The

Cheremosh The Cheremosh River (, , ) is a river in western Ukraine, right-bank tributary of the river Prut. Description It is formed by confluence of two upper streams of the river ''Bilyi Cheremosh'' (White Cheremosh) and ''Chornyi Cheremosh'' (Black Che ...

National Nature Park ( National Nature Park), was created by

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in 2009 from a collection of three existing nature reserves in the northeastern section of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

, located in southwestern

. The

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

highlights the highly varied geology of the northeastern Carpathians, as well as the deep spruce forests of the region. The park is located in

Vyzhnytsia Raion Vyzhnytsia Raion () is an administrative raion (district) in the southern part of Chernivtsi Oblast, located in the historical region of Bukovina, in western Ukraine, on the Romanian border. The region has an area of and centers on the city of Vy ...

Chernivtsi Oblast Chernivtsi Oblast (), also referred to as Chernivechchyna (), is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine, consisting of the northern parts of the historical regions of Bukovina and Bessarabia. It has an international border with Romania and Moldo ...

Topography

The park stands in the historical region of

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

, a roughly 60 km diameter sector of the

Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

that straddled the border of present-day Ukraine and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Cheremosh National Nature Park was originally assembled in 2009 from three existing nature reserves: * Black Dil Nature Reserve, which was originally established in 1972 as a geological reserve, with a close placement of different types of metamorphic shale, grano-diorites, Triassic-Jurassic carbonates, and sedimentary rock. * State Enterprise Putil Forest, covering the upper reaches of the White Cheremosh River, and protecting important geological sites and landforms, *Marmaros Crystalline Massif, a limestone mountain with caves and a mine. The elements of the park occupy elevations from 947 meters to 1574 meters

Climate and ecoregion

The Cheremosh area has a ''

Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

- warm summer sub-type'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

Dfb), with large seasonal temperature differentials and a warm summer (at least four or more months averaging over , but no month averaging over ). Precipitation in the general region averages 850 mm/yr, of which about 300 mm/yr falls in the park as snow. The average temperature in January is , and the average temperature in August is . Because the park is at higher elevations, its climate is cooler than the surrounding lowlands. The park is in the ''

Carpathian montane conifer forests The Carpathian montane conifer forests, also known as Carpathian montane forests, is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion in the Carpathian Mountains of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine. Geography The ecoregion cove ...

'' ecoregion. This region covers the Carpathians across their entire length, from Poland to the south of Romania, with the Cheremosh National Nature Park approximately in the center.

Flora and fauna

The dominant vegetation is spruce forest, which covers 80% of the park. Interspersed are mountain meadows, lakes and rivers, with the occasional stand of

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

containing fir, pine and deciduous trees at lower altitudes. The park is especially known for it wide variety of mountain wildflowers. On the territory of the Cheremosky Park, 44 species of rare plants, more than 120 species of vertebrates and 5,000 invertebrates will be under state protection.

Public use

The park features hiking trails and mountain biking trails. Park rangers provide ecological education and tours to local school children and to interested visitors.

References

External links