Khopyor Nature Reserve, Russia

 

Description of Khopyor Nature Reserve

The Khoper State Nature Reserve is one of the oldest specially protected areas in Russia; in 2010, the reserve celebrated its 75th anniversary. It received its name in honor of the left tributary of the Don, the Khoper River, which more than 20 years ago UNESCO even recognized as the cleanest in Europe.

More than 16 thousand hectares of protected lands with their unique natural complex are home to 328 species of animals and birds, 38 species of fish, about six thousand species of insects, many of which are listed in the Red Book. The flora on Khopra is no less rich than the fauna: 1200 species of various plants grow here.

 

Ecotrails

Guests of the Khopersky Reserve can get acquainted with the peculiarities of the territory and its inhabitants in the Museum of Nature or during a walk along one of the specially designed thematic ecological trails. You can explore the expanses on foot, by kayak or motor boat, and even by bus. Basically, eco-trails run along roads, but in some places they go deep into the forest so that tourists can approach interesting objects. For example, the most popular eco-route “Legends of Khopra” runs through terraced lakes, meadows, pine plantations, light forests of wild apple and pear trees, and alder forests.

 

Cultural and historical monuments

The administrative buildings of the Khopersky Reserve are located in the village of Varvarino on the territory that belonged to the noble family of Raevsky. The Museum of Nature is located in the former manager's house, which is an example of wooden architecture from the late 19th century. Dutch-type tiled stoves, ceiling rosettes and molded cornices are still preserved in the building.

The former owners of the reserve also inherited a Crimean pine alley and a poplar alley with hundred-year-old trees. In addition, the old water tower, stables and saddlery have been preserved.

 

How to get there

From Voronezh to Novokhopersk along the M-4 highway, then at the junction near the village of Rogachevka turn onto the A-144 highway, go through Arkhangelskoye, Podgoronoe and Yelan-Koleno. Then follow through Novokhopersk, 18 km along the highway until the turn to the village of Varvarino, where the central estate of the Khopersky Reserve is located. Contact phone: 8 (47353) 48-134.

 

History

Before the nature reserve
By decree of Emperor Paul I of June 21, 1799, the boundaries of forest holdings for individuals, communities and the state were determined. After that, trees began to be cut down a lot and often, which led to a reduction in the forest. But some owners specially guarded their plots, so the forest on their territories was preserved.

The Tellerman forest, the natural part of which was the modern territory of the Khopersky Reserve, remained state property. Clear-cutting was planned there with tape cuts, with a width of no more than 26.7 meters. Some of the sites were guarded and not used. In the 20s of the 19th century, in especially valuable forest areas, a cordon protection system was used with the settlement of forest guards on cordons in the forest itself. Sometimes additional guards were hired here in the form of horse patrols.

Creation of the reserve
The reserve was established on February 10, 1935 by the decree "On approval of a network of complete reserves of national importance" by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR. The reserve was created to preserve the population of the Russian desman (Desmana mosсhata L.). In total, more than 2,500 desmans and 600 beavers are settled in different regions of the country.

By the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of July 2, 1936, the area of the reserve was increased to 16,138 hectares. Now the area of the territory is 16,758.1048 hectares.

Milestones in the history of the reserve
1935-1950s
1935 - The emergence of the reserve. The first director Volzhankin K.I.
1936 - An inventory of the fauna was carried out.
1937 - Creation of the Nature Reserve Museum.
1940 - Publication of the first volume of the works of the Khopersky Reserve.
1944 - An inventory of reservoirs was carried out to assess the habitat of the muskrat.
1950-1990s
1955 - Bison were brought in to create a new animal reacclimatization point.
1961 - Transformation of the Khopersky Reserve into a branch of the Voronezh Reserve.
1966 - Khopersky reserve became an independent institution.
1973 - Organized a buffer zone of the reserve on an area of 13.6 thousand hectares.
1973 - An organization of an experimental deer-antler farm was created.
1974 - III All-Union Conference on the protection and restoration of the number of desman.
1982 - A desman vivarium was built.
1990-2020
1997 - A specialized environmental education group was created within the structure of the scientific department to work with the local population, tourists, and the younger generation.
1998 - Inclusion in the Key Bird Areas of Russia (KOTR) program.
2011 - Developed a program for the development of educational tourism in the reserve. A project is being implemented to design the territory of the reserve in a single style.
2011 - Approved the Charter of the reserve.
2022 - increase in the area of ​​the territory by 465.9 hectares

