Landscapes of Crimea and landscapes of famous countries: the best places for photography. Landscapes of Crimea and recreation in Crimea Nature Reserve Cape Martyan

Crimea is characterized by great landscape diversity, which, according to leading experts, is a prerequisite for high biodiversity.

Landscape diversity is a consequence of the unique border location of the peninsula:

-on the border of the temperate and subtropical zones;

-at the junction of the platform and geosynclinal zone;

-on the border of the ranges of many floras and faunas.

Many features of the landscape structure are associated with its peninsular position - Crimea is almost an island (and in certain geological eras it was a real island) within the Azov-Black Sea basin, and the latter is a kind of island within Eurasia. The island position determines some climate features, contributed to the emergence of a significant proportion of endemics, and for some classes of animals - a depletion of the species composition.

In Crimea, the interaction of mountains and plains plays an important role. The mountainous Crimea is a megaanticlinorium, consisting of two structural levels and a number of large structures. The foothills consist of cuesta ridges located on the elevated edge of the Scythian platform. The latter is located at the base of the Crimean Plain. The geological history of Crimea dates back more than 200 million years. During this period, a variety of geological structures, loose sediments and landforms were formed. Among the genetic types of relief, erosion-denudation, erosion-accumulative, accumulative (divided into sea, lake and river), abrasion, karst, landslide, and in many cases structural forms of relief are well expressed. The contrast in heights reaches one and a half kilometers in Crimea, and in the Ai-Petri-Koreiz area the difference in heights is 1.2 km at a distance of 3 km.

Morphological types of relief are represented by lowland (undrained and drained) and elevated plains (with subtypes of ridge, undulating, hilly, outlier, plateau), foothills, low mountains, middle mountains. At a lower level, ravine, hollow, beam, valley, basin-shaped, and saddle-shaped are distinguished. There are various types of slopes: from gentle to steep; open and closed; convex, concave, stepped, straight.

The more than two-thousand-year history of economic development of the peninsula has led, along with the destruction of many natural landscapes, to the emergence of various natural and anthropogenic landscapes: agricultural landscapes, residential, recreational, mining and industrial landscapes, as well as natural and technical systems - irrigation, urban, transport and communication, etc.

The soil cover has a variegated spatial pattern, reflecting lithological, orographic, and microclimatic differentiation. More than 400 types of soils and several thousand varieties have been identified in Crimea.

Habitats of communities of organisms are formed on the basis of landscape systems. Preserving the landscape also means preserving biodiversity. The most preserved landscapes are those located in hard-to-reach areas due to terrain conditions, poor transport accessibility, and in areas unfavorable for the development of certain types of activities (infertile soils, unfavorable living conditions for the population, etc.). Crimea is characterized by areas that occupy small areas, but concentrate within their boundaries a wide variety of habitat conditions, species of organisms and communities. We are talking about contact zones of various geosystems, river valleys, gullies, ravines, steep areas, ecotones, banks of reservoirs, places where groundwater emerges, the prerequisites are created for increasing diversity:

1) ecotone zones where species diversity increases;

2) hard-to-reach areas where economic activity and tourism have not received widespread development;

3) areas where the living conditions of organisms are improved due to the presence of water sources, additional nutrition or for other similar reasons.

When describing the landscape structure of Crimea, experts used the identification of physical-geographical regions of different levels. The most widespread and recognized system of units is: physical-geographical country - landscape zone - physical-geographical province - physical-geographical region - physical-geographical district - physical-geographical region.

Crimea is located within two physical-geographical countries - Eastern European and Crimean-Caucasian. The northern lowland part of Crimea makes up the Crimean steppe province, which belongs to the dry-steppe subzone of the steppe zone. Within its boundaries, four physical-geographical regions are distinguished: the North Crimean lowland steppe, the Tarkhankut upland plain, the Central Crimean lowland steppe and the Kerch hilly-ridge steppe. Within their boundaries, physical-geographical regions are distinguished - 12 in total. Mountainous Crimea forms a physical-geographical province within the Crimean-Caucasian country. It is divided into three physical-geographical regions: the foothill forest-steppe, the main mountain-meadow-forest ridge and the South Coast sub-Mediterranean. Within these areas, 9 physical-geographical regions are distinguished.

The landscape structure of Crimea is most fully revealed on landscape-typological maps of Crimea (M 1:200,000) and Mountain Crimea (M 1:100,000), compiled by G. E. Grishankov as a result of detailed field work in 1965-1975. and generalizations of extensive empirical material. He used the following mapping units: landscape levels, zones, belts, tiers, groups of areas. Landscape levels are zonal systems formed on a geomorphological basis that is relatively homogeneous in relief and ground moisture, and has a planetary distribution. Zonal systems of Crimea are formed within the hydromorphic, upland, foothill and mid-mountain landscape levels.

The hydromorphic level of Crimea is represented by coastal lowlands - North Crimean, Sasyk-Sak and fragments on the Kerch Peninsula. The lowlands have a relative height of 0 to 40 m above sea level, are exceptionally flat and are represented by one zone - the zone of semi-desert low-grass steppes.

The plains stretch from the Tarkhankut Peninsula, through the plains of Central Crimea and to the watershed plains Kerch Peninsula. Their height ranges from 40 to 150 m. They are characterized by dissected valley-beam and denudation-remnant relief. One zone is expressed - typical low-grass steppes.

The foothill landscape level of Crimea occupies both the northern foothill plains and hills, and the low mountains of the southern coast of Crimea. The height reaches 600 m, the dissected and mosaic nature of the relief and landscape increases. Two natural zones are expressed - foothill forest-steppe and pistachio-oak and oak-juniper forests of the southern coast of Crimea. The characteristics of the climate, soils and vegetation of these zones are determined by changes in the position of individual territories in relation to the mountains and incoming air masses. Differences in soils and vegetation reach the latitudinal-zonal level.

The mid-mountain landscape level in Crimea is represented by the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains, which stretches from Balaklava to Old Crimea at an altitude of 400 to 1500 m. The relief is dominated by moderately steep and steep slopes, and on the flat tops there are fragments of plains with numerous karst forms. The basis for the differentiation of the mid-mountain landscape level into natural zones is a change in the position and height of the relief. There are three zones at this level. The most significant differences are observed between the mountain forest-steppe zone yayla, on the one hand, and the forest zones of the slopes, on the other. The differences between the mid-mountain zones barely reach the latitudinal-subzonal level.

Specially protected areas have been formed in each region of the peninsula. At the zonal-belt level of the structural organization of biodiversity, the number of protected areas varies depending on the area of ​​the zone and its biocenotic structure, but does not reach international criteria. In general, calculations show that the minimum number of protected areas within the zones of Plain Crimea should reach 14-26%, foothill - 14-30%, mountain - up to 60%, which is consistent with a number of expert estimates. Natural zones of Crimea are distinguished by patterns of intraregional organization, which change when moving from one landscape level to another. On hydromorphic plains, the leading organizational factor is the depth of groundwater. Taking this into account, a hydromorphic zone is formed, associated with a change in saline groundwater from 0 to 6-8 m. The landscape structure of these plains is determined by a combination of three main hydromorphic zones: undrained, poorly drained and relatively drained plain belts. In the belt of undrained plains, groundwater (saline sulfate-chloride) is located at a depth of 0.2-0.5 m; salt marshes and halophytic meadows are widespread here. In the belt of poorly drained plains, the groundwater level (saline chloride-sulfate) ranges from 0.2-0.5 m to 2.5-3.0 m; the vegetation cover is dominated by wormwood-fescue steppes in combination with halophytic meadows. In the belt of relatively drained plains, groundwater drops to a depth of 3-8 m from the surface, salinity is sulfate, the vegetation cover was dominated by depleted variants of feather grass-fescue true steppes, characteristic of upland plains, but the soil profile retains the features of its former hydromorphism. On upland plains, the leading factors of landscape organization are relative height, lithology, degree and nature of relief dissection. In accordance with the vertical differences in landscapes associated with changes in geomorphological conditions (the degree and nature of dissection, rock lithology, speed and direction of geomorphological processes, etc.), landscape tiers are formed. Landscape tiers appear where a slight fluctuation in altitude above sea level does not affect climate change and, consequently, the structure of the landscape.

