The main feature of nature in Moscow and the Moscow region is the geographical location.
Landscape
The Moscow region is characterized by predominantly flat relief. In the western part, hills rise, reaching a mark of more than one hundred and sixty meters. The eastern part is occupied mainly by a wide lowland.
The boundary of the Moscow glaciation stretched from the southwest to the northeast. To the north of it, the glacial-erosion form dominates, which is decorated with moraine rows. To the south, only the erosional relief form is widespread.
Climate
Features of the nature of the Moscow region determines the temperate climate zone. Due to the pronounced seasonality, the weather is warm in summer and moderately cold in winter. One can observe an increase in continentality from the northwest to the southeast. Forperiod from 120 to 135 days the average daily temperature is below 0 degrees Celsius. This time lasts from mid-November to the end of March. The nature of the Moscow region is adapted to the average annual temperature, which ranges from 2.7 to 3.8 degrees Celsius.
Rivers
All flowing water bodies of the Moscow region are directly related to the Volga basin. The Volga itself goes around only a small part of the territory in the place where the border with the Tver region lies. The tributaries of the Volga flow in the northern part, and the tributaries of the Oka flow in the southern part, which is the first and second largest tributary after the Volga in the Moscow region. The Oka basin also includes the tributaries of the Moskva River, which goes around a significant part of Meshchera.
The total number of rivers in the region is more than three hundred. Their length is more than ten kilometers. Each of them has a calm current, a well-developed valley, and floodplains. The most significant is the snow supply. The flood period is from April to May. During the summer, the overall water level is comparatively low, rising only in case of prolonged rain. From November to April, the rivers are covered with ice. Only the largest ones are navigable: the Oka, the Volga and the Moskva River.
Vegetation
Due to the fact that the Moscow region is located in the forest and forest-steppe zones, dense forests occupy about forty percent of the total area. The northern part is represented by the Upper Volgalowland, western - Mozhaysky, Lotoshinsky, Shakhovskaya districts. Coniferous forest has become widespread in this area, the main part of which is spruce forest. The nature of the Moscow region in the Meshchera region is represented by pine forests. In the swampy lowlands, isolated alder forests can be found. Coniferous and broad-leaved trees grow in the central and a small part of the eastern territory. The basis is spruce, pine, birch, aspen.
The undergrowth is dominated by hazel, also called hazelnut. The diversity of the nature of the Moscow region is explained by the existence of many subzones. If coniferous trees predominate in the center, then broad-leaved forests are located to the south. This includes oak, aspen, as well as elm and maple with sharp leaves. Such a transition zone as the Moskvoretsko-Okskaya Upland is rich in large spruce forests. A striking example of this is the upper reaches of the Lopasni River. The Oka Valley is covered with a pine forest, characteristic of the steppes by nature.
On the southern outskirts, which includes the Serebryano-Prudsky district, the forest-steppe zone prevails. Due to the fact that each piece of land is plowed up, the natural complex has not been preserved even in fragments. Only occasionally you can find a linden or oak grove.
Due to the fact that since the eighteenth century forests have been subjected to intensive felling, the nature of the Moscow region has changed in the ratio of tree species. Coniferous (in particular - spruce) forest was replaced by small-leaved, which is represented by birch and aspen. To date, each forest has a water conservation value, so cutting down is practically notis underway. Restoration work is being carefully carried out, in an enhanced mode - in the area of the immediate outskirts of Moscow.
Swamps are widespread in the Shatursky and Lukhovitsky districts. Most of them are in the eastern part. Natural floodplain meadows are almost never found. The number of native plants is sharply decreasing, however, green representatives of other species, for example, American maple, Sosnovsky's hogweed, and the common catchment area, are multiplying more and more widely. The nature protection of the Moscow region is extremely important, since many plants are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. These include water chestnut, lady's slipper and others.
Animal world
The class of mammals in the area is represented by badgers, beavers, squirrels, otters, desmans, ermines, raccoon dogs, hedgehogs, hares (whites, hare), shrews, weasels, foxes, elk, wild boars, roe deer, moles, rats (black, gray), pine martens, mice (forest, yellow-throated, field, brownies, baby mice), forest mice, minks, deer (noble, spotted, deer), muskrats, voles (red, gray, plowed, water, housekeepers), black ferrets. The diversity of the nature of the Moscow region is not limited to the listed species. On the borders you can meet a bear, lynx, wolf. Gray hamsters, spotted gophers, hamsters, stone martens, ferrets live in the southern part.
Some areas can boast of strong populations of animals atypical for the area. These include flying squirrels, American flying squirrels, Siberian roe deer. Presumably, these species of mammals were introduced from other areas. In the Moscow region there are more than a dozen species of bats: night bat (common, mustachioed, pond, water), bat (forest, dwarfs), evening (red, small, giant), two-tone leather, brown ears.
Winged fauna
Ornithological complex consists of more than one hundred and seventy species of birds. There are a large number of woodpeckers, thrushes, hazel grouses, bullfinches, nightingales, corncrakes, lapwings, white storks, gray herons, gulls, grebes, ducks, and shelducks. There are many sparrows, magpies, crows, as well as other representatives of birds that live in central Russia. More than forty varieties are classified as hunting.
Water inhabitants
The nature of the Moscow region is rich in water bodies, which are home to a great variety of fish (ruffs, crucian carp, bream, perch, roach, rotan, pike perch, pike).
The class of insects has a large number of varieties. For example, there are more than three hundred subspecies of bees alone. The "inhabitants" of the International Red Book also live here.
Amphibians
The nature of the Moscow region is rich in six species of reptiles. We could find photos of some of them in school textbooks. These are lizards (including brittle ones, spindles, viviparous, nimble), snakes (common vipers, common snakes, copperheads). There is also evidence that there are small populations of marsh turtles in the area. The class of amphibians is represented by newts (common, comb), toads (gray and green),frogs (grass, moor, lake, pond, edible), common spadefoot, red-bellied toad.
Security
The national project "Diversity of the nature of the Moscow region" is designed to draw attention to objects of national heritage that have special environmental, cultural, scientific significance.
It must be remembered that under conditions of severe anthropogenic impact on biocomplexes, their uniqueness should be preserved and protected. For this purpose, specially protected areas have been created. These include the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve (where bison are under special protection), the Losiny Ostrov National Park, as well as the Zavidovo hunting reserve and federal nature reserves.
The Moscow Region Nature Diversity Project disseminates information about specially protected natural areas that are part of the national heritage. Such complexes are separate sections of both the earth and water surfaces, as well as the space above them. They have been withdrawn from industrial and economic use by the state authorities, and a special protection regime is in place here by decision of special authorities.
Natural Monuments
Specially protected areas are irreplaceable biocomplexes. Natural monuments of the Moscow region include more than eighty objects. In home gardens, barrows, small bird colonies, separate areas of steppe colonies, sections of valleys, separate ravines, beaver colonies, nesting placesbirds, small lakes, settlements, small forest areas, river oxbow lakes, there is a regime aimed at preserving their natural state. All of them are withdrawn from land use and are regulated by the land legislation of the Russian Federation.
Each such corner of nature has its own passport, which contains information about the name, location, level of subordination, boundaries, protection regimes, permissible uses, as well as contact details of the owners of land plots on which natural complexes are located, and information about the persons who took responsibility for the conservation of the biocomplex.
