Les na Vorskle Nature Reserve, Russia

Description of Les na Vorskle Nature Reserve

Les na Vorskle Nature Reservea is a section of the Belogorye reserve, located in the vicinity of the village of Borisovka, on the right bank of the upper Vorskla river. Total area: 1038 ha. Security zone: 488 ha. Since 1924, it existed as a reserve Les na Vorskle “Forest on Vorskla”, which in 1951 was liquidated and became educational and experienced forestry.

In 1979, Les na Vorskle Nature Reserve again received the status of a reserve. In 1995, the Ostrasyevsky Yary section was transferred to his jurisdiction, and in 1999, the Yamskaya Steppe, Lysy Gory and Walls of Izgorya sections (these three sections were incorporated until 1999 into the Central Black Earth State Natural Biosphere). Reserve named after professor V.V. Alekhin) and in the same year the reserve was named “Belogorye”.

 

Physical and geographical features

The territory of the site is bordered by rivers on three sides: from the south and east - the Vorskla, from the west - the Gotnya (a tributary of the Vorskla) with a tributary of the Loknya.

The relief of the territory, despite its small size, is very diverse and typical of upland oak forests of the forest-steppe. It is possible to distinguish three different surface areas of the terrain. The upper terrace is the most elevated northeastern part with elevations up to 217 meters above sea level. This part is the edge of the interfluve plateau. The middle terrace occupies the northwestern, western, central, and partly southern parts of the site and is confined mainly to the side terraces of the Gotney and Lokni valleys. Water-accumulative and eolian landforms predominate here. The rest of the territory immediately adjacent to the river valley. Vorskla is characterized by an erosion type of relief: slopes of various steepness, dissected by ravines and gullies, predominate. Several forest ravines, locally called "Yars", cross the territory of the oak forest: "Verveykov Yar" - the longest and deepest, a kind of forest canyon; "Wolf Yar" - wide and branched; the same “Udodov Yar”, etc. In some parts of the forest, a zoogenic microrelief is clearly visible: badger and fox “towns” with emissions near holes, emissions of moles, sometimes wild boars, numerous passages of mouse-like rodents.

Groundwater occurs at a considerable depth (25-30 m) almost throughout the entire territory of the site, i.e., it is inaccessible to the root systems of plants; therefore, atmospheric precipitation serves as the only source of water supply for them. There are no permanent watercourses and springs in the Les na Vorskla site, since the soil and its underlying rocks have good water permeability, and the water-resistant layers lie at great depths. Only in spring, during the melting of snow, or after heavy summer showers, short-term, but stormy streams run down the bottom of forest ravines.

Soils - gray and dark gray forest, mainly on carbonate loess, typical for oak forests of the forest-steppe. On the territory of the site, about 20 soil varieties are distinguished, differing in the degree of podzolization, humus content and other properties.

 

Plant world

The site "Forest on Vorskla" is an upland oak forest located on the right high bank of the Vorskla River. 100-110-year-old plantations dominate. About 130 ha. occupied by oak forests over 300 years old. Of the tree species, the dominant ones are pedunculate oak, common ash, Norway maple, small-leaved linden, and rough elm. European euonymus, warty euonymus, and field maple are common in the undergrowth. Somewhat less common are: Tatar maple, svidina, laxative buckthorn, wild rose. Of the herbaceous plants in the upland oak forest, spring plants are widespread - ephemeroids and typical forest broad grass - common goutweed, European hoof, obscure lungwort, lanceolate stellate, spring rank, etc. In general, the flora of the "Forest on Vorskla" site is typical of most forest-steppe oak forests of the Central Russian Upland . Of the rare species, the noble liverwort, umbrella vulture griffon and curly-haired vulture are noted here.

 

Animal world

The fauna of the protected area is very diverse. Its avifauna is especially rich, numbering 50-60 nesting, 5-7 wintering and 10-20 vagrant species of birds, which are representatives of 14 orders. More than half of them, according to the number of species, are birds from the order Passeriformes - mainly these are birds of small size. The vast majority of the birds of the Forest on Vorskla nest on shrubs and trees, including a significant proportion of representatives of the ecological group of hollow nesters, which is largely due to an excess of faut forest stand. In this area, the environment-forming activity of ungulates, primarily the wild boar, which abounds here, is clearly traced, which has a pronounced effect on plant and animal communities. Of the other mammals, the most numerous in the oak forest, of course, are small mouse-like rodents; in addition, some species of bats and insectivores are common here, as well as fox, pine marten, European roe deer and some others. Representatives of the classes Amphibians and Reptiles - 6-7 and 5-6 species, respectively, are an integral part of the oak forest fauna. More than 2,500 species of insects have been recorded in the Forest on Vorskla, including many rare ones (stag beetle, large green bronze, Hungarian ground beetle, etc.) and about 300 species of arachnids.