Eastern Mediterranean landscape of Crimea. Crimean mountains. Karadag Nature Reserve

- December 21st 2005

It is the landscapes – steppes, forests, mountains, meadows and “mountain meadow steppe” – that make Crimea great place for those who like to explore and learn the unknown. You can wander through the forests with a camera, dive somewhere on Tarkhankut or Balaklava, go paragliding or study the history of the estates of the Russian nobility on the South Coast. For those who are interested in plants, for whom names like “Steveniella satyrioides” or “Bieberstein’s geranium” ring like music, Crimea is just what you need. The flora of Crimea is very diverse, everyone knows this.

You don't need to be a professional botanist to admire a blooming magnolia or a pine tree that miraculously stays on a rock. There are 1,450 species of algae in the Black Sea. More than 2,700 plant species grow on the peninsula. This is over half of the flora of Ukraine and almost twice as much as in Poland. The Crimean flora is inferior in diversity to the Italian and Greek. Let's catch up and overtake Sicily and Pelloponnese!

90% of plants are found in the mountainous Crimea. Interesting feature Crimean landscapes are that ordinary Central European plants are adjacent to typical Mediterranean plants and people from Western Asia. The peninsula is a special territory in which some relics have been preserved - plants of the pre-glacial period (small-fruited strawberry, tall, the rare orchid Comperia Compera). But the beauties that vacationers see on the South Coast - palm trees, laurels and cypresses - were brought to Crimea much later. What is more interesting for researchers is the “native” Crimean plants and rarities, of which there are plenty in Crimea: 142 species of plants are not found anywhere except the Crimean Peninsula. These are endemic to Crimea.

All the most interesting things are usually found in the mountains. Of course, steppe plants are also diverse, but in mountain forests you can see amazing things. It is good to travel in spring, summer, and autumn. True, by July many plants have already finished blooming and burned out, but others are blooming. There's always something to see.

For example, butcher's broom. What can you compare butcher's broom to? Probably with the famous Christmas holly (as they depict on postcards). Tough dark green leaves and red berries, even in winter. It’s good that they don’t try to put butcher’s broom in vases or decorate doorposts with it at Christmas. This exotic Mediterranean species exists on a narrow strip South Bank, its range is very small. What looks like leaves in butcher's broom are not leaves at all, but special flat branches. The real leaves are located in the center of these plates and are almost invisible.

Butcher's broom is a butcher's broom because it is prickly. Sometimes the “pillows” of broom somewhere under the trees resemble a special type of wire on which someone specially strung orange and red balls. It looks very unusual and beautiful. See for yourself!

The darkest, most mysterious forests -. These are not even forests, but halls with colonnades of gray trunks, and only somewhere up there, if you lift your head, you can see green light breaking through the leaves. You need to be a very shade-loving plant to grow under the canopy of a beech forest. Even if there is water here (some mountain river or stream), there is still not enough light: the leaves of the beech trees create an almost impenetrable “roof”. The ground in the beech forest is completely covered with fallen leaves, from which lush ferns emerge like fountains. After school stories about the Carboniferous period, ferns, horsetails and mosses evoke a strong association: a prehistoric forest. Strangely curved feathery branches along which a special, prehistoric life flows... And now, with an increasing roar, maneuvering between the trunks, you are overtaken by a giant meganerva dragonfly, and there is no escape from it. And what? Somewhere in the beech thicket, sometimes you come across places that take your breath away. It seems that there is no human being in the world, the water is so crystal clear that it comes straight from the ground, among boulders and green, unnaturally bright green moss saturated with moisture. These are the hidden folds of nature, and only when you see them do you understand exactly how the forest lives when no one disturbs it.

The one who has been to Nikitsky botanical garden, probably remembered the ancient gnarled tree, which bent like a giant snake, right above the path along which tourists are led. This tree seemed to come out of the “Divine Comedy”, from the gloomy depths, where on the banks of the stream there was a forest of people turned into trees. Strawberry - this is the name of this plant, instead of bark it seems to be dressed in suede. Looking at it, you can study the anatomy: its flesh-colored branches are strangely similar to a system of blood vessels or veins, and they are soft to the touch like leather. An interesting impression is produced by some inscription deeply cut into this warm pinkish bark. It must be a special pleasure for a sadist, not available to everyone, to carve his name into such a living surface, which both in color and appearance resembles human flesh. Small-fruited strawberry, or coral tree, is the only evergreen deciduous tree in the flora of Crimea. Even when snow falls on the South Coast, the leathery leaves of the strawberry can withstand this inconvenience. A young strawberry tree may not be noticed, but in Crimea there are giant strawberry trees that are hundreds of years old.

In addition to wild plants, in the most different places In Crimea you can see wild apple or pear trees among the low sunny thickets. They say that in ancient times, even before the annexation of Crimea to Russia, the Tatars used special irrigation systems known to them alone. People who lived in Crimea valued water very much; they literally extracted it drop by drop and carried it through clay pipes into their gardens. There were many fountains in the cities (of course, not like those at VDNKh, but still fountains!) Water was pumped from underground, and into cave cities They collected rainwater and directed it through special gutters. But turbulent historical events forced people to forget about ingenious irrigation systems, and many gardens went wild.

And some inconspicuous plant can be very interesting! . There is such a landscape there (especially on the coast, where there is nothing but thousand-year-old stones, cicadas and ancient columns against the backdrop of a piercing blue sky) that it is not clear what century you are in or whether you are in Crimea at all. Or is this already Hellas? Low stone labyrinths are the remains of a city excavated by archaeologists. These yellow ruins on the seashore themselves evoke a strange feeling, as if they lie on the edge of the world and beyond there is nothing but waves. And then, in the dilapidated stone halls, I began to come across some bouquets of berries growing right out of the walls. Sometimes they resembled a very beautiful forest man’s beard, in which raspberries had grown, but they always made their way on bare stones. Nothing else grew on the walls; I had to find out what kind of grass it was. It's good that the guide knew. “It’s ephedra,” he said. Later it turned out that ephedra is so unlike any other plant that it is the only one in our flora that forms a separate family of Ephedraceae. Ephedra has no leaves, only twigs that resemble a beard. Chersonesus and ephedra look amazing together!