In Crimea, there are three-tiered plains of the Tarkhankut Upland and two-tiered central plains of Crimea. The upper tier of the Tarkhankut Upland is represented by structurally weakly dissected plains with poorly developed chernozem-type soils and sod-grass low-forb steppes. The second tier is located on lower eluvial-denudation plains. It is characterized by thicker chernozem-type soils and mixed-grass steppes. The lower tier of the Tarkhankut Upland is formed by denudation-accumulative valley-beam plains. These plains are characterized by relatively variegated soil and vegetation cover, which varies from petrophytic steppes on steep slopes to meadow steppes on ravines.

The landscapes of the central Crimean plains are represented by a two-tier structure in the form of real rich-forb steppes in combination with savannoid steppes on loess weakly dissected plains and real poor-forb steppes in complex with rich-forb meadow steppes on accumulative-denudation gulch-gully plains.

Within the piedmont landscape level, the main factors of landscape organization are the position of the piedmont plains in relation to the mountains and the direction of the prevailing winds and the altitude above sea level, and in some cases, the depth of groundwater. Due to changes in relative height, slope microzoning is formed. In Crimea, slope microzoning is clearly evident on the plains, in the foothills and on the southern coast of Crimea. For example, on the southern coast of Crimea, in conditions of low-mountain relief, two genetically isolated groups of microzones are clearly distinguished. The lower group includes the bottom of ravines and near-ravine slopes, where brown clayey-cartilaginous soils are common on colluvium and proluvium of clayey shales and sandstones. The vegetation cover is dominated by shiblyak-forest complexes.

Over historical time, there has been a significant reduction in natural landscapes and widespread development of derivatives, formed as a result of the interaction of newly created (constructive) and weakly transformed landscapes. Natural, slightly transformed landscapes occupy only 2.5% of the territory. These are, first of all, mountain broad-leaved forests, mountain forest-steppe on yailas, salt marshes and halophytic meadows of the Sivash region and the Kerch Peninsula.

Most of the territory of Crimea (62%) has been developed for constructive landscapes: arable lands, gardens, cities, roads, etc. They require the constant introduction of additional energy according to a specific plan to maintain their new structure and functioning. This is the widest type, including residential, water management, recreational and beach, road and transport, industrial and communal, mining and industrial classes. This includes park classes of land, which include the following types: gardens, vineyards, arable land and plantations of tobacco and essential oil plants, nurseries, greenhouses, greenhouses, warehouses, shelterbelts, livestock complexes. Terraced complexes stand out in particular.

The remaining territory (35.5%) is represented by derivative landscapes. Derived complexes are natural complexes reflecting different stages of digression or one of the stages of their denaturalization. They were formed during the spontaneous use of forest landscapes for pastures and during random logging and fires. This type includes classes of digressive (from polydominant shibliak to erosive badland) and renaturalized lands (from phryganoid petrophytic steppe to regenerated forest). Currently, in most of the territory of the South Coast, natural forests have been replaced by shrub thickets of the shiblyak type, in which shrubby forms of downy oak, hornbeam, mackerel, dwarf tree, sumac and rose hips dominate.

Destructive land areas are negative territorial by-products of human activity. They are the last stage of landscape degradation.

In Crimea, terrestrial and amphibious landscapes are distinguished. The latter include landscapes of rivers, lakes and coastal areas of the sea, in which the functioning of bottom complexes is directly related to the surface layers of water and sunlight. Zonal conditions (position in the temperate zone on the border with the subtropical with insufficient precipitation) determine the dominance of subboreal semiarid landscapes in Crimea. The Crimean mountains introduce disturbances into the structure of zonal circulation processes: altitude and barrier effects lead to changes in the thermal and water regime within the mountains. Along with subboreal conditions, boreal conditions are formed; in addition to semiarid conditions, semihumid and humid conditions appear.

In Crimea, there is one zonal type of landscape - semiarid steppe, occupying the flat part of the peninsula. In this part of the peninsula, arid (semiarid) conditions are observed: with a evaporation value of 850-900 mm/year, precipitation falls 400-450 mm/year. In the Sivash region, the amount of precipitation decreases to 350 mm/year, and the humidification coefficient decreases to 0.35-0.40. This brings the conditions in this area closer to subboreal arid semi-desert. But the soil and vegetation cover here is more influenced by other factors: the proximity of groundwater and the residual salinity of the soil. They lead to the formation of complexes of wormwood-fescue steppes, halophytic meadows and salt marshes here.

In the foothill and mountainous parts of the peninsula, other types of landscapes are formed, which is associated with the superposition of exposure circulation differentiation (pre-ascension precipitation, an increase in precipitation on windward slopes and a decrease on leeward slopes), altitude above sea level (decrease in temperature with height), meridional sectorality, position in relation to the sea. Geographically, these factors manifest themselves within tens of kilometers. Mountains introduce disturbances into the structure of meteorological fields, as a result of which the amount of precipitation increases by 1.5-3 times, and spatial differentiation of the thermal regime occurs. Therefore, in different parts of the mountains and foothills, conditions of heat supply and moisture supply were formed close to subboreal-semi-humid forest-steppe (central and eastern parts of the Foothills), subboreal humid forest (Northern macroslope of the Main Ridge and the upper part of the Southern macroslope - up to approximately a height of 800 m), subboreal southern humid forest (lower forest part of the Southern macroslope of the Main Ridge - at an altitude of 400-800 m), subboreal "southern semi-humid forest-steppe (southwestern foothills - the region of Sevastopol, Bakhchisarai, Baydar Valley and the southeastern part of the south coast, with the exception of the most arid coastal part - see below), subboreal southern semiarid steppe (Meganoma region, "Koktebel, Ordzhonikidze). In the extreme southwest of the peninsula in the coastal zone; (up to an altitude of about 300 m) heat supply conditions are approaching subtropical (Miskhor: sum of temperatures above 10 degrees is about 4000, the temperature of the coldest month reaches 4.5 degrees). From west to east, the amount of precipitation decreases, and its maximum shifts to summer, which reduces its effectiveness and brings conditions closer to semiarid conditions (east of Alushta to Sudak and Karadag).

At altitudes of 900-1000 m and more, humid boreal and boreal-subboreal conditions prevail. According to the conditions of heat supply, three groups, or series, of landscapes have been identified: boreal, boreal-subboreal and subboreal. Subboreal can be divided into subgroups - typical and southern. Within the subboreal southern forest-steppe group, a sub-Mediterranean variety is distinguished. According to moisture conditions, semiarid, semihumid and humid series are distinguished.

Thus, based on the analysis of the situation on the scales of heat supply (sum of temperatures more than 10 degrees) and moisture supply (Vysotsky-Ivanov humidification coefficient), it was revealed that in Crimea there are prerequisites for identifying 8 zonal (levels 1 and 2) types of landscapes: boreal, boreal- subboreal, three subboreal, three subboreal southern.

Within the typical steppe landscapes in the Crimean Plain, semi-desert steppes and halophytic meadows are common in the Sivash region. Their appearance is associated not so much with the deterioration of moisture conditions (which goes in the northeast direction), but with the influence of saline soils and groundwater, that is, with factors of an edaphic and hydrogeological nature.

On the yayla, the climatic conditions correspond to boreal (taiga) and boreal-subboreal (subtaiga) landscapes, however, hydrological-lithological and geomorphological conditions lead to a sharp decrease in the amount of moisture that can be used by plants, as a result of which meadow steppe and forest-steppe were formed. The growth of tree species is also hampered by harsh microclimatic conditions: high wind speeds in winter with high air humidity. Landscapes are also affected by evolutionary factors associated with the laws of self-development of landscape components. After the removal of anthropogenic pressure, successional changes begin, ending with the formation of communities more or less close to the original ones. Since anthropogenic influences have been manifested over the past millennia (and especially centuries), the peninsula has developed a patchwork system of plant communities from different stages of successional series of vegetation types.

