| East Siberian taiga | |
|---|---|
 East Siberian taiga in the north of Khabarovsk Krai | |
 The East Siberian taiga in Siberia | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Palearctic |
| Biome | Taiga |
| Geography | |
| Area | 3,900,000 km2 (1,500,000 sq mi) |
The East Siberian taiga ecoregion, in the Taiga and boreal forests biome, is a very large biogeographic region in eastern Russia.
This vast ecoregion is located in the heart of Siberia, stretching over 20° of latitude and 50° of longitude [1] (52° to 72° N, and 80° to 130° E). The climate in the East Siberian taiga is subarctic (the trees growing there are coniferous and deciduous) and displays high continentality, with extremes ranging from 40 °C (104 °F) to −65 °C (−85 °F) and possibly lower. Winters are long and very cold, but dry, with little snowfall due to the effects of the Siberian anticyclone. Summers are short, but can be quite warm for the northerly location.
Precipitation is low, ranging from 200 to 600 millimetres (8 to 24 in), decreasing from east to west. The topography of this ecoregion is varied, consisting of wide, flat plains and areas of karst topography. In contrast to the neighbouring West Siberian taiga, large bogs and wetlands are conspicuously absent. Some trees also shed their leaves annually, a characteristic of deciduous forests.
Vegetation consists mainly of vast, dense forests of Dahurian larch ( Larix gmelinii ), with Siberian larch ( Larix sibirica ) and hybrids between the Dahurian and Siberian larches ( Larix x czekanowskii ) occurring as one moves to the west. Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus) and bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) bushes dominate the understory.
Throughout the ecoregion, smaller areas dominated by Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Siberian spruce (Picea obovata) and Siberian fir ( Abies sibirica ) can be found. Pine forests and deciduous forests composed of birch and poplar species become more common as one moves south, and at the headwaters of the Lena River and the Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, as well as in the Angara River basin, steppe and shrub-steppe communities can be found along with areas of forest-steppe.
This region contains the highest number of brown bears ( Ursus arctos collaris ), Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus), moose (Alces alces) and wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Russia. Further south mammals in the East Siberian taiga include Siberian musk deer (Moschus moschiferus), Altai wapiti also known as Asian elk (Cervus canadensis sibiricus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). Birds of this ecoregion include the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia), Siberian grouse (Falcipennis falcipennis), black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix), western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), black-billed capercaillie (Tetrao parvirostris), willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), black stork (Ciconia nigra), hooded crane (Grus monacha), carrion crow (Corvus corone), the Siberian blue and rufous-tailed robins (Luscinia cyane and L. sibilans, respectively), the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), Pallas's rosefinch (Carpodacus roseus), Pacific swift (Apus pacificus), common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), smew (Mergellus albellus), king eider (Somateria spectabilis), spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri) and Baikal teal (Anas formosa).
Although little of this ecoregion is protected, its conservation status is listed as "Relatively Stable/Intact". Protected areas in this ecoregion include:
All are "Zapovedniks", (that is, strict ecological reserves). The main threats to this ecoregion's integrity are poaching and clear-cut logging in the southern and central portions of the region.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, came a new threat. There is little forest in China, and Chinese entrepreneurs (due to the lack of woods, and fuelled by strong economic growth), began to show interest in obtaining the woods from RF. High levels of corruption and some other reasons allowed them to achieve their goal. A new law adopted was Federal law 473-FZ, which protects the rights of foreign companies in RF, and Chinese lumberjacks began to destroy all the trees on the leased land (and far beyond too). There have been numerous attempts of deforestation in the protected floodplain of the rivers. Because of the large environmental damage, their activities caused protests by local residents and the World Wide Fund for Nature. [2] [3] The actions of the Chinese companies pose a threat to the native population of Siberia and the Far East (Evenks, Udege et al.), depriving them of their habitat and traditional ways of life. Total deforestation by Chinese companies creates an additional threat to rare and endangered species such as the Siberian tiger, Amur leopard, East Siberian brown bear, among others. [4]
Siberia is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its various predecessor states since the centuries-long conquest of Siberia, which began with the fall of the Khanate of Sibir in the late 16th century and concluded with the annexation of Chukotka in 1778. Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, covering an area of over 13.1 million square kilometres (5,100,000 sq mi), but home to only one-fifth of Russia's population. Novosibirsk and Omsk are the largest cities in the area.