Unfortunately, I have never seen orchids in Crimea. But they exist, all reference books and the Red Book of Ukraine talk about this. 47 species of orchids, about 20 are found in Laspi Bay. Of course, these are not tropical orchids and not those sold in flower shops. Crimean orchids like gems: small, but they have no price. The rarest of them is Compera's comperia. Once upon a time, a botany lover, the Frenchman Compere, who had an estate in Laspi, discovered this species. Comperia flowers are pinkish-brown, and each flower appears to thin out, ending in thin threads. This flower is not found anywhere else except Crimea and some areas of Asia Minor. In other Crimean orchids interesting names: orchis, lyubka, dremlik; ofris, whose flowers look like bumblebees. If you are lucky enough to see small but very beautiful Crimean orchids, can you share your photos?

The most valuable thing in Crimea is the diversity of landscapes. Some plants can be seen somewhere in the steppe, near Sivash, and completely different ones - on Demerdzhi. And if you climb Ai-Petri, Chatyrdag, or any mountain in general, there is a world of its own, with its own air, colors and way of life. The flat, treeless peaks of the Crimean Mountains are called yayls (from the Turkic “jeylyau” - mountain pasture). They have long loved to graze cattle there and grazed so much of it that the cattle trampled (or ate) many valuable plant species. Now the yayls are protected areas, but still cattle penetrate there from time to time, justifying the Turkic name. The Crimean mountains do not rise into the sky with peaks, we do not have the Himalayas. Their surface is flat. You will climb such a mountain, get lost in the fields and completely forget that you are at the top of the mountain, 1000-something meters above sea level.

Underfoot is limestone; it absorbs water very well, and the water erodes and “cuts” the surface of the yayla: karst sinkholes and entire “karr fields” are formed: a lunar landscape. There, in the depths of the mountains, lie water-washed halls and corridors, the thinnest passages through which no one and nothing penetrates except water drops. Yayla, like a huge pumice stone, eternally absorbs and redistributes water, passes moisture through itself and gives birth to springs and rivers down there. And here, on the surface, a unique landscape arises - the so-called. mountain meadow steppe. It's hard to describe. If you climb Chatyrdag, you will understand everything yourself. At first it seems that this is still a steppe. Then it seems that these are meadows, smooth, as if trimmed. But why then suddenly, in the middle of a flat green surface, you come across some depressions, small ravines, where strange trees grow, flat like tents or flying saucers? Sometimes it is like an endless park high above the world, which is subtly thought out and belongs to a great but invisible master. This is not even a meadow, these are myriads of grasses and flowers, on top of which lie completely flat, prickly clumps of juniper. They are so reminiscent of skillfully grown ikebana that it is impossible to believe that they grow here on their own.

The air smells of hundreds of aromatic herbs, and this mixture is as impossible to describe as the overall impression of the yayla. It breaks off, and at the very feet, in the blue bowl of the sun, air and sea, sometimes a small dot is visible - a soaring black vulture. This quaint park is full of names, signs and trails. The dark green indicates where the mine might be: there, in the gully, more moisture collects and trees can grow. Paths, like a network, cover the entire yayla: tourists tirelessly run along it in search of adventure. But Chatyrdag is so big that it accepts everyone. Here you can find the wild pear tree, where the pears are very small and sweet. But there can’t be any springs here, so it’s better to take water with you. In spring, on Chatyrdag you can see Crimean lumbago (sleep-grass). These lilac fluffy flowers grow close to the ground. They often appear in guidebooks, but not everyone has seen them, just like the thin-leaved peony. Small Mediterranean shrubs give the yayla a special color. Due to the fact that the yayla plants are mostly short-growing (tall ones will not withstand the mountain wind and will not receive enough water), the entire yayla springs when you walk on it. A complex interweaving of twigs, roots and leaves. A continuous fragrant carpet.

Another landscape is on the Demerdzhi plateau. On the plateau there is Amazing places, where thin birch trees, bent by the mountain winds, stand in separate clumps among the reddish grass. Their branches all point in the same direction. How they got here is unknown. Very unusual landscape. On a gray rainy day, it seems that these deserted places are on another planet.

Interestingly, Crimean landscapes can be seen not only in Crimea. Due to the fact that there are many Mediterranean plants and even more ornamental, “imported” plants, Crimean corners can be found in Greece, Italy, Cote d'Azur France, even England. Yes, yes, sometimes the Alps are somewhat similar to Ai-Petri (this was noticed by one Swiss who, back in Soviet times, vacationed at the Glade of Fairy Tales camping). If you're in Switzerland, check it out. And you are welcome to Crimea at any time. Any time, as they say.

On the relatively small territory of the Crimean Peninsula, a variety of mountain and lowland landscapes are very clearly expressed (see diagram).

