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| Biosphere Reserve Information | ||||
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TSENTRAL'NOCHERNOZEM |
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| General Description |
This biosphere reserve is located about 550 km south of Moscow close to the Ukrainian border. Situated in the Pontian Steppe biogeographic region, the area comprises meadow steppes with a vast floristic diversity (up to 80 species per square meter). The Tsentral’nochernozemn Biosphere Reserve takes its name from its soil type, the so- called ‘chernozem’, which is a black and very fertile soil. Today, pristine steppe ecosystems are rare since all major steppe zones of Europe and America’s prairies have been transformed into agricultural land due to its high productive soil. As an island in an intensively used agricultural landscape, the core area of the biosphere reserve protects one of the last remaining undisturbed steppes in Europe. In the buffer zone of the biosphere reserve, which includes some 20,000 people (1998), management plans regulate agriculture and restrict the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Around the biosphere reserve, intensive agriculture, iron ore mining and industrial production take place. Tourism and recreation within the biosphere reserve (about 3,000 national tourists per year, 1998) have still a great potential to contribute to the economic benefit of the local people. |
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| Major ecosystem type | Temperate grasslands | |||
| Major habitats & land cover types | Meadow steppe with tree species such as oak (Quercus robur), maples (Acer platanoides and A. tataricum), lime (Tilia cordata), hazel (Corylus avellana), aspen (Populus tremula) and grasses such as Stipa pennata, S. capillata, Calamagrostis epigeios, Poa angustifolia, Bromopsis inermis and B. riparius; communities with ice age relict plant species such as Androsace kosopolyanskii, Bupleurum mulitnerve, Daphne juliae, Dendranthema zawadskii etc. | |||
| Location | 51°00'N; 36°40'E | |||
| Area (hectares) | ||||
| Total | 16,567 | |||
| Core area(s) | 6,287 | |||
| Buffer zone(s) | 10,280 | |||
| Transition area(s) when given | Not defined | |||
| Altitude (metres above sea level) | +230 to +263 | |||
| Year designated | 1978 | |||
| Administrative authorities | Director of Tsentral’nochernozem Zapovednik, reporting to the Federal Committee on Natural Resources and Ecology | |||
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| Brief description |
Soil formation, moisture and temperature, vegetation dynamics Appearance of new plant species Destructive insects on oak Long-term monitoring of birds Monitoring of small mammals, amphibians and reptiles |
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| Specific variables... | ||||
| Abiotic | Soil. | |||
| Biodiversity | Amphibians, birds, invertebrates/insects/spiders, mammals, methodologies, pests/diseases, plants, reptiles, vegetation studies/plant cover. | |||
| Socio-economic | n.a. | |||
| Integrated monitoring | n.a. | |||
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| Contact address |
A. A. Vlasov Tsentral'nochernozemny Zapovednik Kursk Region, Kurskiy District, Settlement Zapovedniy 305528 Russian Federation |
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| Telephone | (7.471-2) 37 72 94 | |||
| Fax | (7.471-2) 37 72 94 | |||
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zapoved@kursknet.ru alekhin@zapoved/kursk.ru |
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n.a. | |||
| Last updated: 3/1/2007 |
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