Reserve “Khomutovskaya Steppe. Khomutovskaya Steppe Nature Reserve The biggest enemy is man

Location:

35 km north of the village. Sedovo, northern part of Novoaidarsky district, on the outskirts of the village. Samsonovo.

"Khomutovskaya steppe"- botanical reserve with an area of ​​1028 hectares. The steppe first received the status of a reserve back in 1926, when the Mariupol District Executive Committee adopted a resolution “On the organization of the local reserve “Khomutovskaya Steppe”. Then it was transferred to the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore, and in 1936 the Khomutovskaya steppe became a nature reserve regional significance, in 1947 - received the status of a state reserve of republican significance. The reserve is included in the special register of the United Nations, and is also included in the UNESCO list of natural monuments.

The Khomutovskaya steppe is located in the Novoazovsky district of the Donetsk region on the left bank of the Gruzskaya Elanchik river not far from the border with Russian Federation. Near the reserve is the village of Khomutovo, but the central entrance to the reserve is in the village of Samsonovo. And through Khomutovo you can get to the “back” entrance.

Khomutovskaya steppe – part of the Ukrainian steppe nature reserve, which consists of five branches (Khomutovskaya steppe, Stone Graves, Cretaceous flora and Kalmiuskoe in the Donetsk region, Mikhailovskaya virgin soil in the Sumy region). The reserve has a museum, and on its territory there are 3 man-made Scythian mounds. Guests of the Khomutovskaya steppe can visit the museum, where qualified staff will tell and show a lot of most interesting information. The reserve's scientists pay great attention to issues of promoting nature conservation.

This is the first reserve organized in Donbass and the most significant in area. A unique monument of pristine nature, the protected steppes of the ancient Scythians. The Khomutovskaya steppe is one of the last patches of territory where wild steppe still remains.

Hear the lark sing, see how the raven blossoms bloom and feather grass shimmers with lunar silver in the wind, breathe in the blooming steppe herbs, drink fresh spring water- isn’t this the greatest gift that gives us native nature?! The Khomutovskaya steppe serves as a natural standard for the study of soils, flora and fauna. Only here you have the opportunity to see rare plants, various types of animals. Stone women add unusualness to the steppe expanse. There are more than 20 of these ancient sculptures on the territory of the reserve.

The Khomutovskaya steppe is all that remains of the once vast Wild Field, which occupied southern part Ukraine. In its vastness, various peoples appeared, developed and disappeared - Scythians, Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Sarmatians and many others, who rolled over the endless steppe in waves, leaving time sentries - stone women - on the mounds. But these idols of the past could not protect the fertile steppe from the man who plowed the land. Today, the area of ​​the reserve is 1030.4 hectares, and 90 of them are absolutely reserved areas that have never been plowed and on which no cattle have been grazed or mowed for 70 years. The territory of the reserve is a section of the undulating Azov Plain, which gradually decreases towards the valley of the Gruzsky Elanchik River. The terrain is cut by branched gully Brandtova, Klimushevskaya, Krasnaya.

The Khomutovskaya steppe serves as a natural standard for the study of soils, flora and fauna. There are 560 plant species, of which 50 are rare and endemic, 15 of which are listed in the Red Book. The most typical representatives of the flora are: katran, tulip, violets, almonds, kermek, feather grass, wheatgrass, brome, tyrsa, forget-me-nots, porridge, adonis, gorse, caragana, cornflowers, bluegrass, sage and hundreds of other plants. At the beginning of May, the flowering period of wild peonies (“piwonia”, as the locals say) begins. The entire steppe is covered with bright red spots of flowers and becomes like a swaying red sea.

The fauna of the reserve is also diverse: wolf, fox, raccoon dog, hare, vole, copperhead, snake, steppe viper, mice, ferret, weasel, lizard, hamster, bobak, gopher, snake, toads, etc. The feathered world of the steppe is represented by more than 80 species of birds: partridge, quail, pheasant, ducks, bustard, larks, starlings, shrike, warblers, tit, harrier, steppe eagle, oriole, falcon, kestrel, honey buzzard and others.

Currently in the Khomutovskaya steppe, within scientific experiment, work has begun on horse breeding and grazing. This is due to the problem of accumulation, especially in areas with an absolutely protected regime, of litter from a thick layer of dead plants.

In the Khomutovskaya steppe, Sergei Bondarchuk filmed an adaptation of “The Steppe” by A.P. Chekhov.

Every year, the Khomutovskaya steppe is visited by numerous excursion groups of teachers, schoolchildren, students, foreign scientists and tourists. This reserve is a must visit!

How to get there:

from Sedovo, using your own or hired transport, you need to travel 31 km north along the territorial road T-0508 (Novoazovsk-Telmanovo) and beyond the village. Bessarabka (will be to the right of the highway) you need to turn right and drive another 4 km east to the village. Samsonovo, on the outskirts of which the reserve is located. Next - a walk, which will not only improve your health, but also give you an unforgettable experience of the surrounding landscapes.