Many factors differentiate landscapes within local territories. River erosion leads to the formation of valleys and meso- and microscale slopes of varying steepness and aspect. The formation of slopes is influenced by many other factors. Slope differentiation contributes to the uneven supply of solar radiation due to different steepness and exposure, and the redistribution of solid (snow) and liquid precipitation falling on the surface. There are effects of shielding solar radiation by ridges, reducing the flow of radiation to the bottoms of river valleys. All this creates significant territorial differentiation in the moisture content of landscape complexes over a very short distance, often within hundreds and even tens of meters, and a sharp change in temperature conditions and soil moisture is observed. This causes a change in the nature of soil-forming processes, the formation of loose surface sediments, the migration of chemical elements and the formation of the geochemical environment as a whole.

Particularly noticeable territorial changes occurred within the foothills, since here steppe complexes are replaced by forest ones (that is, the landscape system has the character of an ecotone), and any differentiation of conditions within the ecotone causes a rather sharp change in complexes. Changes in landscape complexes often occur within short distances.

According to hypsometric properties, classes and subclasses of landscapes are distinguished. There are three classes of landscapes in Crimea: flat, foothills and mountain. They are divided into subclasses. Plain landscapes are divided into lowland (Near Sivash) and elevated (Tarkhankut Peninsula, Central Crimean Plain, Kerch Peninsula). The class of foothill landscapes is divided into cuesta monoclinal and interridge. The class of mountain landscapes in Crimea is represented by two subclasses - low-mountain (the main part of the mountains) and mid-mountain (yayls and the highest ridges). Within the low-mountain subclass, a mountain-coastal variety can be distinguished (south-coast regions).

According to positional properties, groups, subgroups, families, subfamilies, categories and varieties of landscapes are distinguished.

A semi-desert variety of semiarid steppe landscapes occupies the Sivash region. This is a low-lying plain, gradually rising from the coast of Sivash and the Karkinit Bay of the Black Sea to 40 meters. It is composed of eolian-deluvial loams and clays. The valleys of rivers and ravines are filled with alluvial loams and sandy loams, estuary sands and clays. Within the territory, climatic and geomorphological differences are weakly expressed; the depth of groundwater is of primary importance in differentiating landscape conditions. Directly from coastline, in the lower reaches of rivers, groundwater is located several tens of centimeters from the surface. Therefore, salt marshes and halophytic meadows predominate here. Wetlands with thickets of reeds and other hydrophytes have formed along the coast, serving as a habitat for numerous birds. The higher areas are dominated by wormwood-fescue steppes. Even higher they are replaced by feather grass-fescue steppes.

The flora and fauna of these landscape areas have been preserved in small areas, since 50-70% are arable lands and 20-30% are pastures with strong manifestations of pasture digression. Desertification processes can be observed here. At the same time, the widespread development of irrigation (approximately 30% of the area of ​​Prisvashya) led over the last few decades of the 20th century to the formation of landscape complexes of a humid type. During the irrigation process, many areas were flooded. Most of the territory is occupied by agroecosystems. The areas of greatest interest from the point of view of biodiversity conservation are the areas in the central part of the Sivash region, which serve as a temporary habitat for migratory birds. The wetlands formed as a result of the desalination of Sivash by waste waters are also characterized by local bird species.

The greatest problems for the biological and landscape diversity of this zone are the change in the hydrological and hydrogeological regime under irrigation conditions, the deterioration of the quality of surface and underground water due to the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Until the early 90s of the 20th century, there was a reduction in the area of ​​natural biocenoses due to an increase in the area of ​​arable land, but in last years the reverse process of abandonment of agricultural land began, accompanied by the formation of ruderal and segetal vegetation and weed biocenoses on them. Chemical pollution is largely associated with rice cultivation. There is a task of gradually replacing rice cultivation with other types of land use. However, it would be wrong to simply stop rice cultivation and abandon these areas. In this case, weed phytocenoses will inevitably form on these lands and the process of strong secondary salinization will begin.

Subboreal steppe typical landscapes are the only zonal first-level type of landscape in Crimea, which occupies approximately 60% of the territory of the peninsula, stretching from the Tarkhankut to the Kerch Peninsula and occupying the entire flat part of Crimea with the exception of the Sivash region. The natural vegetation of these landscapes has been preserved in small areas. It has been replaced by fields, gardens, vineyards, pastures and is characterized by a greatly depleted species composition. This territory is more dissected compared to the Sivash region - elevated plains dominate here. Irrigation of fields led to the formation of complexes that differ significantly from zonal ones.

Within this zone, experts distinguish three landscape areas, characterized by a different set of landscape areas and tracts:

1. 1. Tarkhankutskaya elevated plain, composed of limestones, red-brown clays, and loess-like loams. On the peninsula, rugged hills are combined with deeply incised valleys (dry rivers). The region is characterized by hot dry summer and relatively warm winters without a clearly defined period with negative air temperatures. Humidification is insufficient - evaporation is approximately twice the amount of precipitation. The territory corresponds to the subboreal semiarid steppe type of landscape. Almost no original vegetation has been preserved. Arable lands occupy approximately 50% of the territory. Grains predominate among agricultural crops. Quite significant areas (about a third of the territory) are occupied by pastures represented by poor forb steppes, often their petrophytic variants.
2. 2. The Central Crimean territory is composed of brown continental clays and loess-like loams, covered in many places with layers of anthropogenic proluvial-deluvial deposits. The prevailing undulating-valley relief with elevations from 50 to 120 m. The climate differs somewhat from the Tarkhankut Upland big amount precipitation: up to 500-550 mm per year and somewhat more severe winters. The territory is dominated by plain-hollow, valley-gully, flat-plain, valley-dry-river and coastal-halogen areas. This is the most plowed area - 75% (the predominance of grain crops, part of the land is occupied by vineyards and orchards, industrial crops). Natural steppe areas have been preserved in small patches.

The largest number of habitats is observed in river valleys. Here are the most contrasting conditions in terms of moisture, geomorphology, and lithology. At the same time, most of the settlements are confined to the river valleys, that is, in the valleys there is a peculiar juxtaposition of small-area natural and contrasting landscape complexes and settlements.

3. The Kerch zone occupies the Kerch Peninsula. There are two main parts of the peninsula: the southwestern part, made up of heavy saline Maykop clays, and the northeastern part, composed of clays, sands, marls and limestones. Arable lands occupy 35% of the peninsula. The southwestern part is dominated by desert steppes, halophytic meadows, and typical low-forb-grass steppes. In the northeastern part, petrophytic shrub-forb-grass steppes predominate in remnant-watershed areas, feather-grass-fescue steppes on sloping plains, and fescue-wormwood-desert steppes in basins. These areas are mostly used for pastures and are in various stages of pasture digression.

Special ecotopes are formed in the coastal parts of the zone of typical steppe landscapes. Here, in many areas, abrasion processes led to the formation of dissected steep banks, processed by water erosion. Great dissection determined the poor suitability of the areas for economic use, which contributed to the preservation of plant and animal species and biocenoses here. The contrast of the relief, and thereby the microclimatic conditions, favors the survival of animals in conditions of weather fluctuations and changing seasons. In many areas of the coast of the peninsula, high biodiversity has been preserved (the extreme western part of the coast of the Tarkhankut Peninsula - the Dzhangul, Atlesh areas; areas of the Azov and Black Sea coasts of the Kerch Peninsula - the Karalar, Osoviny, Opuk areas).

