Lake Kisejärve Landscape Reserve

Lake Kisejärve Landscape Reserve / Description

Lake Kisejärve Landscape Reserve is located in the Misso parish. It was established mainly to protect the beautiful oligotrophic lakes, which feed on humus. The Kisejärve lake complex is comprised of seven lakes: Kisejärv (48, ha, depth to 5,1 m), Pahijärv (10 ha), Sõdaalune (8,5 ha), Mägialune, Luikjärv, Vuuhjärv and Kõrbjärv.
Probably Lake Kisejärve together with the smaller lakes once formed a single large creeky lake full of islands, which due to overgrowing and the lowering level of water was divided into sev-eral parts. Lakes Kisejärv and Pahijärv have extraordinary jointed shorelines even today. Lake Pahijärv is scientifically the most interesting of the lakes in the Kisejärve lake complex. It is an aged oligotrophic lake, which in spite of overgrowing, being muddy (depth is only 2 m, hydrogen sulphid is in the bottom) and warming through, has pre-served more than 15 species of rare algae, which usually live only in clean cold-watered lakes. The Kisejärve reserve is also a habitat for orchids. Valuable archaeological findings have been discovered from Lake Kisejärv: boats and fishing gear which are more than a thousand years old.