Krustkalnu rezervāts (Latvia)

Krustkalni Nature Reserve (Latvian: Krustkalnu dabas rezervāts) is a nature reserve located in eastern Latvia that was founded in 1977. It has an area of 2,978 hectares. Since 2004, this institution has been part of Natura 2000, a European Union network of protected areas. The reserve is managed by the Latgale regional administration. The nature reserve was created to preserve the characteristic biodiversity of the complex of water and forest ecosystems, a complex of coniferous forests and meadows, as well as underground springs that form small swamps and lakes. A feature of these springs is high calcium content, due to which limestone soils are formed. They encourage the growth of calciphile plants, which often occur in the coastal areas of the country, but are not typical of eastern Latvia. The reserve has 32 species of plants and 37 species of animals listed in the Latvian Red Book, and the number of Red Book plants in Krustkalni ranks second among the country's reserves.