(Book review) Nature of the reserve “Severnoe poberezhye Nevskoy Guby”

Full article

Annotation

Nature of the reserve “Severnoe poberezhye Nevskoy Guby”

Eds. E. A. Volkova, G. A. Isachenko, V. N. Khramtsov St. Petersburg. 2020. 240 p., 42 Table, 222 ill., 3ins.

The book is devoted to the state nature reserve “Severnoe poberezhye Nevskoy Guby” (“Northern coast of the Neva Bay”), located in Primorskiy district of St. Petersburg. The territory of the nature reserve occupies 330 hectares and extends for 5 km between Primorskoye highway and the Gulf of Finland shore and between Olgino and Lisiy Nos settlements. Picturesque gulf coast with huge old oaks, coniferous and deciduous forests, early flowering plants in spring and swans on migration, colorful autumn landscapes and walking paths attract people here in all seasons. About 80 % of the reserve’s area is covered by forests, mainly birch and spruce. Broad-leaved trees as oaks, limes, maples, ash-trees are also often there. There is a small park “Blizhnie dubki” (“Near oaks”), planted in the early XVIII century on the initiative of Peter the Great, with oaks of more than 300 years old. Littoral high-grass meadows stretch along the coast, and the adjacent water area of the Gulf of Finland is covered with reed, bulrush and other aquatic plants, which attract numerous waterfowl and shore birds.

The book contains the results of research of the nature reserve carried out in 2007–2020 by the scientists of the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences and St. Petersburg University. Detailed descriptions of the history of development of the territory, as well as landscapes, vegetation, rich flora of vascular plants, mosses, lichens, fungi and vertebrate fauna inhabiting nature reserve are presented in the monograph.

The book is illustrated by original color photos, historical maps of XVII–middle of XX century, large-scale maps of landscapes, vegetation, actual processes in natural complexes. It is published in a series of monographs devoted to protected areas of St. Petersburg and is addressed to biologists, geographers, ecologists, teachers, students, secondary school pupils, fans of the nature and all those who spend their free time in vicinities of St. Petersburg.

Section: Critics and bibliography