Néouvielle National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve located in the

Néouvielle massif The Néouvielle massif () is a group of mountains in the Pyrenees in France notable for its lakes and its microclimate. Much of the massif lies within the Néouvielle National Nature Reserve; this nature reserve was created in 1936 and is the thi ...

. It ranges from to . With a wide array of

flora and fauna An organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have been pro ...

, it contains about 370

animal species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of classification and ...

and 570 breeds of

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

Geography

Located in the French Pyrénées (

Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; or ; ) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark. ...

region,

Hautes-Pyrénées Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/ Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs ; alts piɾiˈneʊs ) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. The department is bordered by Pyrénées-Atlantiques to t ...

department, near Saint-Lary-Soulan and Barèges in the Néouvielle massif), the reserve lies to the east of the Pyrenees National Park. It lies in the municipal territories of

Vielle-Aure Vielle-Aure (; ) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department of the Occitanie region in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune ...

(enclave), Saint-Lary-Soulan (enclave) and Aragnouet. It is bordered to the west by the

, to the south by the Cap-de-Long and Orédon lakes, to the east by the lac de l'Oule and to the north by the col de Barèges. It includes the lakes of Aubert and Aumar. The reserve is in the lee of summits ranging from the pic de la Munia to the Arbizon massif and is generally exposed southwards, which induces a hotter and drier

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

allowing a life limit extension. It is mostly made up of rich pine forests and of 70

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s and

laquette The Laquette is a river of northern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre a ...

s.Site des réserves naturelles de France
Accessed July 2010. Still today,

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

rearing continues to maintain pastures as well as the balance between

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

wood. Hence

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anim ...

, a multi secular tradition, is a factor of ecological diversity.

Environment

The forests of the

are arranged in thickets of (

mountain pine ''Pinus mugo'', known as dwarf mountain pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, Swiss mountain pine, bog pine, creeping pine, or mugo pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and So ...

), the remaining space consists of

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s and lawn. At the heart of the reserve, mountain pine reaches a European record-breaking high. The reserve's

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

is lush, with 1,250

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...

s, some of which also reach record-breaking heights, like the

foxglove ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in sha ...

at . The vegetation hosts a wide array of

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

with many emblematic breeds like the

alpine marmot The alpine marmot (''Marmota marmota'') is a large ground-dwelling squirrel, from the genus of marmots. It is found in high numbers in mountainous areas of central and southern Europe, at heights between in the Alps, Carpathians, Tatras and N ...

, the heather cock, the

red crossbill The red crossbill or common crossbill (''Loxia curvirostra'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Crossbills have distinctive mandibles, crossed at the tips, which enable them to extract seeds from conifer cones and other ...

, the

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

, the griffon, the egyptian vulture, le

red kite The red kite (''Milvus milvus'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other Diurnality, diurnal Bird of prey, raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harrier (bird), harriers. The species currently breeds only i ...

, the

bearded vulture The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey in the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Gypaetus''. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of ...

as well as endemical animals: Pyrenean desman, Pyrenean brook salamander and isard. There are many water environments, allowing a wide biological diversity with 571 breeds of

as well as two thirds of French

sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

s. The waters also host the common midwife toad which lives in the reserve up to .Réserve naturelle du Néouvielle
File:AlytesObstetricansJuv.jpg, File:Néouvielle massif.jpg, File:Galemys pyrenaicus 01 by-dpc.jpg, File:Decticus verrucivorus.jpg, File:Fi Kreuzschnabel m.jpg, File:Lammergeier I IMG 7017.jpg, File:Marmotte Catchet.JPG, File:Gyps fulvus 1 Luc Viatour.jpg, File:Rupicapra pyrenaica Picos.jpg, File:Tetrao urogallus Richard Bartz.jpg, File:Digitale lac de l'Oule.JPG, File:Capovaccaio ficuzza.jpg, File:Sphagnum sp01.jpg, File:Euprocte pyrenees.jpg, File:Rouge-queue noir-HAYE Sylvain.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neouvielle Nature reserves in France Geography of Hautes-Pyrénées