Summary

The nature in the area of Kupiškis

Sigutis Obelevičius

The rural district of Kupiškis is situated in the area of hilly uplands with flat tops and elevated in the zone of the Middle Plain. There are several nature-protected territories or their parts. These are Vainiškis pedological (soil), Lėvuo landscape, Buožiai geological, and Prūsagalė geomorphologic reserves. There are also many valuable nature monuments, such as Noriūnai Park, Buivėnai Oak, sources of Akmenytė and Visgiūnai. The main part of the area is agricultural landed property, with forests covering half as big area. Mixed birch and fir forests prevail, where a mushroom enlisted in the Lithuanian Red Data Book has been detected, i.e. yellow milkcap (Lactarius scrobiculatus). There are few natural meadows, but their large tracts are on the shores of the Lėvuo River. A Red Data Book plant of Dactylorhyza longifolia belonging to the Orchid family has been detected in the meadows.

Specific plant communities grow usually in belts at the water bodies, such as the Lėvuo River and its tributaries, small lakes, ponds and pits, as well as in a large (828 ha) Lake Kupiškis formed by damming the Lėvuo River.

The Šepeta Bog seems to be the top value due to its biological variety; although it turned into a peat deposit, but one can still find there such plants survived from the Ice Age and enlisted in the Red Data Book as dwarf birch Betula nana, orchids Dactylorhiza incarnata, Dactylorhiza longifolia and Dactylorhiza traunsteineri, rather rare in Lithuania Rubus chamaemorus, and sundew of Drosera sp. able to capture and digest small insects.