Landscape scheme of Crimea
1 - karst summit surface of Yayla;
2 - mountain slopes of Yayla with a forest landscape;
3 - Mediterranean landscape of skirts;
4 - eastern part of the southern coast (Mediterranean landscape);
5 - southern forest-steppe and forest-shrub landscapes of cuesta ridges;
6 - steppe Crimea, agriculturally developed flat landscape;
7 - Sivash region, dry steppe landscape with fragments of semi-desert;
8 - Tarkhankut Peninsula and Kerch Peninsula, hilly-steppe landscape

Particularly interesting in in terms of tourism karst landscape Yail (1) with characteristically developed forms of bare surface karst, with its inherent mines, sometimes serving as roads to penetrate mysterious dungeons, with the usual absence of surface watercourses for karst, with rocky meadows and steppes at high mountain ranges and with mountain forest, forest-steppe and meadow-steppe vegetation. This karst landscape is widespread on almost all the peak plateaus of the western part of Yaila and on plateau-like massifs scattered from each other in its eastern part, but is most clearly represented on Karabiyayla, Chatyrdag and Ai-Petrinskaya Yaila. Here, between the bare carr surfaces, only at the bottom of karst basins and sinkholes are green meadow grasses visible on the higher parts of these plateaus, and in low places the tops of bushes and trees protrude from the mouths of natural mines and sinkholes. Undoubtedly, this brings exoticism to the landscape of bare rocky areas and gives them a spotty appearance.

The lowest levels of the plateau previously contained more forests. Deforestation and the consumption of tree shoots by livestock, which prevent forest regeneration, in fact, as well as the destruction of grass in meadows by very large grazing, caused the development of bare karst and the strong spread of bare limestone surfaces, as well as the cause of a disruption in the regime of sources under the limestone cliffs bordering the plateau. Of course, in a karst landscape it is simply necessary to carry out forest-meadow restoration work, which will definitely improve the water regime of the karst sources of the yayla.

The karst summit surface of Yayla is bordered by the mountain-forest landscape of the slopes of Yayla (2) with oak and beech forests and mountain-forest brown soils, which in its structure is similar to the landscapes of the Carpathians and the Caucasus, and the Crimean pine forests growing on the southern slope are unique specifically for the Crimea and have an analogue only in the northern part Black Sea coast Caucasus. The forests of the Crimean mountains have a very important water protection and anti-erosion role. Very close attention must be paid to their protection and restoration, especially in the areas of mudflow-prone basins. Animals inhabiting the forests of the mountainous Crimea also need protection.

Crimea is not only the sea coast, mountains and ancient parks with exotic plants. Few people know that approximately two-thirds of the peninsula is occupied by the steppe. And this part of Crimea is also beautiful, unique and charming in its own way. This article will focus specifically on the Steppe Crimea. What region is this? Where are its borders? And what is its nature?

Features of the geography of Crimea

From the point of view of geomorphology and landscape zoning, the territory of the Crimean Peninsula is divided into several zones:

Plain or steppe (number I on the map).
Mountain (number II).
Yuzhnoberezhnaya or abbreviated as South Coast (III).
Kerch ridge-hilly (IV).

If you look at physical card peninsula, you can see that about 70% of its territory is occupied by the plain (or steppe) Crimea. In the south it is directly adjacent to the Outer Range of the Crimean Mountains, in the north and east it is limited by the shallow Sivash Bay, the shores of which are distinguished by the richest avifauna. We will tell you more about this natural region below.

Steppe Crimea on the administrative map of the peninsula

The area of this region is about 17 thousand square kilometers. However, only a quarter of the total population of Crimea lives in this territory - no more than 650 thousand people.

12 districts are completely or partially located within the Steppe Crimea:

Pervomaisky.
Razdolnensky.
Krasnoperekopsky.
Dzhankoysky.
Krasnogvardeisky.
Nizhnegorsky.
Black Sea.
Saki.
Soviet.
Kirovsky (partially).
Belogorsky (partially).
Simferopol (partially).

The unofficial “capital” of the Crimean steppes can be called the city of Dzhankoy. Other large settlements in the region - Armyansk, Krasnoperekopsk, Evpatoria, Saki, Nikolaevka, Nizhnegorsky, Sovetsky, Oktyabrskoye. Almost each of them has enterprises that process one or another type of local agricultural raw material. The cities of Armyansk and Krasnoperekopsk are the most important centers of the chemical industry. Soda and sulfuric acid are produced here.

Geology and relief

The region is based on the Epi-Hercynian Scythian plate, composed of sediments of the Neogene and Quaternary periods. The relief of the Steppe Crimea is quite diverse. In the northern and northeastern parts it is represented by several lowlands (Prisivashskaya, North Crimean, Indolskaya and others) with absolute heights not exceeding 30 meters above sea level.

In the west of the peninsula, the Tarkhankut Upland stands out sharply in the relief. However, it can only be called a sublimity with a stretch. After all, the maximum point of Tarkankut is only 178 meters. Nevertheless, due to its coastal location, the elevation differences here are quite impressive. Some coastal cliffs rise 40-50 meters above the sea waters.

The region's topography is conducive to residential construction, road and railways, active agricultural development of land.

Climate and inland waters

The climate of the region is temperate continental and quite arid. Winters here are mild and with little snow, with frequent thaws. Summer is hot, with minimal precipitation. Average air temperatures in July are +24…27 degrees. The weather of the Steppe Crimea is changeable, especially during the transition seasons of the year.

Back in the 19th century, academician G. P. Helmersen suggested that it was the climate of the northern part of the Crimean Peninsula that in the future would become the main cause of poverty in this region. During the year, no more than 400 mm of precipitation falls here, which approximately corresponds to the level of humidity in the semi-desert zone. An important role in supplying the peninsula fresh water North Crimean Channel plays. The only relatively large river of the Steppe Crimea is the Salgir. In summer, many of its tributaries dry up completely or partially.

Flora and fauna

In summer, the steppes resemble a lifeless desert with grass burnt out from the hot sun. But in the spring the region comes to life, covered with a colorful carpet flowering plants. The main representatives of the flora of the Crimean steppes are feather grass, fescue, bluegrass, wormwood, wheatgrass and other cereals. In spring, irises, tulips, poppies and various ephemerals bloom actively here.

The fauna of the Steppe Crimea is quite poor. It is dominated by small mammals living in burrows - gophers, jerboas, ferrets, hamsters, voles. Hares and various birds are quite common - larks, partridges, cranes, quails, eagles and harriers.

