The Smolensk region is located in the central part of Eurasia on the East European Plain. Its main part is allocated to the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, from the south side the Transnistrian lowland, and from the northwestern side the Baltic.
Natural conditions have a mild temperate continental climate, which is not characterized by sharp temperature changes. Winters are warm, the average temperature is10, very rarely it can drop to30, in the second half of winter. It rains very often in this part of Eurasia, and cloudy weather is observed. It is never hot here in summer up to +20 maximum.
In the Smolensk region, the Dnieper River flows with tributaries of the Wol, Desna, Sozh, Vyazma, in addition, there are about 200 lakes, the most beautiful of them: Svaditskoye and Velisto. The total area of forests is 2185.4 thousand hectares and occupy 42% of the region.
Vegetation
The flora of the Smolensk region consists of forests, artificial plantations, shrubs, swamps, roads, clearings.
Soft-leaved tree species account for 75.3% of the total vegetation area of this land, of which 61% falls on birch plantations.
Coniferous trees make up 24.3%, spruce species predominate among them (about 70%).
Hardwood forests occupy only 0.4% of the total area with vegetation.
The most common types of trees are:
Birch
Birch, its height is 25-30 m, has an openwork crown and white bark. It does not belong to whimsical breeds, copes well with frost. The most numerous tree species.
Aspen
Aspen is a deciduous tree of the willow family. It spreads in areas with a gloomy and cold climate, a distinctive feature is the trembling of foliage in light winds.
Alder
Alder in Eurasia is represented by 9 species, the most common is black alder. It reaches a height of 35 m. and 65 cm in diameter, its wood is used in the furniture industry.
Maple
Maple belongs to deciduous plants, can grow from 10 to 40 meters in height, grows quickly. Very susceptible to diseases and pests.
Oak
Oak belongs to the Beech family, it is a deciduous tree, its height can reach 40-50 m.
Linden
Linden grows up to 30 m, lives up to 100 years, prefers the zone of mixed forests, copes well with the shade.
Ash
Ash belongs to the Maslinov family, has rare leaves, reaches 35 m in height.
Spruce
Spruce is a member of the Pine family and is an evergreen tree with small needles that can reach 70 m.
Pine
Pine has large needles, it is a resinous tree.
Herbs include:
forest geranium
Forest geranium is a perennial herbaceous plant, the inflorescence is light lilac or dark lilac with a lighter middle;
Yellow Zelenchuk
Yellow Zelenchuk is also called night blindness, refers to perennial plants with velvet leaves, flower cups look like a bell.
Angelica forest
Angelica forest belongs to the family Umbelliferae, white flowers resemble the shape of an umbrella.
In spruce forests you can find: green mosses, lingonberries, raspberries, hazel, sour, blueberries.
green moss
Cowberry
Raspberry
Hazel
sour
Blueberry
In pine forests found: lichens, heather, cat’s paws, juniper.
Lichen
Heather
cat paws
Juniper
The forest is used for harvesting timber in the northwestern, northern and northeastern parts of the region, the used resources are returned by young plantations. Healing plants are used for medicinal purposes. There are hunting grounds on the territory of Smolensk, and research activities are carried out.
In the Smolensk region there are flood, lowland and upland meadows, as well as raised and lowland swamps.
Fauna of the Smolensk region
Considering that the region is located in the zone of mixed forests, the following people live on its territory:
In any district of Smolensk, you can encounter a hedgehog, a mole, a bat, a hare. A large number of bats are listed in the Red Book.
Hedgehog
Mole
Bat
Boar
Wild boars are a fairly large population, animals are the object of hunting.
Hare
Hares prefer dense vegetation and steppe zone.
Brown bear
Brown bears are predatory mammals, quite large in size, they prefer to settle in dense forests, there are about 1 thousand. animals.
Wolf
Wolves there are enough of them in the area, so hunting is allowed for them.
About 131 species of animals are listed in the Red Book of Smolensk and are protected by law, hunting is prohibited. Endangered is:
Muskrat
The muskrat belongs to the mole family. This is a small animal, its tail is covered with horny scales, its nose is in the form of a trunk, the limbs are short, the fur is thick grayish or dark brown, the abdomen is lighter.
Otter
The otter is a predator of the weasel family. She leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle. The animal has a streamlined body, its fur is dark brown above, and light or silver below. The anatomical features of the structure of the otter (flat head, short legs and long tail) allow you to swim under water, its fur does not get wet.
Birds
During the nesting period, more than 70 species of birds are present in this area, most of which are few and cannot be hunted. The fewest include:
Black stork
The black stork is characterized by black and white plumage, feeds in shallow water and water meadows.
Golden eagle
The golden eagle is a member of the Yastrebin family, prefers to live in the mountains, on the plain. The juvenile has large white spots on the wing, a white tail with a dark border. Hook-shaped bird’s beak. The plumage color of an adult is dark brown or black-brown.
snake-eater
The snake-eater is found in mixed forests and forest-steppe. The back of a gray-brown bird. Very secretive bird.
black goose
The black goose belongs to the Duck family, their smallest representative. The head and neck are black, the back with wings is dark brown. Adults have a white collar on the neck under the throat. Black beaked feet.
white-tailed eagle
The white-tailed eagle has a brown plumage, and a head with a neck with a yellowish tint, a white wedge-shaped tail, a light yellow beak and iris.
peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon belongs to the Falcon family, its size does not exceed the size of the gray crow. It is distinguished by a dark, slate-gray plumage on the back, a motley light belly and a black top of the head. Peregrine falcon is the fastest bird in the world, its speed is over 322 km per hour.
lesser spotted eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
The Lesser and Greater Spotted Eagles are practically indistinguishable, they have dark brown plumage, the back of the head and the area under the tail are much lighter.
