On the Creation of a New Nature Reserve in the Belaya River Basin (Voronezh Oblast)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of the study and analysis of the floristic diversity of the Belaya River basin (the left tributary of the Aidar River) located in the southeast of the Central Russian Upland in the steppe zone on the border of Voronezh oblast and the Lugansk People’s Republic. The uniqueness of the natural object is related to its physical-geographical features: arid climate, outcrops of chalk rocks, and various aspects and morphology of slopes. The history of the floristic study of the basin, which began in 1903 and continues to the present day, is examined in detail. A great contribution to the identification of the phytodiversity of the Belaya River is made by G.I. Shiryaev, B.F. Kashmenskii, S.V. Golitsyn, V.N. Tikhomirov, and many other Russian botanists. The given annotated list of protected plants includes 82 species of vascular plants listed in the Red Data Book of Voronezh oblast (2018), of which 19 species are also listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation (2024). The need to create a nature reserve with an area of 5830 hectares in order to preserve the ecosystem and floristic diversity of the basin is substantiated.