Unfortunately, significant areas of the Steppe Crimea are now plowed. Virgin, untouched areas of natural landscapes can be found today only in nature reserves and on the slopes of ravines.

Main attractions

A sophisticated tourist who has traveled up and down the mountain trails of the Crimean Mountains can be advised to go to the north of the peninsula. After all, there are also many interesting and beautiful objects. We have chosen ten attractions of the Steppe Crimea that are worth visiting first. This:

Landscape park "Kalinovsky".
Tyup-Tarkhan Peninsula (“ bird paradise» Crimea).
National Park"Magic Harbor" on Tarkhankut.
Estate "Nizhnegorye" with a park.
Juma-Jami Mosque and Karaite kenas in Evpatoria.
Ancient Perekopsky shaft.
Neo-Gothic Church “Heart of Jesus” in Aleksandrovka.
Tulip fields in the village of Yantarnoye.
Abuzlar tract with mysterious petroglyphs.

Holidays in the Crimean steppes can be no less interesting and meaningful than in the mountains or on the South Coast. In the eastern part of the Steppe Crimea there are a number of excellent sea resorts. Among them are Evpatoria, Saki, Chernomorskoe, Nikolaevka, Olenevka, Mezhvodnoe and others.

The Crimean Mountains belong to the folded structures of the Alpine geosynclinal belt. They represent a large and complex anticlinal rise - anticlinorium, South part which is lowered and flooded by the waters of the Black Sea.

The Crimean Mountains consist of a main ridge called Yayla, and two advanced cuesta ridges to the north of it, clearly defined in the western and middle parts Mountain Crimea. Yaila corresponds to the axial zone of the Crimean anticlinorium, cuestas correspond to the monoclines of its northern wing.

The western part of Yayla is an integral mountain range with a plateau-like surface, while the eastern part breaks up into more or less isolated plateau-like massifs (Chatyrdag, Karabiyayla, etc.). The most high peak Yayly rises in the east of the western part - Mount Roman-Kosh on Babuganyayle (1545 m).

The flat summit surfaces of Yayla are composed predominantly of hard Upper Jurassic limestones, which form steep, often sheer slopes of the plateau (especially along the southern coast of Crimea) and steep sides of the canyons that dissect their edges.

The characteristic landscape feature of Yaila is given by karst landforms. The karst of Yayla is very fully expressed and serves as a classic example of bare karst of the Mediterranean type.

Crimea. Yayla from the northwestern side. In the background is Chatyrdag on the left, Babuganyayla on the right. Rice.
N. A. Gvozdetsky

The relief of the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula is mainly ridge-erosive, in many places complicated by accumulations of limestone blocks that have fallen from the cliffs of Yayla, sliding along the Tauride shales (Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic) lying at the base of Yayla, large limestone massifs and landslides in the Tauride shales themselves. Landslides damage resort buildings, gardens and vineyards.

In the Crimean Mountains, the altitudinal zonation of landscapes is clearly visible. On the southern slope of Yayla, the lower altitude zone corresponds to the Southern Coast of Crimea, which climatic conditions can be attributed to the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean subtropical climate region. On the southern coast, protected from the winds from the continent by a mountain barrier, the softening influence of the sea is largely affected.

Climate of the Crimean Mountains

Precipitation (the annual amount in Yalta is about 600 mm) falls most in winter. At this time, Mediterranean cyclones penetrate here. In spring, with the weakening of cyclonic activity in the region Mediterranean Sea the amount of precipitation is decreasing. The least amount of rain falls in April - May and August. When there is a lot of insolation in the summer, there is a lack of moisture, so you have to resort to watering fruit trees and young tobacco plants. Due to the unevenness of precipitation, the rivers of the South Bank are characterized by a Mediterranean regime with winter and spring floods and stable summer-autumn low water.

Protected from the north by the Yayla barrier, the southern coast is warmer than other regions of Crimea. About 150 days a year the average daily temperature is above 15°. Winter is mild (average January temperature is about 4°), plants do not stop growing. The snow that sometimes falls melts quickly, but more often in winter it rains. Summer and autumn are sunny and warm, the average temperature in July and August is about 24°. The eastern part of the southern coast of Crimea is drier, with annual precipitation of 500-600 mm or less.

The climate of the summit surface of Yayla is characterized by cool summers (at an altitude of about 1200 m the average temperature in July is 4-15.7 °), not very harsh winter(the average January temperature at the same altitude is about -4°, lower in the east), significant amounts of precipitation (in the western part up to 1000-1200 mm per year), strong winds.

In the west, the seasonal distribution of precipitation is the same as on the South Coast, with a maximum in winter. In the east the maximum is summer. In summer, out of three days, one, and in winter, two on Yaila have precipitation. In winter, precipitation falls in the form of snow.

Landscapes of the Crimean Mountains

In the small space of the Crimean Mountains, various landscapes are clearly expressed (see diagram). Particularly characteristic is the karst landscape of the summit surface of Yayla (1) with karrs, sinkholes and other forms of bare karst, with natural mines that often serve as routes into the mysterious underground world. The flat surface, corroded by karst, absorbs rain and melted snow water, so there are no ground watercourses and only in sinkholes with silted bottoms do puddles of standing water form.

Landscapes:
1 - karst summit surface of Yayla; 2 - mountain-forest slopes of Yayla; 3 - forest-shrub and forest-steppe (southern type) cuesta ridges; 4 - Mediterranean forest and cultivated; 5 - Mediterranean xerophytic-shrub-steppe

Carr fields, characteristic of bare karst, are combined on high massifs with rocky mountain meadows and meadow steppes, and on lower ones - with mountain forest-meadow-steppe and forest-steppe vegetation. The karst landscape is widespread in all areas of the plateau of the western monolithic part of Yayla and in the isolated plateau-like massifs of its eastern part, but is especially pronounced in Ai-Petri, Chatyrdag and Karabiyayla. Here, only at the bottom of karst sinkholes and basins do meadow grasses grow green; low areas the tops of trees and bushes protrude from the craters and mouths of natural mines. This adds variety to the landscape of bare rocky spaces and gives them a spotty appearance.