Subboreal forest-steppe typical landscapes are landscapes of the second level zonal type; they occupy the Foothills. Here the landscapes change from flat to mountainous. The Outer and Inner cuesta ridges, separated by an interridge depression, pass through the territory. The ridges are composed of limestones, marls and clays, the interridge depression is composed of marls. The climate of the territory becomes wetter and cooler compared to the steppe part: the amount of precipitation here increases to 550-650 mm/year, and the humidification coefficient - to 0.55. It is distinguished by a more significant territorial differentiation of landscapes, since a dissected relief is observed here, and a sharp change in meteorological fields occurs due to the transition from the flat part to the mountainous part.

Large differences occur between the northern and southern slopes of the cuestas due to the different amounts of incoming solar radiation. But in many cases, it is the southern steep slopes of the cuestas that are forested, while the northern gentle slopes are usually plowed. This is explained by the practical impossibility of using steep southern slopes for agricultural purposes. economic activity. Treeless slopes were previously used for grazing, while forested slopes have retained a relatively natural appearance. In the 1960s to 1980s, many of the treeless southern slopes of the cuestas were terraced and planted with pine, with very different effects on landscape and biodiversity in different areas. Steep slopes of cuestas have the greatest number of location and habitat types. This area has been significantly transformed. This is the most urbanized part of the peninsula with the presence of many transport arteries. There are quite a few quarries here for the development of building materials.

Subboreal typical forest zonal landscapes of the second level occupy the main part of the Northern macroslope of the Crimean Mountains. Forest landscapes in this area have received the most vivid manifestation and are best preserved. The following factors are of primary importance for the formation of ecotope diversity:

Altitude above sea level (altitude difference is 500-600 m). The altitudinal zonation is demonstrated here quite well (better than in other areas of the peninsula): downy oak forests, rocky oak forests, hornbeam and beech forests;

Exposure differences: between the slopes of northern and southern exposures there are very significant differences in the amount of solar radiation (up to 50-60%);

Effects of closed slopes.

This is the most forested part of the peninsula. Along with relatively favorable climatic conditions, this was favored by the poor accessibility of many areas for humans (for example, the Central Crimean Basin). Settlements and agricultural land occupy only narrow strips of river valley bottoms.

Yaily - by background climatic conditions correspond to boreal and boreal-subboreal: precipitation is 600-1500 mm/year, the temperature of the coldest month is from -2 to -5 ° C, the temperature of the warmest month is from 12-13 to 16-17 ° C. The amount of evaporation varies between 500-700 mm/year, background climatic moisture is normal or excessive. Yaila landscapes have a pronounced azonal character, associated with lithological and geomorphological conditions. Falling atmospheric precipitation falls through cracks and moves through underground cavities to the flysch aquifer, unloading on the slopes of the village. The differentiation of ecotopes is associated with lithological differences (limestones have different degrees of fracturing and susceptibility to karst manifestations), the existence of a large number of karst sinkholes. The steppe and forest-steppe landscapes of the Yayls form a kind of islands among the surrounding forest landscapes, which determines their well-known isolation and contributes to the formation of endemic species of organisms.

Forest open forests on the southern steep slopes of the yayla are azonal communities. The latter are associated with lithomorphic and geomorphological factors. Precipitation is poorly retained in place due to the high steepness of the surface; slope processes are strongly manifested: rockfalls, screes, washout of soil and loose sediments. These are very unstable landscapes. No anthropogenic load is recommended here.

Subboreal forest southern landscapes occupy the lower part of the southern macroslope of the mountains - from 800 m to 400 m. They are characterized by a significant participation of pine forests. Within this zone, a fairly high percentage is occupied by sloping and steep slopes, which determines the intensification of erosion processes and the significant occurrence of rockfalls and screes. More favorable forest conditions are formed on gentle slopes. The territory is located in close proximity to populated areas of the South Coast and to recreational complexes. It is traversed by numerous hiking trails, despite the nature reserve status of many areas. Therefore, it is subject to quite significant anthropogenic impact. Tourist-related fires are especially dangerous for these fires. Subboreal forest-steppe southern landscapes occupy the southwestern Foothills (Sevastopol region, the lower part of the Belbek and Kacha river basins), the entire southeastern part of the South Coast (from Alushty to Karadag with the exception of Meganom and Kiik-Atlama. This zone is characterized by large territorial contrasts associated with a variety of relief, rocks. A mild winter is of great importance - the temperature in the cold period here does not fall below 20 ° C, and the average temperature in January is 2-3.5 ° C. Thanks to the mild winter in these areas, the proportion of winter-green plants increases .

The Mediterranean version of the subboreal typical southern forest-steppe landscapes approximately corresponds to the sub-Mediterranean type of landscape.

The landscapes of the region of the western part of the South Coast are already forest-steppe type - subboreal southern forest-steppe, but they have a more pronounced heat supply (sum of temperatures above 10°), a well-defined winter maximum precipitation, evaporation 900-950 mm/year, annual precipitation 450-650 mm . The moisture coefficient is 0.5-0.7, which corresponds to the forest-steppe. The heat supply does not reach the sum of temperatures of 4600, which is characteristic of the lower limit of the subtropical climate. Therefore, this area is a special variant of subboreal southern forest-steppe landscapes. These landscapes are characterized by the presence of relatively large number evergreen species. This area has undergone a major transformation. There are quite a few parks with introduced plants, part of the territory is occupied by vineyards. On the other part, natural communities have been preserved, but they have been greatly transformed. The ruggedness of the relief is very great, which determines the presence of a large number of habitat types associated with the bottoms of river valleys (with steeply falling channels), slopes of different steepness and aspect. Transformations are associated with the construction of roads, cities, and water pipelines. Landslides intensified, a restructuring of groundwater flows occurred, which led to large changes in soil moisture and the formation of new plant communities. The latter adapt to high recreational loads, which is reflected in the species composition.

Subboreal semiarid southern landscapes are distributed in small areas in the Meganom, Kiik-Atlamy region in southeastern Crimea. They are characterized by increased evaporation values ​​- up to 1000 mm/year or more, and a decrease in the annual amount of atmospheric precipitation to 350 mm. Landscape complexes of the coastal strip of the mountainous part of Crimea are formed in connection with the salt influence of the sea and the special nature of the microclimate, the large role of abrasion processes. The greatest contrast in landscape conditions here manifests itself within a narrow coastal zone.

Landscapes of river valleys in the mountainous part are a specific type of landscape that forms in eternal valleys. Its specificity is associated with the following factors:

1) location below other landscape complexes, which leads to the transfer of additional water here; the formation of accumulative deposits here - alluvial, proluvial;

2) watercourses reshape the bottoms and slopes of valleys, which leads to constant restructuring of landscapes;

3) in Crimea, where moisture is the main limiting environmental factor, river valleys have more favorable conditions for plant growth;

4) landscape complexes of valleys have a very small width and a large length; the small width of the complexes determines the territorial proximity of the landscape complexes, the opportunity for animals to migrate from one landscape to another depending on need.

Ecotones are boundary systems, which are transition zones between neighboring landscape systems, characterized as tension bands with maximum gradients of changes in the parameters of landscape systems. When analyzing biodiversity, it turns out that it is in ecotones that its value is most often greatest. In addition, ecotone landscape systems are characterized by specific properties and a more complex, diverse territorial structure, which creates conditions for the formation of more diverse and favorable habitats for biota than in adjacent landscape systems. Ecotones are more dynamic and always more unstable in space-time. It is ecotone systems that are the first to respond to changes in external conditions and therefore are indicators of changes in the ecological state of bordering landscape systems. They act as a kind of buffers on the path of natural and economic influences. Ecotones often play the role of refugia.

Crimea can be seen as a complex ecotone. The peninsula is located at the junction of the temperate and subtropical zones and represents a climatic ecotone. The proximity of land and sea for kilometers led to the formation of various aquatic-territorial landscapes of the coast.

