Khopyor Nature Reserve
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Russian: Хопёрский заповедник (Also: Khopersky) |
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IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)
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Khopyor Zapovednik
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| Location | Voronezh Oblast |
| Nearest city | Voronezh |
| Coordinates | 51°11′41″N 41°43′58″E / 51.19472°N 41.73278°ECoordinates: 51°11′41″N 41°43′58″E / 51.19472°N 41.73278°E |
| Area | 16,178 hectares (39,980 acres) |
| Established | 1935 |
| Governing body | Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia) |
| Website | http://www.hoperzap.ru/index.php |
Khopyor Nature Reserve (Russian: Хопёрский заповедник) (also Khopersky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) that protects a stretch of 50 km along the Khopyor River in the Veronezh Region. About 80% of the area is covered by forests, dominated floodplain and upland oak woods, small areas of steppes and meadows. There are about 400 lakes and oxbows. The reserve is situated in the Novokhopyorsky District of Voronezh Oblast.
The Khopyor Reserve has a terrain that is forested floodplains and upland oak woods, along both banks of the Khopyer. The Khopyer river is the largest tributary of the Don River (Russia). During high water, a significant portion of the area in the reserve boundaries may be inundated. About 80% of the area is covered with forests, with steppes and meadows. The Khopyor River and tributary streams meander through the floodplains to leave 400 lakes and oxbows. The floodplains also create grassy bogs and black alder forests. The area in on an post-glacial plain of Quaternary sediments. The width of the reserve ranges from 1.5 km to 9 km.
Khopyor is located in the East European forest steppe ecoregion, a transition zone between the broadleaf forests of the north and the grasslands to the south. This ecoregion is characterized by a mosaic of forests, steppe, and riverine wetlands.
The climate of Khopyor is Humid continental climate, cool summer (Köppen climate classification (Dwb) ). This climate is characterized by high variation in temperature, both daily and seasonally; with dry winters and cool summers. The coldest month, January, has an average temperature of -6 C degrees; that of July averages 26 C degrees. On average, the precipitation in the reserves averages 553 mm, spread approximately evenly through the year. Annual frost-free period averages 199 days. The winds are predominantly north-westerly.
The plant life of the reserve is represengs a meeting of steppe feather grass and forb steppe/broadleaf grasses. Typical trees are oak coppices, with mixtures of ash, linden, maple and other tree species. Understory contains blackberry, buckthorn, wild rose, and viburnum. Scientists on the reserve have recorded over 1,060 species of vascular plants.
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