The lower tiers of the Yayly plateau were previously more forested. Deforestation and livestock eating tree shoots, which prevented forest regeneration, as well as excessive grazing of herbaceous vegetation caused a greater spread of bare limestone surfaces and the development of bare karst and deterioration of the regime of springs under the limestone cliffs framing the plateau. Strict implementation of the introduced ban on grazing and carrying out forest-meadow restoration measures will help improve the water regime of Yayla and its karst springs.

The mountain-forest landscapes of the slopes of Yayla (2) with beech and oak forests and mountain brown soils are similar to the Caucasian and Carpathian ones, while forests of Crimean pine on the southern slope are characteristic of the Crimea and are repeated only in the northern part of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Crimean mountain forests play an exceptionally large anti-erosion and water conservation role. Their protection and restoration are necessary, especially in mudflow-prone basins. The animals inhabiting these forests need protection.

The Mediterranean landscape of the South Coast (4) is unique with its shale slopes, chaos of boulders, landslides, limestone cliffs, and laccoliths. Oak-juniper forests with evergreen undergrowth and red-brown and brown soils have been preserved here. However, in large parts this landscape has given way to a cultivated one with vineyards and tobacco plantations, gardens, parks, beautiful resort buildings and well-equipped beaches. The climatic conditions and soils of the southern coast of Crimea are favorable not only for viticulture (good table and wine varieties are grown) and tobacco growing, but also for subtropical fruit growing. To protect the cultivated landscape of the South Coast, it is important to combat landslides, erosion and mudflows. The measures recommended for landscapes (1) and (2) should lead to an improvement in its water regime.

East of Alushta, a strip of Mediterranean xerophytic-shrub landscape stretches along the coast (5). It is characterized by vegetation characteristic of the Eastern Mediterranean - shiblyak, frigana, in the east in combination with steppes. Brown skeletal soils develop on weathered shale rubble. The typical erosional relief of the distribution zone of this landscape in Tauride shales is distinguished by intensive dissection of the surface into valleys of the first, second and third orders and is in sharp contrast to the karst surfaces of neighboring Yayla, almost untouched by erosion. For this landscape, it is especially necessary to combat mudflows developing in the belt of Tauride shales and sandstones. We need comprehensive mudflow protection (hydraulic structures, phytomelioration on the slopes of mudflow catchments, etc.

On the northern side of Yayla, there are unique forest-shrub landscapes (dominated by fluffy oak) and southern forest-steppe landscapes of cuesta ridges (3) with brown and humus-carbonate soils. The steep slope of the inner cuesta topped with a cliff and the sharp steep sides of the canyons that dissect it create landscapes in which bare limestone walls, marly slopes with screes, and slopes overgrown with trees and bushes stand out in contrast.

The spectrum of altitudinal zonation on the southern slope of Yayla combines zones of the Mediterranean landscape of the southern coast, mountain forest with belts of oak, pine and beech forests, and karst landscape of the summit surface. On the northern slope there is no Mediterranean landscape; In the lower altitudinal zone, southern forest-steppe is developed, and in the middle (with the exception of the westernmost regions) there are no Crimean pine forests typical for the southern slope. Greater similarity is observed, as is usually the case in the mountains, in the landscapes of the upper slopes. Nevertheless, in general, we can talk about different types of structure of altitudinal zonation of the landscapes of the northern and southern slopes of the Crimean Mountains. Their differences are due to the climatic barrier role of Yayla. In the east, more continental variants of the identified types are observed.

Mountain Crimea is a natural museum, where relatively small area various landscapes and a lot of unique natural monuments are concentrated.

Crimea is distinguished by a wide variety of soil and vegetation cover, which is directly dependent on the characteristics geological structure, diversity of parent rocks, relief and climate. A characteristic feature of the distribution of soil and vegetation cover in Crimea is the combination of latitudinal and vertical zonality.

Most of Steppe Crimea is covered southern low humus and carbonate(Azov type) black soils, which in the north are replaced chestnut soils. Near Sivash and Karkinitsky Bay there are developed salt licks And salt marshes.

In the central part of the Crimean plain and in the northeastern part of the Kerch Peninsula, heavy loamy and clayey southern chernozems are common. These soils were formed on loess-like rocks under sparse grass vegetation and contain little humus (3-4%). Due to the peculiarities of their mechanical composition, southern chernozems float during rain and become crusty when dry, however, despite this, they are still the best soils of the Crimean plain. With proper agricultural technology, southern chernozems can provide good yields of grain and industrial crops, and grapes. The southern part of the Crimean plain adjacent to the mountains and partly the northeastern region of the Kerch Peninsula.

The belt of southern chernozems to the north is gradually replaced by a belt of heavy loamy dark chestnut and chestnut solonetzic soils, formed under conditions of high standing saline groundwater on loess-like rocks. The humus content in these soils is only 2.5-3%. Chestnut-type soils are also characteristic of the southwestern region of the Kerch Peninsula, where they were formed on salt-bearing Maykop clays. If proper agricultural practices are followed, chestnut soils can provide fairly high yields of various crops.

On the low-lying coast of Sivash and Karkinitsky Bay, where groundwater lies very close to the surface and is highly saline, solonetzes and solonchaks are developed. Similar soils are also found in the southwestern region of the Kerch Peninsula.

