LANDSCAPE AND ECOLOGICAL PLANNING OF THE Specially protected natural area SYSTEM in the PENZA REGION
The most important aspect of contemporary regional studies is to validate the systems of protected areas (PAs) which should absorb all the landscape diversity. The purpose of this work is to analyze the patterns of landscape differentiation and the state of the PA system in the Penza region. The object of research is landscape-ecological systems of Volga Upland western slopes within the boundaries of the Penza region. The main methods of research are landscape-indicator (including automatic and automated algorithms of border detection of landscapes, the calculation of landscape diversity, neural network models), historical, geographical and field evaluation work of rare and endangered species of plants and state of PA. Landscape planning of the PA system should be based on the dual analysis of the results of field studies and remote sensing data, processed using various automated and automatic techniques that are designed to evaluate the landscape diversity of an area, to distinguish landscape borders, to classify a test range by the types of geophysical surface. The results of such studies are an important source of high-quality relevant spatial data and can spread like traditional methods, and through the functional of modern geoportal systems. Analysis of the economic development of the Penza region landscape has shown that during a long time it was of selective nature defined by soil fertility and geography of development paths. The emerging system of specially protected areas of forest landscapes has the most comprehensive character in the northern and north-eastern parts of the region, of steppe landscapes - in the south and in the central part. These objects can be considered as so-called hot spots, i.e. places where the diversity of species or ecosystems is the largest or unique. Their development should contribute to the maintenance and conservation of natural ecosystems which create ecological corridors and trails in the region. It should be understood that each Protected Area is limited in size, and its existence is impossible without ecological landscape arrangement of adjacent territories. Therefore, the formation of a system of protected areas should be carried out with regard to their relationship with the environmental framework of a territory. Zones reserved for economic activities often occupy border areas near protected ones, which is not conducive to normal existence of natural ecosystems. The PA system of the Penza region must include the full range of all types of indigenous landscapes of the region; must provide territorial protection for all species of animals and plants included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation (2008) and the Red Data Book of the Penza region (2013); must create ecological connectivity of areas that represent kernels of biodiversity in the region. The most vulnerable in the Penza region are southern forest-steppe landscapes.