Khomutovskaya steppe- central office Ukrainian State Steppe Natural Reserve. Botanical reserve.

This is the first (and most significant in area) organized into a reserve.

Address: Donetsk region, Novoazovsky district, village. Khomutovo.

Khomutovskaya steppe

The Khomutovskaya steppe is located on the Azov coastal plain and descends from north to south, and in the west the border of the reserve runs along the Gruzskaya Elanchik river. The natural border in the south is the Obolonskaya ravine. From east to west, the territory of the steppe is dissected by two ravines, on the slopes of which, as in the Gruzsky Elanchik valley, limestones are shed.

Before the revolution, the so-called Khomutovskaya herd cleanup belonged to and was used as a pasture for young horses. After October revolution this territory was included in the state land fund and continued to be used as pasture and hayfield.

In June 1925, employees of the Mariupol Local History Museum Yu.D. Kleopov and N.P. Kovalenko, together with a representative of the Mariupol district administration, conducted a survey of the Khomutovskaya steppe and noted its large scientific significance. The research materials were heard at a meeting of the Mriupol district executive committee, and on August 24, 1926, the Khomutovskaya steppe was declared a nature reserve of local importance. Since 1961, it became part of the Ukrainian State Steppe Reserve.

Curtain of fine-leaved peony in the Khomutovskaya steppe

The Khomutovskaya steppe serves as a natural standard for the study of soils, flora and fauna. There are 560 plant species, including 50 rare and endemic, 15 of which are listed in the Red Books.

By the nature of the vegetation cover, the Khomutovskaya steppe is a southern version of the forb-fescue-feather grass steppes. The basis of the grass cover is made up of grasses: furrowed fescue, Lessing's feather grass and hairy feather grass, in some places awnless grass and wheatgrass, and in low areas there is also coastal grass, and in places ground marten. Volga adonis, Schrenck tulips, oak tulips, serpentine tulips, pleasant and bicolor violets, marshmallow, narrow-leaved peony (Voronets), wild Austrian flax and many other steppe plants also grow here. And only occasionally in the steppe, against the background of grass, bushes of laxative jaggery, common thorn, rose hips (14 species), karagana bush, steppe almond, etc. rise.

Stone woman in the Khomutovskaya steppe

The bed of the Gruzsky Elanchik is covered almost throughout its entire length with powerful thickets of toast, reaching 4-5 meters in height.

Nightingales, orioles, and doves nest along the river bank. Goldfinch, rook, magpie, gray partridge live in the steppe all year round. During spring migrations, night herons, nightjars, yellow-throated wrens, and wild pigeons linger for some time. In winter you can often see a sparrowhawk, a long-eared owl, and sometimes an eagle owl.

There are two reserves in the Donetsk region - the Khomutovskaya steppe and Kamennye Mohyly, which are branches of the Ukrainian steppe reserve. Today we will visit the Khomutovskaya steppe.

Located near the village of Khomutovo, Novoazovsky district. 20 kilometers south of the reserve is the Sea of ​​Azov.

The area of ​​the Khomutovskaya steppe is 1028 hectares. The reserve is located on the Azov coastal plain, characterized by flat-undulating terrain. The territory of the Khomutovka steppe is a plateau, gradually descending towards the Gruzsky Elanchik River and cut through by small ravines with gentle slopes, which are covered with a layer of loess-like loam. Along the river bank and in some places on the slopes of ravines, Tertiary (Sarmatian) limestones are exposed. The soils are the Azov region variety of ordinary chernozems, characterized by large thickness of humus horizons and significant carbonate content.

The Khomutovskaya Steppe received the status of a nature reserve in 1926. Before this, the area was used for grazing and haymaking. Before the revolution, it was a herd buster for the Don Army. In 1926, the Mariupol District Executive Committee issued a resolution on the organization of nature reserves of local importance - the Khomutovskaya steppe, the Belosarayskaya Spit and the Stone Graves - and transferred them to the jurisdiction of the Mariupol Local History Museum. Ten years later, the Donetsk Regional Executive Committee declared the Khomutovskaya steppe a reserve of regional significance. Since 1947 she became state reserve republican and later state significance.

Wildlife of the reserve

The animal and bird world of the reserve is quite diverse. Great and crested larks, gray partridge, millet, common and black-fronted shrikes, and shrikes nest on level areas. There are cuckoos, common tits, and nightjars. Birds of prey include kestrel, kite, and harrier. In the reeds along the river bank live a large and little bittern, teal, mallard, red heron and others.

Mammals are represented by foxes, weasels, ferrets - steppe and bandage. Common brown hare, mole rat, hamster, ground squirrel, big jerboa, long-eared and common hedgehog. IN last years Successful reacclimatization of the boibak has begun.

Reptiles include the quick lizard, steppe viper, copperhead, yellow-bellied snake, water snake and common snake. The river contains bream, perch, roach and other fish, and many crayfish.

