Lapland Nature Reserve () (also Laplandskiy) is a Russian ''

zapovednik A zapovednik is an established term on the Post-Soviet states, territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which is kept "forever wild". It is the highest degree of environmental protection for the assigned areas, which are strictly ...

'' (strict nature reserve) in

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, above the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. Officially established in 1957, the reserve protects an area of to the northwest of

Lake Imandra Imandra (, Russian: Имандра, Finnish: ''Imantero'') is a lake in the south-western part of the Kola Peninsula in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, slightly beyond the Arctic Circle. It is located 127 m above sea level; its area is about 876 k ...

, including 86 km² of inland water. The terrain is mountainous

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

and northern

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

. Since 1985 the zapovednik has been designated by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

. The Lapland Nature Reserve was established in 1930. However, in 1951 along with many other zapovedniks of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

it was abolished. It was reestablished in 1957, but in 1961-1965 was merged to Kandalaksha Nature Reserve. In 1983 the 1,613 km² area of the Lapland Nature Reserve was significantly expanded to include 1,296 km² of territories to the northwest, farther from the polluting influence of the

Monchegorsk Monchegorsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kola Peninsula, south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 52,242 (Russian Census (2002), 2002 Census); ...

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

smelter, and the zapovednik gave away 124 km² near the city. The reserve is situated in Murmansk Oblast about 50 km south of the city of

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

. Its administrative center is the rural locality of Laplandsky Zapovednik.

Topography

The Lapland Reserve has a terrain that is mostly mountain tundra and lakes, being situated on the western zone of the

Khibiny Mountains The Khibiny Mountains ( ; ) is one of the two main mountain ranges of the Kola Peninsula, Russia, within the Arctic Circle, located between Imandra Lake, Imandra and Umbozero Lake, Umbozero lakes. The range is also known as Khibiny Massif, Khibin ...

. Most of the territory is covered by northern

and montane

with the highest point on (1115 m a.s.l.).

Climate and ecoregion

Lapland Reserve is located in the '' Scandinavian and Russian taiga'' ecoregion, which is situated in Northern Europe between tundra in the north and temperate mixed forests in the south. It is covers parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the northern part of European Russia, being the largest ecoregion in Europe. The ecoregion is characterized by coniferous forests dominated by ''

Pinus sylvestris ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native plant, native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly s ...

'' (in drier locations), often with an understory of ''

Juniperus communis ''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the coo ...

'', ''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, ...

'' and '' Picea obovata'' and a significant admixture of '' Betula pubescens'' and ''

Betula pendula ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in so ...

''. ''

Larix sibirica ''Larix sibirica'', the Siberian larch or Russian larch, is a frost-hardy tree native to western Russia, from close to the Finnish border east to the Yenisei valley in central Siberia, where it hybridises with the Dahurian larch ''L. gmelinii ...

'' is characteristic of the eastern part of the ecoregion. The climate of the Lapland Reserve is '' Humid continental climate, cool summer'' (

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 ...

(Dfc)). This climate is characterised by long cold winters, and short, cool summers.

Ecoeducation and access

As a strict nature reserve, the Lapland Reserve is mostly closed to the general public, although scientists and those with 'environmental education' purposes can make arrangements with park management for visits. There are a number of 'ecotourist' routes in the reserve, however, that are open to the public. These change with the seasons and are designed to cover themes of the region - Christmas and New Year's in winter, "Spring Awakening Tour", etc. Excursions are arranged for groups through application for permits to be obtained in advance. The main office is in the city of Monchegorsk. Lapland reservate

References

Towards an inventory of the mycobiota of the Lapland State Nature Biosphere Reserve (Murmansk Region, North-West Russia)

External links

Map of Lapland Reserve, OpenStreetMap

Map of Laplandskiy Reserve, ProtectedPlanet

Official site
(in Russian)
Laplandskiy Biosphere Reserve; UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory
{{Authority control Nature reserves in Russia Biosphere reserves of Russia Geography of Murmansk Oblast 1957 establishments in Russia Protected areas established in 1957 Sápmi Zapovednik

Topography

Climate and ecoregion

Ecoeducation and access

See also

References

External links