The Mellandsvågen Nature Reserve () is located on the western part of the island of Skardsøya in

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. Since 1996, the nature reserve has had the status of a Ramsar site because of its importance for migratory birds. The area received protection in 1988 "to preserve an important wetland area with its appertaining plant communities, bird life, and other wildlife," according to the conservation regulations. The Mellandsvågen Wildlife Sanctuary (), which measures , was created at the same time as a buffer zone in the land and sea area south and west of the nature reserve. The Mellandsvågen Nature Reserve is bordered to the east by the Melland Nature Reserve, which was established in 2002 and measures . The area consists of the mouth of a fjord, some islands, and a headland. The dominant landscape type is a large, well-developed, and diverse beach meadow community, especially south of Livsneset and around Storholmen. Behind the beach meadows there is damp heath that transitions into a nutrient-poor bog. It has rich and varied vegetation. There are no species on the national red list, but many of them are regionally rare or endangered:

herbaceous seepweed ''Suaeda maritima'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common names herbaceous seepweed and annual seablite. Description It is a yellow-green shrub with fleshy, succulent leaves and green flowers. It grows ...

(''Suaeda maritima''), Ray's knotweed (''Polygonum oxyspermum'' subsp. ''raii''), media sandspurry (''Spergularia media''), and slenderleaf pondweed (''Stuckenia filiformis''). The area is very important for overwintering waterfowl such as loons,

grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order (biology), order Podicipediformes (). Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in sea, marine habitats during Bird migration, migration and winter. Most grebes f ...

s, and

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s. Amateur ornithologists from

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have been carrying out winter counts of birds in the reserve for several years.

References

External links

''Mijlø-direktoratet: Mellandsvågen''. Map and description of the nature reserve.

Miljøverndepartementet. 1987. ''Mellandsvågen naturreservat med tilgrensande dyrelivsfreding, Aure kommune, Møre og Romsdal fylke''. 1:20,000 map of the nature reserve.

''Forskrift om vern av Mellandsvågen naturreservat med tilgrensande dyrelivsfreding, Aure kommune, Møre og Romsdal''. 1988.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellandsvagen Nature Reserve Nature reserves in Norway Ramsar sites in Norway Protected areas of Møre og Romsdal Aure, Norway Protected areas established in 1988