Sengileevskie Mountains National Park (russian: Национальный парк «Сенгилеевские горы») is located in the low

Sengiley Mountains The Sengiley Hills (russian: Сенгиле́евские го́ры) are formed on the edge of the Volga Uplands, on the right bank of the middle Volga River in the Ulyanovsk Oblast, Uluyanovsk region of Russia. The area is part of the forest-ste ...

area of the

Volga Uplands The Volga Upland, also known as the Volga Uplands, Volga Hills, or Volga Plateau, (Russian: Приволжская возвышенность - Privolzhskaya vozvyshennost) is a vast region of the East European Plain in the European part of Russ ...

, along the middle

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

in Russia. The 'mountains' are technically plateau with deep ravines and river cuts, about three-quarters forested. The park was officially created in 2017, with the stated purpose of protecting the unique environment of the Ulyanovsk region and promoting environmental education. The park is located in Sengileyevsky District in

Ulyanovsk Oblast Ulyanovsk Oblast (russian: Ульяновская область, ''Ul’janovskaja oblast’'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It is located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Ulyanovsk. Populatio ...

Topography

Most of the park is on the hilly right bank of the

Kuybyshev Reservoir Kuybyshev Reservoir or Kuybyshevskoye Reservoir (russian: Ку́йбышевское водохрани́лище, Kuybyshevskoye Vodokhranilishche), sometimes called Samara Reservoir and informally called Kuybyshev Sea, is a reservoir of ...

, featuring chalky outcrops and stony forb steppe plant communities. There is a smaller sector on the lowland floodplains across the river. The park has a number of "ecological" trails exploring the biodiversity and rare species of the forest-steppe landscape.

Ecoregion and climate

The ecoregion of the park is the

East European forest steppe The East European forest steppe ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0419) is a patchwork of broadleaf forest stands and grasslands (steppe) that stretches 2,100 km across eastern Europe from the Ural Mountains in Ural, through Povolzhye, Central Russia to the mi ...

, equidistant between the

Sarmatic mixed forests The Sarmatic mixed forests constitute an ecoregion within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature classification (ecoregion PA0436). The term comes from the word "Sarmatia". Distribution This e ...

to the north and the

Pontic steppe Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from nor ...

ecoregion to the south. The climate of the park is '' Humid continental climate, warm summer'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

(Dfb)). This climate is characterized by large seasonal temperature differentials and a warm summer (at least four months averaging over , but no month averaging over .

Plants and animals

The park was established specifically to protect and showcase the flora and fauna of the forest-steppe landscape of the Volga Uplands. The terrain is known for Cretaceous limestone hills and ravines. The forested areas are mainly covered with birch, linden, oak, pine, and sycamore, maple, and elm. Over 700 species of vascular plants are present in park. There are 53 species of mammals recorded in the park, with representative species of

marmot Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, w ...

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

, and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

. There are a notable number of amphibians and reptiles in the park, due to the rugged, rocky terrain, presence of water, and relatively light pressure from human settlement.

References

External links

Map of Sengileevskie Gory National Park, Protected Planet.net
{{authority control National parks of Russia

Topography

Ecoregion and climate

Plants and animals

See also

References

External links