Four aquatic-territorial landscape macroecotones are distinguished: Yuzhnoberezhny (from Cape Aya in the south to Cape Ilya in the northeast); Kalamitsky-Karkinitsky (from Sevastopol to Karkinitsky Bay); Kerch (covers the coast of the Kerch Peninsula); Sivashsky. Similar in origin (at the contact of contrasting land-water environments), they are very different in landscape terms.

The landscape diversity of the South Coast ecotone is greatest (up to an altitude of 350-400 m above sea level), in which 9 types of landscape areas are distinguished. The Sivash ecotone is interesting because several factors are involved in its formation: the influence of the sea, changes in the degree of halohydromorphism, and the climatic factor. Moreover, the action and overlap of factors occurs as if in one direction, which affects the formation of a significant width of the ecotone (from 10 km in the area of ​​the Arabat Spit to 30 km). The landscape diversity of the ecotone is quite large, although less than that of Yuzhnoberezhny. It identifies 7 types of landscape areas. The Kalamit-Karkinit landscape ecotone is a coastal strip 4-6 km wide, including a system of shallow salt lakes. It is characterized by the least landscape diversity. Within this ecotone, 5 types of landscape areas are distinguished. The Kerch ecotone is formed by the interaction of different tectonic structures of the Crimean mountains and the Crimean plain, which formed the macroecotone of the foothills. The entire Mountain Crimea is a phytoecotone, formed on the border between the Circumboreal and Mediterranean floristic regions and concentrating most of the phytodiversity of Crimea - 92.7%. The boundaries of the physical-geographical regions of Crimea, landscape levels and belts are associated with these ecotones. Under anthropogenic influence, divergent ecotones are formed, in which the abundance of species and individuals decreases compared to the adjacent natural community.

A special situation is developing in the Crimean Plain. Here the degree of anthropogenic transformation of the landscape structure is greatest, and the territory is an almost continuous agricultural landscape. Suffice it to say that the percentage of arable land exceeds 80%, and there are practically no forests or protected areas. Under such conditions, areas with preserved natural vegetation (as well as forest belts) themselves become ecotones between different types of land use.

Literature

1. 1.Biological and landscape diversity of Crimea: problems and prospects. Simferopol: Sonat, 1999. – 180 p.
2. 2. Podgorodetsky P.D. Crimea: Nature. – Simferopol: Tavria, 1988.

The exceptionally high landscape and biological diversity of Crimea, despite its insignificant latitudinal extent (324 km in latitude and 207 km in meridian), acts as its main resource in the context of providing a landscape background for various types of medical and recreational, sports, educational and entertainment activities and the organization of special visits to landscape sites for excursion demonstrations and eco-tourism events.

Crimea is a unique territory in terms of the combination of landscapes in a small space (26 thousand sq. km): flat semi-desert, typical steppe; foothill forest-steppe and forest; mountain forest (oak, hornbeam, pine, beech) forests and semi-subtropical endemic and relict juniper-pistachio forests (Fig. 2.21). The unique landscape diversity has high aesthetic value and attractiveness for tourist and recreational activities. Landscape diversity is enhanced by a combination of plain and mountain landscapes, land and sea, and is complemented by underground cave landscapes 1 .

Pozachenyuk E., Karpenko S. Landscape and recreational microzoningas a basis for rcreation of new recreational/tourism objects evidence from Crimea, Ukraine Krajobraz aczlowiek wczasie iprzestrzeni // Prace Komisii Krajobrazu Kulturowego / Komisja Krajobrazu Kulturowego PTG, Sosnowiec. 2013. No. 20. P. 26-33.

Rice. 2.21.

Zone of low-lying undrained and weakly drained accumulative and denudation plains with fescue-feather grass, wormwood-fescue, wormwood-wheatgrass steppes

in combination with halophytic meadows and steppes Hydromorphic belts:

coastal undrained lowlands, beaches and spits with halophytic meadows, salt marshes and psammophyte communities; accumulative and denudation undrained and poorly drained lowlands with wormwood-fescue, wormwood-wheatgrass and feather grass-fescue steppes;

accumulative and denudation poorly drained plains with feather grass-fescue and wormwood-fescue steppes;

| accumulative drained and poorly drained lowlands with feather grass-fescue steppes in combination with feather grass-forb steppes.

Zone of typical feather grass-fescue and poor forb-feather grass-fescue steppes in combination with petrophytic

and shrub steppes

Landscape tiers:

I I denudation layer of feather grass-fescue, petrophytic and shrub steppes;

1 denudation-accumulative layer with feather grass-fescue, shrub-forb and petrophytic steppes.

Zone of foothill accumulative, remnant-denudation and structural denudation plains and cuesta uplands with mixed-grass steppes, shrub thickets, forest-steppe and low-growing oak forests Landscape belts of the northern macroslope:

forb-bearded beetle and forb-asphodeline steppes on accumulative and denudation plains; e forest-steppe on denudation-remnant, structural denudation and accumulative plains, cuesta hills;

| oak forests and bush thickets on denudation-remnant and inclined structural denudation plains and cuesta hills.

Landscape belts in the low-mountain zone of the Southern Coast of Crimea:

| | oak-pistachio, juniper-pine and shiblyak forests

thickets;

| pine, oak and mixed broad-leaved forests and shiblyak thickets.

Zone of the northern macroslope of mountains, beech, oak and mixed broad-leaved forests

Landscape belts:

|-1 basins and erosive lowlands, oak, mixed widely

deciduous and pine forests;

I mid-mountain-slope, oak, juniper-oak and mixed broad-leaved forests;

| mid-mountain slope, beech, beech-hornbeam, mixed broad-leaved forests.

Zone of the southern macroslope of mountains, oak, pine and mixed

deciduous forests

Landscape belts:

| | low-mountain slope, oak and mixed

deciduous forests;

| mid-mountain slope, oak, pine and mixed broad-leaved forests;

beech and mixed deciduous forests.

Zone of the Yaylin plateau, mountain meadows and mountain forest-steppe Landscape belts:

| | forest and meadow-forest-steppe plateaus;

meadow and meadow-forest plateaus.

The assessment of the landscape as a recreational resource can be carried out based on such properties as landscape diversity; landscape diversity of the territory and perception of the landscape by others; area of ​​natural landscapes close to zonal; the ratio of natural landscapes and transformed (anthropogenic) ones, etc.

Among the factors determining the landscape diversity of the territory, the following can be identified:

Positional relations of the territory - form special landscapes in the contact zone of land and sea, at the junction of tectonic structures, plains and mountains, forests and steppes, at the border

climatic zones, areas of flora and fauna, etc. ;

• the history of landscape formation, which determined connections (or, conversely, isolation) with other landscapes, the nature and frequency of changes in regimes (climatic, tectonic, etc.);
• lithological diversity of rocks, contributing to the creation of various relief forms and, accordingly, the diversity of ecological niches of living organisms, etc.;
• the degree of dissection of the relief, affecting at a lower landscape level the diversity of relief forms, exposures, natural processes, etc.;
• anthropogenic impact on the environment and the formation of unique anthropogenic landscapes.

The landscapes of Crimea develop depending on the position relative to the Black and Azov Seas, as well as the Scythian platform and geosynclinal structures of the Crimean Mountains. As a result, they are divided into two parts contrasting in natural qualities: flat steppe (about 16 thousand sq. km) and mountainous, predominantly forest (about 10 thousand sq. km). The spatial combination of platform and geosynclinal structures of Crimea led to the formation of landscape levels: hydromorphic, upland, low-mountain, and mid-mountain (see Fig. 2.21). The landscape level is a planetary geomorphological level that is relatively uniform in relief and ground moisture.

In Crimea there are fragments of hydromorphic (28.4% of the peninsula’s area), upland (35.4%), foothill (25.9%) and mid-mountain (10.3%) landscape levels (Fig. 2.22). Each landscape level has its own set of natural zones and other units of spatial differentiation of the landscape.

Grishankov G.E.., Pashchenko V.A., Pozachenyuk E.A. Positionality in landscapes and landscape science // Physical geography and geomorphology. Republican interdepartmental collection. Kyiv, 1991. pp. 11-20.

