Nizhniy Dubik steppe tract

A forest-steppe area is located on the southern and south-western steep slopes in the valleys of the Nepryadva river and the Nizhni Dubik stream. The type of soil is leached chernozem. Plant cover of these steppe zones is mosaic because of aspect, microrelief and moistening conditions, degree and nature of substrate outcropping. The prevailing types of vegetation are meadow steppes. On the slopes covered with soil predominate two species of feather grass: Stipa pennata and Stipa capillata, and sometimes occurs one of the rarest species of oat-grass in the Tula region Helictotrichon desertorum. At the outcrop of clay marl prevail such plants as Branched St Bernard's-lily (Anthericum ramosum), Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem (Gagea lutea), Knapweed (Centaurea sumensis), southern globethistle (Echinops ritro), cord-rooted sedge (Carex humilis), squinancywort (Asperula cynanchica). It is worth to mention that 10% or 31 of 209 species mentioned here are rare in the Tula region and need to be protected. They are spring adonis Adonis venalis L., Italian Aster Aster amellus L., species of milkvetch Astragalus onobrychis L. species of Knapweed Centaurea sumensis Kalenicz., Russian knapweed Centaurea ruthenica Lam., branched St Bernard's-lily Anthericum ramosum L., Russian larkspur Delphinium cuneatum Stev. ex DC, dragonhead Dracocephalum ruyschiana L., leafless iris Iris aphylla L., milkwort Polygala sibirica L., tall gypsophila Gypsophila altissima L., Cotoneaster alaunicus Golits. (the Red Book of the Russian Federation), feather grass Stipa capillata L., European feather grass Stipa pennata L. (the Red Book of the Russian Federation), bellflower Campanula altaica Ledeb., European globe flower Trollius europaeus L., yellow flax Linum flavum L., wild onion Allium flavescens L., oat-grass Helictotrichon desertorum (Less.) Nevski and Helictotrichon schellianum (Hack.) Kitagawa., Oxytropis pilosa (L) DC, Eastern pasqueflower Pulsatilla patens (L) Mill., Galatella angustifolia (Tausch) Novopockr., snow spiraea Spiraea crenata L., large-flowered self-heal Prunella grandiflora (L) Scholl., common rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium (L) Mill., purple mullein Verbascum phoeniceum L., southern globethistle Echinops ritro L., Scorzonera stricta Hornem, field ragwort Senecio integrifolius (L.) Clairv., squinancywort Asperula cynanchica L. In this area there are 16 species of lichen, one of them is rare for the central part of European Russia and Central Black Earth Oblast and two of them should be protected in the Tula region. They are Cladonia subrangiformis Sandst. and Physcia tribacia (Ach.) Nyl. This area is also a habitat for rare species of lichen. The fauna of insects is also highly diverse. In general there are more than 550 species: 427 are lepidopterans and 128 are dipterans, 49 of them need to be protected. The territory of the protected area is a habitat for meadow-steppe lepidopterous insects. This complex includes 3 species from the IUCN Red List (Maculinea alcon (Den. et Sen.), Maculinea telejus (Bgstr.) and Maculinea nausithous (Bgstr.) and such very rare species, located at the border of the range, as Zygaena carniolica (Sc), Zygaena loti (Den. et Sen.), Zygaena ephialtes (L), Zygaena angelicae (Ochs.), Polyommatus thersites (Cant.), Agrodiaetus ripartii (Frr.), Helicoverpa peltigera (Den. et Sen.), etc. There is also a number of rare species of beetles (e.g. Phytoecia coerulescens (Sc)), hymenopterans (Bombus silvarum L., Bombus protens Gerst.), and dipterans (Anthrax anthrax (Schrk.), Thyridanthrax fenestratus (Fll.), Villa hottentotta (L)). The vertebrate fauna includes 4 species of amphibians, 1 species of reptiles, 23 species of birds and 8 species of mammals. Among them there are species requiring control of numbers. They are European fire-bellied toad Bombina bombina (L.), common quail Coturnix coturnix L, marsh sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis Bech., corn crake Crex crex L..