Why, and Russia is not deprived of its natural beauties! And one of its most unique corners is the Polistovsky Reserve, whose photos are presented in this article. But it’s better, of course, not to limit yourself to viewing pictures, but to see this paradise with your own eyes. It's about this amazing place and will go further.
Geographic characteristics
The Polistovsky Reserve is located in the Russian outback and covers an area of almost thirty-eight thousand hectares in the west of the Valdai Upland in the Pskov Region (Bezhanitsky District). The river Polist flows through its territory, in whose honor it is named. In the east, it borders with another conservation area - the State Rdeisky Reserve, in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
If we talk about zonal division, the Polistovsky Reserve is a taiga and coniferous-deciduous forests. The climate here is temperate continental, characterized by a fairly mild, cloudy winter. Frequent fogs and high humidity are the main distinguishing features of these places. And here is a very complex earth cover with a predominance of sod-podzolic, peat marsh and sod-gley loamy soils.
History of creation
Polistovsky State Reserve is relatively young. It was officially registered only in 1994. But the hunting reserve, on the basis of which the reserve was created, existed here from the seventy-seventh year. And the Polistovsky swamps began to be studied even earlier - in 1909. The research was led by Academician Vladimir Sukachev.
The territory of the reserve has long been the "promised land" for domestic geobotanists and bog experts who searched and found on it unique material for their dissertations and doctoral works. In 1992, the botanical students of Moscow State University conducted serious floristic studies here, describing the vegetation (272 species) of Russian riding bogs.
The Polistovsky Reserve is the largest conservation facility of federal significance. By the abundance and variety of swamps, it has no equal not only in the northwestern part of the Russian Federation, but throughout Europe.
The value of the reserve
The Polistovo-Lovatskaya bog system, within which the reserve is located, was formed about ten thousand years ago and is very well preserved in comparison with other similar ones. Getting here, a person seems to be transferred to ancient times and has the opportunity to see pristine nature in all its glory. Since the seventy-third year, these places have been under the tutelage of the international project "Thelma", which included the wetland system in the list of protected sites.
Polistovsky Nature Reserve has of great importance not only in terms of tourism, which has been actively developing here recently, but also (primarily) from the point of view of science and education. You will not find the best visual aid for biology students and swamp scientists.
Ecosystem uniqueness
What is the uniqueness of the Polistovo-Lovatskaya bog system? Why is it cherished like the apple of an eye? It's all about the magical properties of the raised bogs, which occupy about eighty percent of the reserve.
Fifteen swamp massifs merged into one gigantic water body, which acts as a natural filter. All pollutants (chlorine, metals, radionuclides, etc.) are absorbed by peat, and the result is clean, almost distilled water. The Neva River, Lake Ilmen, the Gulf of Finland and other reservoirs of the region feed on it.
In addition, the upland swamp cleans the air, ridding it of excess carbon dioxide through plants. The latter absorb the harmful element, which over time also becomes part of peat deposits.
Flora of the Polistovsky Reserve
Features of the conservation zone create ideal conditions for swamp algae, whose world here is extremely rich and diverse. On the territory of the Polistovsky Reserve, there are also about seven hundred species of various plants - most of the object is occupied by coniferous-deciduous forests.
The grass layer is represented by mosses, anemone, oak, bone, heather, cotton grass, cassandra, multi-flowered, etc. Among the tree species, spruce, oak, ash, elm, linden, maple, hazel, dwarf birch prevail. Typical for the area are cloudberries, marsh cranberries, sundews, as well as orchids that adorn the local meadows.
Polistovsky Reserve is also a storehouse of rare plants listed in the Red Book. Among them are gammaria swamp, Siberian iris, Baltic palmate, Sphagnum tender, Sphagnum bog, and many others.
Fauna: animals of the Polistovsky Reserve
The fauna of the Polistovsky Reserve also includes “Red Book” representatives. Especially a lot of them among the birds. So, for example, the Central Russian partridge, osprey, black-throated loon, gray crane, white-tailed eagle and golden eagle, living here are threatened with extinction. Even on the territory of the reserve, large curlew nest (the largest population in Europe), southern golden plover, gray shrike , etc.
The amphibian “population” amounts to only three species of animals - the gray toad, grass frog, and the sharp-faced frog. Of the reptiles, one can recall the viviparous lizard, spindle tree and common viper.
But the mammals of the Polistovsky Reserve are represented quite widely: rare flying squirrel, mink and red evening supper; the more common elk, lynx, roe deer, wolf, wild boar, bear, etc. - a total of thirty-six species.
As for the marshy lakes, the underwater animals are not very rich. Most often, predators such as pike and perch are found. And in Lake Polisto you can still find pikeperch, burbot, bream, roach, czechon and ide.
Tourist aspect
The Polistovsky Reserve, of course, is vigilantly guarded from human influence, which may prove detrimental to nature. Entrance to some corners is strictly forbidden. But the tourist component is still present here.
Recently, more and more often you can find advertisements of travel agencies advertising the conservation area. Guests are attracted by the dark as coffee, the water of lakes and rivers, ecological paths, hiking and water routes, meeting beavers, picking cranberries and many other things that are especially valuable in the modern urbanized world, not only from the point of view of a scientist, but also of an ordinary city dweller tired of the bustle of the metropolis.