Grishaikov G.E. Landscape levels of continents and geographic zonality // Izv. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 1972. No. 4. P. 4-12. (Series: Geography).

tov, which is due to a different set of factors. At the hydromorphic level, intrazonal differentiation is associated primarily with changes in groundwater levels, at the upland level - with the presence of high-altitude steps, at the foothill and mid-mountain levels - with altitude above sea level and position in relation to radiation and circulation flows.

LANDSCAPE LEVELS OF CRIMEA

Gndromorphnyn Plakorny Piedmontny Srednegornyn

Row2? RowZ

Rice. 2.22.Areal (row 2) and altitudinal (row 3) relationships of landscape levels in Crimea

The position of Crimea in the south of the temperate zone, combined with positional effects, forms various types of temperate climate landscapes within the plain Crimea and the northern macroslope of the Crimean Mountains, and on the southern macroslope - semi-sub-tropical southern coastal ones.

The natural spatial contiguity of landscape levels in combination with the type of climate led to the formation in Crimea of ​​an integral system of landscape zones, landscape belts and other landscape units.

In the north of the peninsula lie the landscapes of the North Crimean Lowland, which are currently highly cultivated. But the combination of coastal sea and flat areas makes this part of Crimea quite attractive in the tourist and recreational aspect. This resource is acceptable for the development of rural tourism.

Southern part Crimean peninsula occupied by mountains: the main ridge of the Crimean mountains and the foothills bordering it. The specificity of the landscapes of the Main Ridge is that it has flat peaks - yaylas with mountain meadows and forest landscapes. The development of karst in Upper Jurassic limestones forms surface and underground karst landscapes. In Crimea there are several equipped caves - Mramornaya, Emine-Bair-Khosar, Krasnaya, which have become the center of attraction for tourism and the development of an entire tourist complex around them. The underground world of Crimea has a high recreational resource and deserves further recreational development. Considering that the yaylas of Crimea are the largest watershed and reservoir of fresh water, the recreational use of yaylas must be strictly regulated.

The special picturesque landscape of the Southern Coast of Crimea (SC), as a geoecotone (transition zone), combining land and sea landscapes; semi-subtropical forest, steppe and shrubland, has a high health-improving function. Phytoncides from Crimean pine and pine-juniper forests are a good environment for healing and treating pulmonary diseases. A special role belongs to high juniper forests: 4 g of essential oil can improve the health of the population of a small town. The landscapes of the South Coast are a resource for the development of elite recreation, climate therapy, cruise, festival and other types of tourism.

The combination of tectonic structures of a lower order (synclines and anticlines) leads to a diversity of geological and geomorphological basis and the formation of unique landscapes of Crimea, for example, cuesta 1. Quest landscapes are one of the most attractive landscapes of Crimea, and in combination with ancient settlements - a resource for the development of educational, pedestrian, caving tourism, etc. These are centers of gravity for tourists and pilgrims.

The history of the formation of Crimean landscapes has determined the presence of unique relict landscapes in Crimea, which are an indispensable resource for educational and scientific tourism. The core of the Crimean flora forms the ancient Mediterranean geographical element (Fig. 2.23). The number of Mediterranean species with the inclusion of transitional European-Mediterranean species reaches 50% 2 . This fact indicates the close connection of Crimea with the ancient Mediterranean.

Rice. 2.23.

The lithological diversity of rocks determines the formation of landscape diversity and unique landscapes. The forest-steppe landscapes of the foothills of the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains with steep limestone massifs have attracted residents since ancient times. Mountain and foothill landscapes are a good resource for the development of mountain sports tourism,

Grishankov G.E., Pozachenyuk E.A. Genesis of the cuesta relief of the Piedmont Crimea // Physical geography and geomorphology: Republic. interdepartmental scientific Sat. (Siev: Vyshcha Shkola, 1984. Issue 31. P. 108-115.

Pozachenyuk E.A. Floristic connections of Crimea from the point of view of positional relations // Ecosystems, their optimization and protection. Simferopol Publishing house TNU, 2012. Issue. 7. pp. 11-21.

Compiled by Dr. Geogr. sciences, prof. E.A. Pozachenyuk.

ethnographic, rural, military-historical, equestrian, educational. Past tectonic activity has determined the unique landscapes of laccoliths (Ayu-Dag, Kastel) and extinct volcanoes- Karadag.

Within the Crimean peninsula, there are 128 geological monuments with the unique formation of landscape complexes. Geological monuments of Crimea are divided into geomorphological, stratigraphic, tectonic, paleontological, mineralogical-petrographic, geocultural. Geological monuments are concentrated mainly in the mountainous part of Crimea, as well as on the Kerch Peninsula, and to a lesser extent in the flat part. Landscapes of geological monuments are a resource for the formation of geoparks that are actively developing in Europe.

The entire set of factors that determine the landscape diversity of Crimea leads to the formation of a unique landscape environment for the development of recreation and tourism.

Landscape diversity can be assessed depending on its types: traditional landscape or classic; biocentric; anthropogenic; humanitarian. These concepts do not contradict one another, but are interconnected and complement each other. Based on each of them, recreational resources can be assessed.

Classic landscape diversity comes from the traditional understanding of landscape as a natural object. The indicators currently used to characterize landscape diversity are very diverse, very subjective and difficult to determine. practical application, in particular in the tourism sector. If we consider landscape diversity as a recreational resource along with resources, for example, beach, balneological, climate-therapeutic and others, then the following indicators are of interest to organizers of the tourism industry: qualitative properties of the resource, its quantity (area, volume, reserves), seasonality, duration of the period of use , landscape resistance to recreational loads. Analysis of landscape maps allows us to propose the following characteristics: the ratio of the number of landscape contours and the areas they occupy, location (landscape contrast), configuration features, frequency of occurrence of landscape complexes (dominant, rare, unique).

Based on landscape maps of Crimea, an assessment of landscape diversity was carried out (Fig. 2.24).

Rice. 2.24.

localities

Maximum diversity or a sharp increase in the intensity of its manifestation is characteristic of the geoecotones of Crimea - transition zones between the foothills and the Main ridge of the Crimean Mountains, southern coastal and mountain landscapes. The maximum landscape diversity is manifested in the southwestern Mountainous Crimea and, in particular, is typical for the South Coast from Cape Ai-Todor to Cape Satera. This territory, as a landscape environment, is most valuable for recreational purposes.

An analysis of the areas of Crimean landscapes showed that the maximum area is occupied by upland landscapes of typical steppes in combination with savanoid and phryganoid semi-subtropical steppes, then it decreases to phryganoid steppes and landscapes of hydromorphic plains. The minimum area is occupied by landscapes of mountain meadows and forest-steppe, as well as landscapes of the belt of mixed broad-leaved and pine forests, landscapes of the belt of pine and beech forests of the southern macroslope and landscapes of mixed broad-leaved and pine forests of the northern macroslope.

Analysis of the areas of the average contour of landscapes of zones and belts practically correlates with the area of ​​the zones and belts themselves. The minimum average area of ​​the landscape contour belongs to the southern coastal landscapes of pistachio-oak and oak-juniper forests, bush thickets, savanoid and phryganoid steppes (Fig. 2.25). The areas of landscape areas, especially those landscapes that are characterized by minimal values, must be taken into account when calculating recreational loads and planning tourist and recreational activities.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 19 14 1$ 16 17 18

• 2 7000 2 6000
• 3 booo
• ? 4000 s 3000 2000 1000 o

• 70 І 60 з 60 = 40 ?

)° 5 20 « 10 ?

