Protected Natural Territories in the Crimea, USSR

Abstract

The Soviet Union's Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea has the northernmost occurrence of Mediterranean-type climate and vegetation, particularly in its narrow southern coastal strip which has been almost entirely developed for the tourist and health resort trade. Three inland mountain ranges and their vegetation, both forest and steppe, exert a protective influence over the microclimates of the coast and are thus being extensively studied by scientists at the Ministry of Agriculture's Nikita Botanical Garden and at Simferopol State University. Inland of these ranges lies an expanse of former meadow-steppe that is now under cultivation.In order to protect and study the high concentrations of remaining native and relict taxa of flora and fauna of the peninsula, three Nature preserves have been established on it–two in the mountain zone and northern coastal islands, and one along the southern coast and adjacent lower slopes. Here human access is restricted while long-term ecological studies are undertaken.The Nikita Botanical Garden is involved in both conservation and exploitation of natural resources, and in improving health conditions of the resort. These tasks are integrated through a programme of mass seed propagation and ecological studies of wild-growing plants, the results of which are then used in landscaping the resort zone and producing industrial plant materials.