Vegetation cover of the natural monument "Trout creek sula" (Severnii district of Orenburg region)

Inventory of natural monuments is a necessary condition for ensuring the protection of unique natural objects [25, 27 - 30]. In 2017, a comprehensive survey of the natural monument «Trout Creek Sula» was conducted, during which a characteristic of its vegetation cover was given. The natural monument «Trout Creek Sula» includes a part of the latitudinally located Sula Creek and its two tributaries, extending meridionally - the Kameshka and Zadnaya. The vegetation cover of the Sula Creek is characterized by an alternation of forest plant communities with meadows (sometimes steppe meadows) in open spaces. The creeks Zadnaya and Kameshka are located in the gulches. The vegetative cover along the streams is alternation of aspen (Populus tremula L.) (in some places of young), birch (Bethula pendula Roth.), maple (Acer platanoides L.), linden (Tilia cordata Mill.) and elm (Ulmus scabra Mill.) forests. On the periphery of the forests near the creek, open glades occupied by meadows are common. In this case, aspen, maple, less often elm forests are situated near the watercourse, elm and linden and young aspen forests are prevalent mainly in the middle part of the slopes, birch forests are more often found along the periphery - in the upper part of the slopes. The vegetation cover of the natural monument “Trout Brook Sula” is generally characteristic of the complexes near the creeks in the forest-steppe zone of the Trans-Volga region. Of particular value are the forests from Alnus incana (L.) Moench, distributed within this object, which have a limited distribution in the region. Ecosystems of the investigated natural monument are subject to anthropogenic impact. In its limits there are active (along the Sula stream) and ruined (on the Kameshka stream) ponds. Within the nature monument there are species of plants listed in the federal [16] and regional [14] Red Books. They are marked both at the Sula creek and at its tributaries (Zadnaya and Kameshka). In this regard, monitoring of the state of the natural monument “Trout Brook Sula” and special attention to any forms of anthropogenic impact on its territory and adjacent areas is required.