Lower Dniester National Nature Park
Topography
The park covers the northern part of the Dniester Liman (estuary), including the confluence of the Dniester River and the Turunchuk River which enters from Moldova to the west. The coastal area is a freshwater lagoon, and the inland areas are permanent inland deltas and intermittent freshwater lakes. As is common with national parks in Ukraine, Lower Dniester is allocated among different zones - nature protection, regulated recreation, stationary recreation, and economic use. The southern part of the park on the Gulf of Karogol is an ichthyological reserve where fishing is prohibited.
Climate and ecoregion
The climate of Lower Dniester is Humid continental climate, warm summer (Köppen climate classification (Dfb)). This climate is characterized by large swings in temperature, both diurnally and seasonally, with mild summers and cold, snowy winters. Precipitation averages 300–400 millimetres (12–16 in) per year.
Lower Dniester National Park is located in the Pontic–Caspian steppe ecoregion, a region that covers an expanse of grasslands stretching from the northern shores of the Black Sea to western Kazakhstan.
Flora and fauna
The habitats in the park include accumulative peninsulas, reed thickets, scroll ridges, floating bogs, and islands of floodplain forest.
Up to 15,000 nesting pairs of birds have been estimated. The dominant nesting species of waterfowl are the Eurasian coot, great crested grebe, mallard, and black-headed gull.
Public use
There are four major ecotourism routes in the park: (a) "Dniester Amazon", a river route with six observation stops through the Amazon Strait (a picturesque channel in a forest) and the Turunchuk River, (b) "Brilliant Ibis", a course parallel to the first, (c) "Kingdom of the Birds", a 20-km bird-watching excursion through the shallow reaches of the estuary, and (d) "The Trail of Dad Ovsia".
See also
References
- ^ "Dniester-Turunchuk Crossover Rivers" (PDF) (pdf). Ramsar Convention. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
- ^ "Northern part of the Dniester Liman" (PDF) (pdf). Ramsar Convention. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
- ^ "Lower Dniester National Nature Park" (in Ukrainian). Official Park Site. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ Kottek, M.; Grieser, J.; Beck, C.; Rudolf, B.; Rubel, F. (2006). "World Map of Koppen-Geiger Climate Classification Updated" (PDF). Gebrüder Borntraeger 2006. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- ^ "Dataset - Koppen climate classifications". World Bank. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- ^ "Map of Ecoregions 2017". Resolve, using WWF data. Retrieved September 14, 2019.