[Coturnix]]'' sp.)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rando |first1=Juan C. |last2=Alcover |first2=Josep A. |last3=Pieper |first3=Harald |last4=Olson |first4=Storrs L. |last5=Hernández |first5=C Nayra |last6=López-Jurado |first6=L Felipe |year=2020 |title=Unforeseen diversity of quails (Galliformes: Phasianidae: ''Coturnix'') in oceanic islands provided by the fossil record of Macaronesia |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=188 |issue=4 |pages=1296–1317 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz107|doi-access=free}}</ref> and another species of bullfinch, the [[greater Azores bullfinch]], but these also went extinct after human colonization. Eleven subspecies of bird are endemic to the islands.<ref name="zt">{{cite journal |author1=Rando, Juan Carlos |author2=Alcover, Josep Antoni |author3=Olson, Storrs L. |author4=Pieper, Harald. |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |title=A new species of extinct scops owl (Aves: Strigiformes: Strigidae: ''Otus'') from São Miguel Island (Azores Archipelago), North Atlantic Ocean |journal=Zootaxa |volume=3647 |issue=2 |pages=343–357 |url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2013/f/z03647p357f.pdf |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3647.2.6 |pmid=26295111 |hdl=10261/85708 |access-date=30 June 2015 |archive-date=19 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219082024/http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2013/f/z03647p357f.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The Azores has an endemic bat, the [[Azores noctule]], which has an unusually high frequency of diurnal flight.

[[File:Fogo lake - S.Miguel island - Azores (39000072215) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[Lagoa do Fogo]] on São Miguel Island]]
The islets of the Formigas (the Portuguese word for "ants"), including the area known as the [[Dollabarat]] Reef, have a rich environment of maritime species, such as [[black coral]] and [[manta ray]]s, different species of sharks, whales, and sea turtles. Seventeen new marine reserves (with special conservation status) were added to the Azorean Marine Park (which covers around {{cvt|900000|km2}}).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ailhadasflores.blogspot.com/2016/05/aumento-do-parque-marinho-dos-acores.html |title=Aumento do Parque Marinho dos Açores |access-date=18 May 2020 |archive-date=20 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620134528/https://ailhadasflores.blogspot.com/2016/05/aumento-do-parque-marinho-dos-acores.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On São Miguel there are notable micro-habitats formed by hot springs that host [[extremophile]] microorganisms.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Extremophile |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Earth |publisher=National Council for Science and the Environment |location=Washington D.C. |url=http://www.eoearth.org/article/Extremophile?topic=49540 |access-date=10 January 2010 |last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |date=10 December 2010 |editor-last=Monosson |editor-first=Emily |editor2-first=Cutler J. |editor2-last=Cleveland |archive-date=11 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511141854/http://www.eoearth.org/article/Extremophile?topic=49540 |url-status=live }}</ref>