Vegetation of the reserve

The steppe vegetation of the reserve is a variant of forb-feather grass steppes. In a few places - on the tops of inter-beam watersheds and in the upper part of steep slopes - forb-grass groups with a predominance of Lessing's feather grass, Ukrainian and beautiful hair grass, and also furrowed fescue have been preserved. Their grass stand also contains Romanian alfalfa and colorful forbs: drooping sage, whorled and Austrian steppe plantain, tuber-bearing zopnik, Volga adonis, Marshall's thyme, broad-leaved sage, and in some places - the Tatarian katran plant, which is rare in Ukraine and Donbass.

As a result of the introduction of the reserve regime (cessation of grazing and significant reduction in haymaking) the steppe becomes meadowed, expressed in the spread of long-rhizome grasses. Large areas on gentle slopes, inter-gulley watersheds and flat areas of the plateau are occupied by groups of creeping and hairy wheatgrass, awnless bromegrass, narrow-leaved bluegrass and reed grass. The groups look like compact thickets. Admixture of others steppe species insignificant: bristly yarrow, steppe speedwell, Russian bedstraw, small basilisk, lanceolate carnation.

Along the trail of slopes and on the terraces along Gruzsky Elanchik there are small areas of steppe meadows. The vegetation cover is dominated by fescue, meadow fescue, bluegrass, meadow and variable clover. Mixed with them are meadow and tuber-bearing rank, field steelweed, early sedge, hill geranium, and Thuringian khatma.

Along the riverbed of the Gruzsky Elanchik along the territory of the reserve stretch tall thickets of common reed with an admixture of water flatbread, drooping and fox sedges, thickets of white, brittle, and red willow. In total, there are more than 500 plant species in the reserve.

• The awakening of the steppe from winter dormancy begins in early April. Against the brown background of last year's plant remains, the greenery of new leaves and the first flowers emerge - pale purple bells of reticulate saffron, yellow stars of goose onions, white-pink haze of spring grains, golden spots of Volga adonis spilling out. The edges of the bush thickets turn blue from the drooping woodland.

If in April the steppe is typical yellowish-brown color, then the rocky slopes at this time represent a multi-colored carpet: blue spots of Pallas hyacinth interspersed with yellow serpentine tulips and blue, purple, yellow, cream circles of low iris. The Schrenck tulip is especially beautiful - it blooms very beautifully in dark red.

• In the first half of May The steppe is green with dark purple spots of the black crow, yellow spots of the bush wolfberry, and white spots of the fine-leaved birdgrass.

• The most colorful steppe in the second half of May - early June. The silver feathers of feather grasses, mixed with the dark blue tassels of drooping sage, wave in the wind, and huge caps of Tatarian katran are scattered everywhere. In some places, the violet aspect is given by violet mullein, pink by tuberous euphorbia, blue by small-flowered catnip, white by six-petalled meadowsweet, steppe plantain, yellow by steppe euphorbia and Segierov, and dyeing woad.

The slopes of the Klimushanskaya gully turn yellow from the flowering Volga calofaka, a rare plant in Ukraine. On the limestone outcrops there is a continuous yellow carpet of Chernyaev flax.

• In the second half of June The color scheme of the steppe is formed mainly by the prickly grass, dry serpuha, kachim paniculata, and Don sainfoin, which give it pink and red shades. Russian bedstraw, oriental cornflower and Romanian alfalfa add variety to the overall background yellow spots. Some plants already bear fruit by that time. This gives some areas a brown tint.

• In July the steppe loses its color. Straw-brown stems of drying plants with ripe fruits are visible everywhere. Only pale yellow scabiosa, oriental mullein, and common cutter bloom. On the outcrops, a white-pink carpet is formed by Cretaceous femoris, Kakam tall, and Yurinea short-headed.

• In August, broadleaf kermek stands out with its lilac caps. On the outcrops we see tall and Ural capitula, and feather grass also blooms.

• In autumn, life in the steppe seems to freeze. Individual specimens of late-summer plants are blooming, and the wind is driving “tumbleweeds” - broken off dried parts of the katran, prickly zopnik, kermek, kachim paniculata and common cutter.

Map of the Khomutovskaya steppe

The reserve is one of the few remnants of the steppes that once occupied the Azov region large areas. In its vastness you can get a good look at the once rich flora and fauna of the southern Azov steppes.

Scientists are doing a lot of work in the Khomutovskaya steppe to study the flora and fauna of the steppes, using them for needs National economy. Higher education students do their internship here educational institutions, and secondary school students get acquainted with the plant (which we will talk about later) and animal world. The reserve hosts numerous excursions.

A few words about one architectural monument Ancient Greece. was built from 421 BC to 406. It is believed that the building is located where Athena and Poseidon once argued over the ownership of Attica.

Be sure to do to a loved one good gift! will become great solution This problem is due to the fact that you can buy quite high-quality and inexpensive things there.