Integrated value assessment of projected regional Sergushkino forest-steppe regional nature monument (Orenburg region) for conservation of biological and landscape diversity

The need to optimize the regional environmental protection framework resulted in the survey aimed at finding areas promising for the creation of specially protected natural areas (PAs) in the north-western part of the Orenburg region, within the Orenburg forest-steppe Trans-Volga. This survey found a forest-steppe site that was suitable for creating a protected area with nature monument status. The site was named Sergushkino Forest-Steppe. The selection of the area was based on its compliance with zonal conditions, landscape-ecological integrity, relatively high preservation and ability to perform the function of preserving biological diversity, including rare and endangered biota species. A comprehensive survey of the area proposed for the creation of Sergushkino Forest-Steppe regional nature monument revealed the good preservation of its forest-steppe complexes. The vegetation of the site was characterized by a rather high diversity, resulted from heterogeneous ecotopic conditions, while also had good zonal specifics. The site featured various petrophyte-steppe communities on the slopes with rock outcrops, steppe phytocenoses on the elevated plain and forests occupying depressions and ascending up to the plain. The surveyed area included 3 plant species, .. insect species and 1 bird species listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation, as well as 11 species of plants, ... insect species and 1 bird species from the Red Data Book of the Orenburg Region. Proposals for the preservation of this site by assigning it the status of a natural monument of regional importance have been submitted to the Commission for Natural Monuments under the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Property Relations of the Orenburg Region.