Rice. 2.25.Landscape diversity of Crimea at the belt level

and tiers:

row 1 - landscape area; row 2 - number of landscape contours; row 3 - the number of typological landscape contours; landscape belts and tiers: 1-3 - landscape hydromorphic belts; 4-5 - landscape tiers of the Crimean plain; 6-8 - landscape belts of the foothills; 9-10 - landscape belts of the South Coast; 11-16 - landscape belts of mid-mountain slopes; 17-18 - landscape belts yayla

The number of all landscape contours and the number of typological contours for landscape zones and belts (see Fig. 2.25) reflects them high degree correlations. The highest landscape diversity is distinguished by the landscapes of the semi-subtropical forest-steppe of the foothills of the northern macroslope (71 contours and 10 typological ones with an area of ​​1.8 thousand sq. km). The landscapes of the South Coast (9, 10) are distinguished by a certain “anomaly”; they have a minimum average area of ​​the landscape contour of the southern coastal landscapes of pistachio-oak and oak-juniper forests, bush thickets, savanoid and phryganoid steppes (9). There is an inverse relationship between the area of ​​landscapes and the total and typological number of their contours. The area is minimal, and the number of contours is maximum. In all other landscapes of Crimea, a directly proportional relationship between the area and the number of contours can be traced.

The highest coefficient of landscape diversity (Fig. 2.26) has the southern coastal landscapes - pistachio-oak and oak-juniper forests, shrub thickets, savanoid and phryganoid steppes (K l. n = 2.0). The coefficient of landscape diversity of mountain landscapes (Kl. = 0.3-0.6) differs sharply from plain ones (0.04-0.15). Moreover, among lowland landscapes, hydromorphic solonchak and halophytic meadows in combination with wormwood-fescue steppes have the greatest diversity. Among mountain landscapes, mixed broad-leaved and pine forests stand out for their landscape diversity (K l p = 0.6). The Yaila landscapes of mountain meadows and forest-steppe are distinguished by high diversity (K l p = 0.7).

Landscaping coefficient

LANDSCAPE P01SAII 1ty

Rice. 2.26. Diversity coefficient of Crimean landscapes (Kl.r) on

level of belts and tiers:

1-3 - landscape hydromorphic belts; 4-5 - landscape tiers of the Crimean plain; 6-8 - landscape belts of the foothills; 9-10 - landscape belts of the South Coast; 11-16 - landscape belts of mid-mountain slopes; 17-18 - landscape belts yayla

All landscapes of Crimea are characterized by seasonal dynamism, four seasons are well defined, which makes them attractive for recreationists, with the possibility of developing both summer and winter species tourism and recreation.

Biocenotic landscape diversity is associated with the value of the biotic component of the landscape and is based in most cases on the system of the ecological network of Crimea (ecocenters and ecocorridors), the most valuable elements of which are objects of the natural reserve fund (see paragraph 2.1.6).

Anthropogenic landscape diversity reflects the diversity of land uses, both existing and historical. As a resource, this type of landscape diversity manifests itself in several properties. The assessment of recreational resources of this type of diversity is based not only on indicators of the diversity of types of environmental management, the contours of territorial structures, but also on the degree of their “culture,” aesthetics, originality (ethnicity), aesthetic and cultural-historical value.

The Crimean region is characterized by a high proportion of anthropogenic landscapes (71% of the territory is agricultural land, 47% is arable land). The territories directly used for organizing recreation and tourism amount to 10.2 thousand hectares, including lands for recreational purposes - 1.6 thousand hectares, recreational purposes- 4.3 thousand hectares, historical and cultural purposes - 4.3 thousand hectares. Territories of agricultural use can serve as a resource for the development of green tourism; the landscapes of the foothills of the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains, which are highly aesthetic, are especially attractive in this regard. The landscapes of the Crimean plains are promising for use.

Currently underutilized resource of sacred objects, which Crimea is so rich in. In Crimea, with its rich ethnic, religious history of ethnic groups and ethnic groups, these include buildings dating back to 111-11 millennia BC. -menhirs (from Greek. megas- big, cast - stone), cromlechs, dolmens. These are little explored objects. Some issues of their construction and purpose are still controversial. Undoubtedly, they are of great educational importance, but only a few objects are excursion objects; most can become promising objects of display when arranging new ones. excursion routes. The most prominent of them are the Skel Menhirs in Baydar Valley, a menhir in the Bogaz-Sala tract near Bakhchisarai, as well as cromlechs near Alushta and in the Karasu-Bashi Glade area (Belogorsky district). Menhirs in the village Rodnikovskoye is the oldest stone monument in Crimea that was created by man. Initially there were three menhirs, they were placed in a certain order, and the entire structure looked like a right triangle. The surviving menhirs have the following parameters: the highest (Fig. 2.27) is inclined up to 10°, but its height is 2.7 m, diameter - up to 0.8 m; the second menhir is located on the site of the monument to those killed during the Second World War, has a height of 1.5 m, a length of 0.5 m and a width of 1.2 m; the third menhir was moved during the construction of a local club and lies in a ravine (dimensions: height 2.1 m, length 0.4 m, width 0.6 m).

Rice. 2.27.

All menhirs are made of the same material - pink marble-like limestone. Skel menhirs are the largest known in South-Eastern Europe. European tourists come to see these menhirs. However, many Crimean sacred objects are not only underutilized in the recreational and tourism industry, but also experience negative impacts from economic activities and are subject to acts of vandalism.

The humanitarian interpretation of landscape diversity comes down to a person’s holistic perception of the landscape as a natural and cultural formation. From the point of view of humanitarian perception, three environments can be distinguished: natural, cultural and ethnic. Natural - assessment of the landscape from the point of view of its perception by humans (assessment of the degree of aesthetics and level of diversity); cultural environment (architecture, traditional forms of housing, forms of land use, etc.) - a person feels comfortable if he is in his cultural environment or has access to it; ethnic diversity - diversity of traditions, lifestyle, etc. Humanitarian diversity is a direct recreational resource, and its assessment depends on the historical value of objects, the degree of their aesthetics, etc.

The preservation and renewal of landscape diversity acts as environmental and socio-psychological functions. A person’s comfortable state is possible in a landscape that gives him a variety of values ​​and access to them. A person should not feel alienated from the landscape, from its natural wealth(a component of the historical past, ethnic traditions that were formed here).

Indicators of landscape diversity, which are based on its humanitarian understanding, are specific. An important indicator is how a person perceives the landscape. The system of environmental indicators includes not only objectively measured characteristics of the landscape, but also some psychological characteristics. These include the following factors:

• beauty, mystery, bright feature (cliff, waterfall). These characteristics are perceived by people as features in which they perceive the landscape;
• human perception of the landscape when it has a variety of vegetation cover, the presence of water bodies in the landscape, etc.;
• the optimal level of landscape diversity in which a person feels more comfortable and in which he better recovers from stress.

Despite the fact that beauty is an objective property of the surrounding world and an objective human need when planning recreational species recreation, including therapeutic recreation, it is necessary to take into account the subjective need of the vacationer in the form of a landscape. Recreational residents who permanently live in steppe regions find it uncomfortable to relax in mountainous regions, while mountaineers, on the contrary, find it uncomfortable to relax in lowland regions. In this regard, the plain Crimea is under-demanded as a landscape recreational resource.

Monuments of Crimean gardening art are very attractive, many of which serve as objects of targeted excursion display. Among them is Karasansky Park (founded in the 19th century; has 220 different species and garden forms of dendroflora on 18 hectares); park of the Utes sanatorium (about 150 species and forms of plants on 5 hectares); park in the Aivazovskoye holiday home in Partenit; Arboretum of the Crimean Nature Reserve (more than 100 species of plants on an area of ​​6 hectares), Miskhorsky, Livadia, Massandra and Vorontsovsky parks.

In modern tourist and excursion practice, many landscape objects are actively used, which have enormous image-forming significance for the Crimea as a whole and its recreational areas.

