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| Biosphere Reserve Information | ||||
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ASKANIYA-NOVA |
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| General Description |
Askaniya-Nova Biosphere Reserve is a representative of the Black Sea southern-steppe biogeographic province, situated 60 km south-east of the town of Kakhova close to the Black Sea. Within this area, the Festuca and Stipa steppe ecosystem has been conserved like an island in the Dniper-Molochnoe lowland, which has otherwise intensive land use practices. There are six villages and one settlement within the biosphere reserve, with a total of 10,000 people (1997) who are mainly engaged in the cultivation of cereals (wheat, barley, corn), vegetables and melons, as well as in animal husbandry (sheep, cattle, pig). Tourism is a major activity in the area with about 1,5 million national and 3,000 foreign tourists (1997). The biosphere reserve is also interesting from a cultural point of view. Created as the first steppe reserve in the Ukraine in 1888, it comprises a dendrological park of the 19th century and a zoological park with a breeding centre for Przewalski horse, ostriches, aboriginal ungulates and birds. The site has a long research and monitoring history. |
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| Major ecosystem type | Temperate grasslands | |||
| Major habitats & land cover types | Feather grass steppe dominated by Stipa lessingiana, S. ucrainica and S. capillata together with fescue (Festuca sulcata) and crested hair grass (Koeleria cristata); fesucetae communities with Festuca valesiaca, Crinitaria villosa, Stipa ucrainica etc.; slopes with stipetae associations and species such as Stipa capillata, S. ucrainica, Festuca valesiaca etc.; dales with elytrigetae communities supporting Elytrigia pseudocaesia, Bromopsis inermis, Poa angustifolia etc.; wet meadows with Beckmannia eruciformis, Alopecurus pratensis, Juncus gerardii etc. | |||
| Location | 46°08'N; 33°23'E | |||
| Area (hectares) | ||||
| Total | 33,008 | |||
| Core area(s) | 11,054 | |||
| Buffer zone(s) | 6,609 | |||
| Transition area(s) when given | 15,345 | |||
| Altitude (metres above sea level) | -20 to +32 | |||
| Year designated | 1985 | |||
| Administrative authorities | Director of Askaniya-Nova Biosphere Reserve, reporting to the Agrarian Academy of Ukraine and the Ministry for Ecology and Nature Resources | |||
| Last updated: 11/03/2005 |
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