The natural vegetation cover of the Crimean plain was a typical steppe. In the grass stand, the main background consisted of turf grasses: various feathery feather grasses, feather grass (tyrsa), fescue (or steppe fescue), tonkonogo, steppe keleria (or kipets), wheatgrass. Forbs were represented by sage (drooping and Ethiopian), kermek (Tatar and Sarepta), yellow alfalfa, spring adonis, steppe katran, yarrow, etc. A characteristic element were plants of a short spring growing season - ephemerals (annual species of brome, hare and mouse barley and etc.) and ephemeroids (tulips, steppe irises, etc.). Significant areas were occupied by the so-called desert steppe on chestnut-type soils. Along with the predominant cereals (fescue, wheatgrass, tyrsa, etc.), Crimean wormwood was very widespread there as a result of intensive grazing. Ephemera and ephemeroids were also quite characteristic.

On the rocky and gravelly slopes of the ridges and hills of the Tapkhankutsky and Kerch peninsulas there is a petrophytic (rocky) steppe. Here, along with grasses (feather grass, fescue, wheatgrass, etc.), xerophytic subshrubs (wormwood, dubrovnik, thyme) are common. There are bush thickets of rose hips, hawthorn, thorns, etc.

On the saline soils of the coast of the Karkinitsky Bay, Sivash and the southwestern part of the Kerch Peninsula, solonchak vegetation (sarsazan, soleros, sweda) is widespread. On drier and less saline soils, cereals grow there (volosnets, beskilnitsa, beskilnitsa).

Currently, the Crimean steppe has lost its natural appearance. It is almost entirely plowed and occupied by fields of wheat, corn, various vegetables, as well as vineyards and orchards. Recently, rice has become increasingly widespread in Crimea. A characteristic element of the cultural landscape of the Crimean plains are forest shelterbelts made of white acacia, birch bark, ash maple, ash and apricot.

The spaces of the Steppe Crimea with chernozem and chestnut soils are almost completely plowed, steppe vegetation is preserved only in small spots on the slopes of hills and near roads. In the northern and northeastern, near Sivash, parts are dominated by dry feather grass-fescue-wormwood and fescue-wormwood steppes, in places turning into wormwood and solyanka semi-desert. The most characteristic is Crimean wormwood. The dominant association of Crimean wormwood in the Sivash region with bulbous bluegrass ephemerals, according to botanist M. S. Shalyt, is secondary. This is evidenced by the protected virgin areas of the steppe with a predominance of cereals (wheatgrass, feather grass, fescue) and an admixture of wormwood. With increased grazing, the grains disappear.

The Kerch and Tarkhankut peninsulas feature hilly-steppe landscapes.

In the Sivash part of Crimea, dry steppe landscapes with fragments of semi-deserts are common. The presence of semi-desert fragments in the Sivash region is obviously associated not with zonal climatic conditions, but with purely local natural features, with the influence of Sivash on the salinization of groundwater and soils. The lowland areas of the Sivash coast are characterized by saltwort - an annual saltwort, the thickets of which are distinguished by red spots, and sarsazan, growing in the form of green squat pillows.

The foul smell of Sivash is associated with hydrogen sulfide, which is formed during the rotting of filamentous algae washed up on the shore. Currently, the landscapes of the Steppe Crimea are agriculturally developed.

The steppe Crimea is inhabited mainly by the same fauna as the steppes of the Russian Plain.

Mountain Crimea. In the mountains of Crimea, landscape altitudinal zonation is clearly visible. On the southern slope of Yayla, the lower altitude zone corresponds to the Southern Coast of Crimea. According to climatic conditions, it can be classified as the region of the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean climate.

On the southern coast of Crimea there are developed red-brown(transitional from mountain forest brown to red soils) and brown soils.

Often the soil is skeletal—the bulk of it consists of fine, weathered crushed shale. There are vineyards on such “slate” soils. There are areas of relict red earth soils.

The flora of the southern coast of Crimea is distinguished by great species richness. In a small area of the southern coast and southern slope of Yaila, almost 1,500 plant species grow, out of 3,500 species known throughout the entire area of the European part of Russia. The vegetation of the South Coast is close to the Mediterranean.

A xerophytic oak-juniper low-trunk forest rises to a height of approximately 300 m with an undergrowth of evergreen and deciduous shrubs, with a rich and varied herbaceous cover. The main forest-forming species are tree-like juniper, fluffy oak, turpentine tree, or wild pistachio; in the second tier and undergrowth there are evergreens: strawberry tree, cistus, butcher's broom, among vines - ivy, and many deciduous vines - clematis. In some places there is a pine tree close to Pitsunda.

Oak-juniper forests are interspersed with shrub thickets such as shiblyak, formed by bushy growth of downy oak, hornbeam, and dwarf-tree.

In large areas, natural vegetation on the South Bank has been replaced by vineyards, tobacco plantations, gardens and park vegetation. Many Mediterranean, East Asian, American and other foreign plants have taken root here: cypress, laurel, cherry laurel, magnolia, fan palm, Lankaran acacia (incorrectly called “mimosa”), holly, boxwood, eucalyptus.

The Nikitsky Botanical Garden, located on the slope of Nikitskaya Yayla between Yalta and Gurzuf, presents a particularly rich collection of plants from different countries of the world.

To the east of Alushta, due to the increasing dryness of the climate, the nature of natural vegetation is changing: evergreen plants disappear, the species composition of the forest becomes poorer, and gradually the forest is completely replaced by shrub thickets such as shiblyak. On the dry shale slopes there are widespread sparse thickets of dry-loving grasses and subshrubs, mostly hard, prickly or pubescent, reminiscent in their appearance of the Eastern Mediterranean freegana. Further to the east the vegetation takes on a steppe character.