Southern recreational area:

• Ayu-Dag (Bear Mountain) is a symbol of the South Coast; landscape reserve since 1974. It is an intrusive massif composed of gabbrodiabases, interesting for lovers of geological collections and students of Crimean endemics (44 species of plants listed in the Red Book);
• caves of the Chatyr-Dag massif;
• Demerdzhi mountain range. It is composed of Upper Jurassic conglomerates, and individual inclusions are represented by rocks whose age reaches 1.1 billion years. On the southwestern slope there is a Great Stone Chaos, on the southern slope there are bizarre weathering forms known as the Valley of Ghosts - a popular object of natural and educational tourism;
• Khapkhal tract is a gorge on the Ulu-Uzen River. Located in a hard-to-reach place at the foot of mountain range Tyr-ke. On the Ulu-Uzen River near the village. Generalskoye is located the Dzhur-Dzhur waterfall - the most powerful waterfall in Crimea, which does not dry out even in dry years;
• the valley of the Sotera River has been a protected area since 1980 (area - 10 hectares). By the water of the gully there is a one-of-a-kind natural monument - the Sotera Stone Mushrooms - an example of the original development of the relief in conditions of insufficient afforestation of the slopes and the influence of water erosion;
• Kuchuk-Lambat stone chaos - stretches for 1 km along a slope 200 m high to the seashore near the village. Cypress. Formed by the collapse of Upper Jurassic limestones. Individual blocks reach the size of a two-story house;
• Kanaka tract has been a botanical reserve since 1987 (area - 160 hectares). The object of ecological tourism is a grove of tall junipers 500-600 years old;
• Wuchang-Su waterfall;
• Yaman-Dere gorge and Golovkinsky waterfall.

South-East region:

New World is a landscape reserve with groves of relict pike-perch pine and tree-like juniper and picturesque coastal-aquatic complexes of Goluboy bays,

Blue, Green, Robber. Passes here famous trail Golitsyn;

• Karadag is an ancient volcanic massif, a kind of mineralogical natural museum, whose age is about 150 million years. Only the Great Ecological Trail is open here for mountain hiking;
• Uzun-Syrt plateau with unique rising air currents.

Southwestern region:

• Kazachya Bay is a general zoological and hydrological reserve of national importance;
• Cape Aya is a landscape reserve of national importance;
• Cape Fiolent is a landscape reserve of national importance with a coastal aquatic complex;
• Laspi rocks - a protected area;
• Baydarsky reserve is a landscape reserve of national importance;
• Chernorechensky Canyon.

Western region:

Lakes Moinaki, Sasyk-Sivash, Saki, etc.

Northwestern region:

• Swan Islands is a nature reserve of international importance;
• Big and Small Atlesh - coastal-aquatic complexes;
• Dzhangul landslide coast with numerous forms of coastal destruction.

Eastern region:

• Kazantip Nature Reserve - with virgin areas of feather grass, petrophilic, shrub and meadow steppes. Of the 617 species of vascular plants, 25 species are listed in the Red Book of Crimea, 12 plant species are endemic and relict, eight species are listed in the Red Book of Europe and six are protected by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The fauna is represented by 188 species of vertebrates and 450 species of invertebrates, 35 species are protected;
• Astana Plavni is a state ornithological reserve. The lands attract numerous migratory and nesting waterfowl in the Crimea, more than 120 species have been recorded;
• Bulganak mud volcanic massif (area about 4 sq. km), located 9 km north of Kerch, near the village. Bon-darenkovo. The most famous are the hills of Andrusov, Vernadsky and Obruchev, the Abikha cone;
• regional park“Karalarsky” (Chagany locality, 6806 hectares; Leninsky district). In the conditions of the former military training ground, large areas of virgin feather grass, forb and shrub steppe with great floristic diversity are well preserved;
• Mount Opuk - height 185 m; area 1592.3 hectares; reserve since 1998, an example of a ridge-hill steppe landscape.

Central District:

• Mangup-Kale is a complex natural monument of national importance;
• Grand Canyon Crimea - a picturesque canyon near the village. Sokolinoe, landscape reserve of national importance;
• Bakla is a tract with interesting rock outcrops;
• Karabi-yayla - karst massif;
• Ak-Kaya is a rock in the Belogorsk region, a complex natural monument of national importance.

Northern region:

Aquatic complexes of Sivash Bay.

The Eastern Coast of Crimea is huge tourist region, covering the coast of the Azov Sea from the steppe shores of the Dzhankoy region to the Kerch Strait, a wide strip Black Sea coast– from Cape Opuk on the Kerch Peninsula to the village of Morskoye on the southern outskirts of Sudak. The length of the coastline is 160 km. The eastern coast of Crimea unites major resort cities– Kerch, Feodosia and Sudak, small resort villages connected by transport infrastructure.

Climate

The region's territory covers several climatic zones. In the area of ​​the Kerch Peninsula, a moderately warm climate of the steppe zone reigns - the air here is drier, there is very little precipitation, summers are hot and sunny, and winters are relatively cold for the Crimea. To the south, towards Koktebel and Sudak, the climate increasingly takes on Mediterranean features. The air is more humid, the summer heat is softened by sea breezes, and winters are warm.

Seasonality

Beach season on the Eastern coast of Crimea, from May to September - on the Azov Sea, from May to October - on the Black Sea. At that time sea ​​waters warm up to 18-26°C, and the average air temperature is 24°C. Summer is time active rest, most excursions occur at this time of year. Has its fans " the Velvet season» in Crimea - the beginning of autumn, when the sea is still warm like summer, and daytime temperatures more comfortable. Everything for year-round recreation is available at major resorts Eastern Crimea - Kerch, Feodosia and Sudak. In the off-season there are a number of hotels, boarding houses with treatment and sanatoriums. Music and dance festivals, holidays, a large number of attractions and excursion programs make the Eastern Coast of Crimea an increasingly popular holiday destination in autumn, winter and even early spring. Small resorts focused on beach holidays operate only during the high season.

Landscape

The Eastern Coast of Crimea is a rivalry between mountains and steppe. The north of the region is represented by a plain covered with fescue and feather grass, cut through by gullies and ravines. There is a chain of hills in the Kerch area. The shores here form picturesque sandy cliffs in some places, and in some places they gently go under water. From Koktebel to the south along the coast, the nature of the relief changes dramatically - the ridge of the Crimean Mountains begins. Above resort villages and cities rise Mountain peaks, rocky capes crash into the sea, the coast becomes rocky, indented by numerous bays. The Mediterranean flora dominates here; it is enough to climb a little into the mountains to see relict juniper groves, Crimean pine on the rocky mountain ledges, and vineyards.

The Crimean Mountains belong to the folded structures of the Alpine geosynclinal belt. They represent a large and complex anticlinal rise - an anticlinorium, the southern part of 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 of the Crimean Mountains. 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 highest peak of Yayla rises in the east of the western part - Mount Roman-Kosh on Babuganyail (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

Relief south coast 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, according to climatic conditions, can be classified as 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 Mediterranean region, the amount of precipitation decreases. 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 July temperature is 4-15.7 °), not very severe winters (the average January temperature at the same altitude is about -4 °, lower in the east), and a significant amount 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 visible (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 ways to penetrate into the mysterious underworld. 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.

By north side Yayls are characterized by unique forest-shrub (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 various landscapes and a lot of unique natural monuments are concentrated in a relatively small area.

Crimea is distinguished by a wide variety of soil and vegetation cover, which is directly dependent on the characteristics of the 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 the 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 Karkinitsky Bay, Sivash and the southwestern part of the Kerch Peninsula, solonchak vegetation (sarsazan, saltwort, sweda) is common. 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 Yayla 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, knips, 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-tree 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 dense forests Crimean Nature Reserve(at the sources of Kacha and Alma). Characteristic species include Crimean deer (endemic subspecies), roe deer, badger, marten, fox, water shrew, wood mouse, and 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. For southern regions The mountainous Crimea is 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 Yayla. 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 with 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 downy oak, hornbeam, dwarf tree, mackerel, sumac, 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.

Orographic and climatic differences 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.

Bottom part The northern slope of the Main Ridge is occupied by low-trunked 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.