The main feature of nature in Moscow and the Moscow region is its geographical location.
Landscape
The Moscow region is distinguished mainly by a flat relief. In the western part, hills rise, reaching a mark of more than one hundred and sixty meters. The eastern part is occupied mainly by a wide lowland.
The border of the Moscow glaciation extended from southwest to northeast. To the north of it, a glacial-erosive form prevails, which is decorated with stained rows. To the south, only erosive relief form is widespread.
Climate
The nature of the Moscow region is determined by the temperate climate zone. Due to the pronounced seasonality in summer, the weather is warm and winter is moderately cold. One can observe an increase in continentality from the northwest to the southeast. Over a period of 120 to 135 days, the average daily temperature is below 0 degrees Celsius. This time lasts from mid-November to the end of March. The nature of the Moscow region is adapted to the average annual temperature, which ranges from 2.7 to 3.8 degrees Celsius.
Rivers
All flowing water bodies of the Moscow region are directly related to the Volga basin. The Volga itself goes around only a small part of the territory in the place where the border with the Tver region lies. Volga tributaries flow in the northern part, and the Oka tributaries in the southern part, which is a tributary of the first and second largest after the Volga in the Moscow Region. The Oka basin also includes tributaries of the Moscow River, enveloping a significant part of the Meshchera.
The total number of rivers in the region is more than three hundred. Their length is more than ten kilometers. Each of them has a calm course, a well-developed valley, floodplains. The most significant is snow food. The flood period falls on the period from April to May. In summer, the total water level is relatively low, rising only in the event of prolonged rain. From November to April, the rivers are covered with ice. Only the largest are navigable: the Oka, Volga and the Moscow River.
Vegetation
Due to the fact that the Moscow region is located in the forest and forest-steppe zones, dense forests occupy about forty percent of the total area. The northern part is represented by the Upper Volga lowland, the western - by the Mozhaisk, Lotoshinsky, Shakhovsk regions. Coniferous forest, the main part of which is spruce, has spread in this area. The nature of the Moscow region in the Meshchera region is represented by pine forests. In the swampy lowlands, you can find isolated alder forests. Coniferous and broad-leaved trees grow in the central and small parts of the eastern territory. The basis is spruce, pine, birch, aspen.
Hazel, also called hazelnut, predominates in the undergrowth. The diversity of nature in the Moscow region is explained by the existence of many subzones. If coniferous trees prevail in the center, then broad-leaved forests are located south. This includes oak, aspen, as well as elm and maple with sharp leaves. Such a transition zone, as the Moskvoretsko-Okskaya Upland, is rich in large massifs of spruce forests. A striking example of this is the headwaters of the Lopasni river. The Oka Valley is covered by a pine forest, which is inherently characteristic of the steppes.
On the southern outskirts, which includes Serebryano-Prudsky district, the forest-steppe zone prevails. Due to the fact that each plot of land has been plowed up, the natural natural complex has not been preserved even by fragments. Only occasionally can you find lime or oak grove.
Due to the fact that since the eighteenth century, forests have undergone intensive felling, the nature of the Moscow region has changed in the ratio of tree species. Coniferous (in particular - spruce) forest was replaced by small-leaved, which is represented by birch and aspen. Today, each forest has a water protection value, therefore, deforestation is practically not carried out. Restoration work is being carried out carefully, in heavy duty - in the area of the immediate vicinity of Moscow.
In Shatursky and Lukhovitsky districts swamps are widespread. Most of them are in the eastern part. Natural floodplain meadows almost never occur. The number of native plants decreases sharply, however, green representatives of other species, for example, American maple, Sorosnowski hogweed, and ordinary catchment, are multiplying more and more. The protection of nature in the Moscow Region is extremely important, since many plants are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. These include water chestnut, venus slipper and others.
Animal world
The class of mammals in this area is represented by badgers, beavers, squirrels, otters, muskrats, ermines, raccoon dogs, hedgehogs, hares (squirrels, males), shrews, weasels, foxes, moose, wild boars, roe deer, moles, rats (black, gray) , martens, mice (forest, yellow-throated, field, house, mouse mice), forest mice, minks, deer (noble, spotted, red deer), muskrats, voles (red, gray, arable, aquatic, housekeepers), black ferrets . The diversity of nature in the Moscow region is not limited to the listed species. At the borders you can meet a bear, a lynx, a wolf. Gray hamsters, speckled ground squirrels, hamsters, stone martens, and ferrets live in the southern part.
Some areas boast strong populations of atypical animals for the area. These include flying squirrels, American flying squirrels, Siberian roe deer. Presumably, these mammalian species were imported from other areas. In the Moscow Region there are more than a dozen species of bats: night-eye (common, mustachioed, pond, water), bat (forest, dwarf), evening-goose (red, small, giant), two-tone leathers, brown ear-flaps.
Winged fauna
The ornithological complex consists of more than one hundred and seventy species of birds. There are a large number of woodpeckers, blackbirds, hazel grouse, bullfinches, nightingales, chickpeas, lapwings, white storks, gray herons, gulls, grebes, ducks, and fires. There are many sparrows, magpies, ravens, as well as other representatives of birds living in central Russia. More than forty varieties are classified as hunting.
Water inhabitants
The nature of the Moscow region is rich in reservoirs in which a great many fish live (ruffs, crucian carp, bream, perch, roach, rattan, zander, pike).
The class of insects has a large number of varieties. For example, bees alone count more than three hundred subspecies. The inhabitants of the International Red Book also live here.
Amphibians
The nature of the Moscow Region is rich in six species of reptiles. Photos of some of them we could find in school books. These are lizards (including brittle, spindle, viviparous, nimble), snakes (ordinary vipers, ordinary snakes, coppers). There is also evidence that small turtle populations exist in the area. The class of amphibians is represented by newts (common, crested), toads (gray and green), frogs (grassy, sharp-mouthed, lake, pond, edible), ordinary garlic, red-bellied toads.
Security
The national project “The Diversity of Nature of the Moscow Region” is intended to draw attention to objects of national heritage that have special environmental, cultural, scientific significance.
It must be remembered that under conditions of severe anthropogenic impact on biocomplexes, their uniqueness should be preserved and protected. To this end, specially protected areas have been created. These include the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve (where the bison is under special protection), the Losiny Ostrov National Park, as well as the Zavidovo Game Reserve and federal nature reserves.
The project “The Diversity of Nature of the Moscow Region” disseminates information on specially protected natural areas belonging to the national heritage. Such complexes are separate sections of both the earth and water surface, as well as the space above them. They are withdrawn from industrial and economic use by state authorities, and a special security regime operates here by the decision of special bodies.
Natural monuments
Specially protected areas are irreplaceable biocomplexes. The natural monuments of the Moscow region include more than eighty objects. In home gardens, barrows, small bird colonies, separate sections of steppe colonies, sections of valleys, separate ravines, beaver colonies, places where birds nest, small lakes, hillforts, small forest areas, river elders, a regime is in place to preserve their natural state . All of them are withdrawn from land use and are regulated by the land legislation of the Russian Federation.
Each such corner of nature has its own passport, which contains information about the name, location, level of subordination, borders, protection regimes, acceptable uses, as well as contact details of the owners of the land plots on which the natural complexes are located, and information about persons who took self responsibility for maintaining the biocomplex.