Fauna The southern, mountainous part of the Crimean Peninsula, according to I.I. Puzanov, belongs to the Mediterranean subregion and is its northeastern outpost. At the same time, it bears the features of an island fauna, expressed in the presence of endemics and the incompleteness of many groups of animals. On the South Coast, the endemic Crimean gecko is known among lizards. The invertebrate fauna of the southern Mediterranean type is richly represented; Cicadas, praying mantises, scolopendra, Crimean scorpion, phalanx are common; mosquitoes are typical of small dipterans in these places.

As you move from the southern coast up the slope of Yayla, the climate gradually becomes cooler, the amount of precipitation increases, and the soils acquire the features of typical mountain forest brown, oak-juniper forests of the lower belt are replaced by broad-leaved forests with a predominance of downy oak, sessile oak on limestone and forests of Crimean pine; both grow within approximately 300-900 m.

The upper part of the Yaila slope is occupied by a belt of beech forests. The beech is mixed with Crimean and mainly hooked pine, hornbeam, and maple. Typically, beech forests rise to the very edge of the slope (more than 1000 m) and end abruptly at the edge of the summit plateau, on which they are found only in isolated areas.

The vegetation of the summit surface of Yayla belongs to the uppermost landscape zone - rocky mountain meadows, meadow steppes and juniper dwarf trees on the karst surface of limestone.

Soils on the treeless summit surface of Yayla mountain meadow chernozem-like, in the east passing into mountain black soils. The nature of the soil refutes the widespread opinion about the secondary treelessness of the Yaili plateau. Obviously, forests, parts of which have survived to this day, were previously more widespread, but significant areas of the Yayly karst plateau should be considered treeless since ancient times.

On the treeless spaces of the Yaila plateau, the herbaceous vegetation includes fescue, tonkonogo, bromegrass, feather grass, steppe sedge, creeping clover are widespread, among the herbs there are bedstraw, lady's mantle, Crimean "edelweiss" - an endemic species from the carnation family). There are alpine plants - fluffy breaker, krisweed, alpine violet. At the same time, in the driest areas, meadow-steppe associations. In the highest areas there is no tree and shrub vegetation, but lower (at an altitude of up to 1200 m) trees and shrubs are found under the protection of rocks and in the recesses of karst sinkholes and wells, and sometimes form small forests on the plateau itself. Such vegetation can be called forest-meadow-steppe.

The herbaceous vegetation of the eastern karst plateaus is steppe, more strongly than that of the western ones. The open treeless spaces here are dominated by steppe meadows And meadow steppes, which at lower altitudes turn into mountain steppe. Some researchers consider the vegetation of the eastern plateaus to be mountain forest-steppe.

The northern slope of Yayla, like the southern one, is covered with forests mountain forest brown soils. In the upper part of the slope the forests are dominated by beech, hornbeam, in some places oak (on the slopes of southern exposure), and hooked pine. Below 700-600 m they are replaced mainly by oak forests. Mountain forest brown soils here gradually turn into brown. Even lower, on the spurs of Yayla and in the cuesta strip, a low-growing fluffy oak begins to dominate. Further to the north and north-west there is a transition to the southern forest-steppe, where thickets of low-growing oaks, hornbeam, dwarf trees and other tree and shrub species alternate with areas of steppe vegetation.

Mountain forest fauna Crimea is richest on the northern slope of Yayla, especially in the dense forests of the Crimean Nature Reserve (at the sources of the Kacha and Alma). Characteristic are the Crimean deer (endemic subspecies), roe deer, badger, marten, fox, water shrew, wood mouse, the bats; Birds include black jays, woodpeckers, tits, blackbirds, wild pigeons, black vultures, eagles, and owls.

As can be seen from the description of the landscape features of the northern slope of the Crimean Mountains, Mediterranean landscapes are absent here. In the lower altitude zone, southern forest-steppe is developed, and in the middle there are no Crimean pine forests characteristic of the southern slope. Greater similarity is observed, as is usually the case in the mountains, in the landscapes of the upper slopes. Nevertheless, in general, we can talk about different structures of altitudinal zonation of the landscapes of the northern and southern slopes of the Crimean Mountains. The existing differences are due to the climatic barrier role of Yayla.

TYPES OF LANDSCAPE (option 2)

Brown and partly brown forest soils are developed on the South Coast. Brown soils are common under dry sparse forests and shrubs and are formed on clayey shales of the Tauride series and red-colored products of limestone weathering; brown forest soils are typical for less dry places.

The special landscapes of Crimea are the southern coastal ones - Mediterranean and cultivated (with vineyards and tobacco plantations, gardens, parks, resorts).

In this part of Crimea, Mediterranean features are most clearly manifested in the soil and vegetation cover. Altitudinal zonation is well developed on the slopes of the Crimean Mountains. There are numerous subtropical plants here (up to 50% of the species composition), which allows us to classify the plant formations of the region as a sub-Mediterranean type, similar to the vegetation of the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The southern regions of the Crimean Mountains are characterized by exceptionally high biodiversity - in this small area there are almost 1,500 plant species, including endemic (Crimean edelweiss) and relict (Stankevich pine).

At the southern foot of the Crimean Yaila grow low-trunked oak-juniper forests with an undergrowth of deciduous and evergreen shrubs - strawberry tree (Arbutus andrachne), cistus (Cistus tauricus), butcher's broom (Ruscus ponticus), intertwined with ivy and clematis. To the east, the forest is replaced by shrubby thickets such as shiblyak from downy oak, hornbeam and dwarf tree (Paliurus spina christi), which in the driest areas are replaced by thickets of xerophytic grasses and subshrubs. Massifs of relict pine have been preserved in the vicinity of Sudak and in the far west of the coast. The soil cover is represented by red-brown and brown soils of the subtropics; there are areas of relict red earth soils. In large areas, the natural vegetation of the coast has been replaced by vineyards, tobacco plantations and fruit crops. Numerous resort areas have landscape gardening vegetation, which includes many introduced species: laurel, cypress, magnolia, fan palm, boxwood, holly, etc. A huge collection of plants from all over the world is collected in the unique Nikitsky Botanical Garden, located near Yalta on the slopes of Nikitskaya Yaily. Typical forest and shrub communities are protected in the Yalta and Cape Martyan nature reserves.