 

Current state

Its total area is 16,178 hectares. The territory stretches for 50 km along the Khoper River from north to south, the width of the reserve ranges from 1.5 to 9 km. A protected zone with a width of 0.5 to 4 km with a total area of 29.8 thousand hectares has been established around the reserve.

The climate is temperate continental, with rather severe winters and hot summers. The average annual air temperature is +5.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 531.2 mm. The average duration of the frost-free period is 183 days.

 

Flora and fauna

About 80% of the area is covered with forests, floodplain and upland oak forests, small areas of steppes and meadows prevail. In floods, about 80% of the territory is flooded, there are about 400 lakes and oxbows.

The species composition of the flora, of which there are about 1200 species of higher plants. On the territory of the reserve there is a rich aquatic vegetation numbering 109 species of plants (including relict species of floating salvinia, chilim). The fauna is diverse: 45 species [source not specified 2178 days] mammals (including rare desman) wild boar, wolf, fox, badger, pine marten and acclimatized sika deer, 184 species of birds (rare burial ground, snake-eagle, great spotted eagle, eagle- white-tailed, osprey, owl, etc.), 8 species of reptiles, 8 species of amphibians, 35 species of fish (including the sterlet listed in the Red Book).

Since 1955, work has been carried out in the reserve to re-acclimatize the bison, which once inhabited the banks of the Khopra. For this purpose, several crossbred animals (obtained by crossing bison with cattle) were brought from Belovezhskaya Pushcha and the Prioksko-Terrasny reserve. However, in 1982 this venture was scrapped due to its inconsistency with the real objectives of the reserve and the fact that the breeding bison began to damage crops and forest plantations. The Zubropark, created in 1968 near the village of Kalinovo, was liquidated.

 

Landscape

The relief and soils of the reserve were influenced by the proximity of the Khoper River. Its channel formed three geomorphological zones: the bedrock bank, the floodplain, and the terrace above the floodplain. The river cut through the Quaternary deposits and divided the ancient glacial plain.

The region of the Khopersky reserve is part of the Volga-Don province, so there is a calm and mild relief with a monotonous plain. The right root bank of the Khoper River rises above the river level at a height of 55 meters. Its slopes reach 20-40° steepness. There are a lot of ravines and gullies here. This gives the right bank the character of rugged terrain.

Floodplain - part of the river valley, which is located above the channel and is flooded in high water or during floods. On the territory of the reserve there are a large number of oblong lakes and oxbow lakes. The terrace above the floodplain is represented by low ridges and ramparts that stretch along the Khoper River.

A pronounced asymmetry of the slopes is observed near the river valley. The right bank is steep and high, the left one is lower. Due to the fact that the shape of the relief is changing, the soil cover of the Khopersky Reserve is also changing.

 

Climate

The reserve is located on the border of the steppe and forest-steppe geographical zones of the Voronezh region, in the northern climatic region of the steppe climatic zone. The Khoper River divides the territory into right-bank and left-bank parts.

The temperate continental climate is determined by geographic latitude and distance from the Atlantic Ocean. Winds from the northwest direction prevail.

According to weather conditions, the right bank of Khoper is referred to as a temperate forest-steppe climatic zone, and the left bank of Khoper belongs to a more pronounced continental climate. On the left bank, spring frosts and summer droughts occur more often.

The meteorological station of the reserve conducts meteorological monitoring on the left-bank, sandy terraces of Khopra. This is necessary in order to provide a weather-hydrological basis for studying the dynamics of the abiotic and biotic components of the reserve.