On the southern slopes, oak-juniper forests are replaced by broad-leaved (mainly oak) and Crimean pine forests on mountain-forest brown soils. Above 900 m, beech forests appear, which, in addition to beech, contain pine, hornbeam, and maple. The top surfaces of Yayla are occupied by rocky mountain meadows, meadow steppes and thickets of dwarf juniper, mainly on mountain meadow chernozem-like soils. The northern slopes of Yayla and the adjacent cuesta ridges are covered mainly by oak forests. In the middle part of the slopes, sessile oak predominates in their composition; lower down, dominance passes to the more xerophilic downy oak. Shiblik thickets are widespread in the foothills.

The vegetation of the South Coast is distinguished by its xerophytic character, rich in Mediterranean forms and many alien cultural forms. The most common formations are forests, bushes and thickets of dry-loving grasses and subshrubs. The forests are low-growing and are formed by fluffy oak, tree-like juniper, wild pistachio, Crimean pine, hornbeam, and strawberry. Shrub thickets, which are an analogue of the Eastern Mediterranean shibliak, consist of shrubby forms of fluffy oak, hornbeam, dwarf tree, mackerel, sumac, scraggly pear, dogwood, orelica, cistus, etc. Open, dry and rocky areas are covered with dry-loving grasses and subshrubs - Crimean analogue of the East Mediterranean frigana. The parks contain cypresses, cedars, spruces, pines, sequoias, fir trees, laurels, magnolias, palm trees, cork oaks, plane trees, and Lankaran acacias. A characteristic element of the South Coast landscape are also vineyards, orchards and tobacco plantations.

Orographical and climatic differences in individual parts of the Main Ridge determine the diversity of their soil and vegetation cover. The western part of the ridge is characterized by brown mountain-forest soils, mountain-brown soils of dry forests and shrubs, and alluvial-meadow soils of river valleys and ravines. Due to the low-mountain relief and its great fragmentation, the vertical zoning of the soil and vegetation cover is poorly expressed here. The predominant forests consist of downy oak, tree-juniper, wild pistachio (keva tree) with an undergrowth of hornbeam, dogwood, blackthorn and blackthorn. Low-growing juniper forests grow on stony soils and rocky areas. Higher on the slopes grow taller mixed deciduous forests of beech, oak, hornbeam, and ash. Lots of wild grapes and ivy. Valleys and depressions are characterized by grassy meadow-steppe vegetation. To a greater extent, the basins are developed for fields, vineyards, orchards, and tobacco plantations.

The slopes of the middle part of the Main Ridge are occupied by brown mountain forest soils and their podzolized varieties. Vertical plant zonation is quite well expressed here.

The lower part of the northern slope of the Main Ridge is occupied by low-trunk oak coppice forest and is very thinned out. The forest is formed mainly by downy and sessile oak and partly by pedunculate oak. Dogwood and hornbeam are in the undergrowth. Occasionally there are small patches of pine, oak-pine and juniper forest. The open areas of the slope are occupied by forest and partly steppe herbaceous vegetation (siller, kupena, bluegrass, woodruff, feather grass, fescue, wheatgrass, etc.). Higher up the slope (up to 600 m) a tall oak forest grows with an admixture of ash, field maple, aspen, and large-fruited rowan. In the undergrowth are hornbeam, dogwood, hazel, buckthorn, hawthorn, and mackerel. Even higher (from 600 to 1000 m) a tall beech forest with an admixture of hornbeam dominates, there are rare areas of Crimean pine, and on the slopes of the southern exposure there are groves of tree-like juniper and isolated yews. At altitudes above 1000 m there is already a low-growing beech forest with rare areas of Scots pine.

On the southern slope of the Main Ridge, above the dry forests and shrubs of the Southern Birch, at an altitude of 400 to 800-1000 m, there is a forest of Crimean pine. Fluffy oak and tree-like and shrubby juniper are found as admixtures. To the east of Gurzuf, the distribution of the Crimean pine is already of an island nature, and to the east of Alushta only isolated specimens of this tree are found. Pine forests are replaced here by forests of downy oak, hornbeam, tree juniper, wild pistachio and dogwood. Above 1000 m there is a forest of beech, Scots pine and partly Crimean pine, oak, maple, linden, and hornbeam.

Yailas are, as a rule, treeless and covered with grassy meadow-steppe vegetation on mountain chernozems and mountain-meadow chernozem-like soils. The eastern part of the Main Ridge is characterized by low-trunked open forests of oak, beech, ash, hornbeam and shrubby thickets of dogwood, hawthorn, dwarf tree, and mackerel on brown mountain forest soils and steppe varieties of mountain brown soils.

The foothills are occupied by forest-steppe with a mosaic alternation of treeless (steppe) and forest areas. The soils are carbonate chernozems, crushed soddy-carbonate and brown soils. Treeless areas are characterized by herbaceous grass and forb vegetation: feather grass, fescue, wheatgrass, wheatgrass, saffron, adonis or spring adonis, sage, peon, yarrow, immortelle, etc. They are mostly plowed and developed into fields, vineyards, tobacco plantations and ether plantations - oil plants. Orchards and vineyards are common in river valleys. Forest areas consist of low-growing trees, forest shrubs (downy oak, sessile and pedunculate oak, field maple, ash, elm, hazel and dogwood). The most common shrubs are mackerel, hawthorn, blackthorn, rose hip, buckthorn, etc.