The annual amplitude of air temperature according to the meteorological station of the Khoper Reserve is 59.6-77.7 ºС.

The frost-free period lasts 199 days. On average, snow falls on December 4th. The earliest is 25 September, the latest is 9 January. The average snow depth in February in the forest is 28.6 cm, the maximum height rises to 79 cm.

Average daily temperatures below zero are observed in late October-early November, above zero - in early April. In some years, air temperatures below zero are observed in late April, early May and September.

The amount of precipitation that falls during the year varies considerably. In some years it reaches 600-800 mm, in others - 300-400 mm. On average, 556.4 mm of precipitation falls per year: 116.2 mm in spring, 153.5 mm in summer, 144.1 mm in autumn, and 142.4 mm in winter.

 

Flora

The territory of the reserve is 16.2 thousand hectares. The flora of the reserve includes 1087 species of higher plants, including 31 species of trees, 54 species of shrubs, 8 shrubs and shrubs. Herbaceous plants predominate, the total number of perennial plants reaches 680, biennials - 76, annuals - 238 species. In the Red Book of the Voronezh Region in 2018, 61 species from the list of plants of the Khopersky Reserve were recorded, 9 species are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

68 species of lichens, 76 species of mosses, 332 species of fungi, 446 species of blue-green and diatoms grow in the reserve. Until now, the complete composition of higher and lower plants, mosses, lichens, representatives of the kingdom of fungi has not been identified. This is due to the fact that the territory is located in natural, little disturbed by man, conditions.

Forests occupy 82% of the entire territory of the reserve. Oak forests, alder forests, aspen forests, willow forests, and poplar forests are common in the floodplain. There are linden forests that exude a thick honey aroma during flowering. The uniqueness of the floodplain forest is given by impenetrable thickets of willows, nettle-blackberry and lily-of-the-valley oak forests with an abundance of fallen trees - fallouts.

Black alders create a unique look of alder swamps. Some of them are over 100 years old. Alder stands of this age are the only ones of their kind that have survived in the Central Black Earth region of Russia.

In oxbow lakes, pure white water lily, yellow water lily are common, there are also rare species of aquatic plants: water chestnut (chilim), Don hornwort, floating salvinia fern and other plant species.

On the terraces above the floodplain, composed of sands, in the zone of the sandy steppe, grasses dominate: fescue and wheatgrass. The steppe is most beautiful in spring, when the Dnieper feather grass blooms, there are many ephemera.

 

Fauna

In 1935, there were 39 species of mammals in the reserve. Since then, the list has grown to 44 species. For example, elk, European roe deer, red deer, wild boar, wolf, badger, pine marten, polecat, hare, squirrel, forest dormouse, white-breasted hedgehog and others. These are typical representatives for the zone of broad-leaved forest-steppe forests of Europe, living on the border of the forest-steppe and steppe zones. The reserve took part in the European bison restoration project. From 1956 to 1980, a herd of 25-30 bison and bison was kept on the territory. Today, there are none on the territory of the reserve.

The Khopersky Reserve has a rich avifauna: 230 species of birds live here. In 1998, the organization was included in the Key Bird Areas of Russia (KOTR) program. On the territory of the reserve live: gray heron, white-tailed eagle, common kingfisher, steppe harrier, great spotted eagle, great snipe.

Along with animals and birds, 9 species of amphibians and 9 species of reptiles live in the reserve. The most numerous species include the red-bellied toad, the common spadefoot, lake, pond and moor frogs, the marsh turtle, the nimble lizard and the Nikolsky viper, which is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. More rare species are the common copperhead, viviparous lizard, brittle spindle, crested newt.

The ichthyofauna includes 42 species of fish, of which 32% of the species are listed in the Red Books of various levels. In reservoirs there are sterlet, burbot, catfish, bream, pike perch, asp, sabrefish and others.

Of particular interest is the Ukrainian lamprey.