Barguzinsky Nature Reserve is the oldest of zapovedniks, established in 1916 for the protection of the Barguzin sable. It is located in Buryatia (Russia) on the west slope of the Barguzinsky Range, including the northeast shores of the Lake Baikal and a part of the lake itself. The area of the reserve is 2,482 km2 (958 sq mi), covering several types of boreal ecosystems, from bogs and taiga coniferous forests to subalpine meadows and mountain tundras. The landscape is postglacial, featuring rugged highlands, long river valleys and outwash, alluvial and lacustrine plains.
Larix sibirica, the Siberian larch or Russian larch, is a frost-hardy tree native to western Russia, from close to the Finnish border east to the Yenisei valley in central Siberia, where it hybridises with the Dahurian larch L. gmelinii of eastern Siberia; the hybrid is known as Larix × czekanowskii.
Larix gmelinii, the Dahurian larch or Gmelin larch, is a species of larch native to eastern Siberia and adjacent northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China (Heilongjiang), South Korea and North Korea.
The Siberian grouse, also known as Siberian spruce grouse, Amur grouse, or Asian spruce grouse, is a short, rotund forest-dwelling grouse. A sedentary, non-migratory bird, it is the only member of the genus Falcipennis. The spruce grouse of North America, which physically looks similar, is now placed in the monotypic genus Canachites.
The Midwestern Canadian Shield forests ecoregion, in the Taiga and Boreal forests Biome, are of northern Canada.
Olyokma Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' located south of the middle reaches of the Lena River on the right bank of its second largest tributary - the Olyokma River at the junction of the Aldan Highlands and the Olyokma-Chara Plateau in Olyokminsky District of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). The area is remote and relatively undisturbed, being 80 km from a town.
Tunguska Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' located in the central part of the Central Siberian Plateau. As a result of a meteorite in 1908, more than 2,000 km2 of boreal forest was felled and burned. The taiga affected in the disaster area has been restored in the past 100 years. The reserve is situated in the Evenkiysky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Central Siberia Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik'. With over 1 million hectares of protected area, it is one of the largest forest reserves in the world. The reserve is located in the middle Yenisei, lower Bakhta and lower Stony Tunguska river valleys, of the Central Siberian Plateau. Notably, the territory covers both banks of the Yenisei for over 60 km. The reserve is situated in the Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Sokhondo Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' in the south of Eastern Siberia, 25 km north of the border with Mongolia. It is the farthest source of the Amur River, and is centered on the Sokhondo Mountain massif, in the highest sector of the Khentei-Chikoy Highlands in the Khentei Range mountain range. The Sokhondo massif has two peaks, and is an ancient volcano. Also within the borders are many lakes of glacial origin. In 1985, Sokhondo was named a UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserve. The reserve is situated in the Chita district of Chita Oblast.
The Transbaikal conifer forests ecoregion covers a 1,000 km by 1,000 km region of mountainous southern taiga stretching east and south from the shores of Lake Baikal in the Southern Siberia region of Russia, and including part of northern Mongolia. Historically, the area has been called "Dauria", or Transbaikal. It is in the Palearctic realm, and mostly in the boreal forests/taiga biome with a subarctic, humid climate. It covers 200,465 km2 (77,400 sq mi).
Dzherginsky Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik', located about 100 km east of the northern section of Lake Baikal. It covers the source and upper reaches of the Barguzin River, the second largest tributary to Lake Baikal, and is at the junction of three mountain ranges - the Barguzin Range to the west of the reserve, the Ikat Range and the Southern Muya Range. The reserve's mountainous territory is dominated by larch forests. It is situated in the Kurumkansky District of Buryatia. The nearest city, Ulan-Ude, is 560 km to the south. The reserve was formally established in 1992 to protect the biodiversity of the upper Barguzin valley, and to study natural processes of the area. It covers an area of 238,088 hectares (919.26 sq mi).
Vitim Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' in the mountains 400 km northeast of Lake Baikal in the Irkutsk region of Siberia. It covers the upper reaches of the Vitim River, a left tributary of the Lena River. The reserve protects a wide variety high-altitude, continental climate flora and fauna complexes: larch taiga, cedar thickets, mountain tundra, and sub-alpine meadows of the Delyun-Uran and Kodar Mountains. The reserve is located in the southeast of the Bodaybinsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, 150 km east of the regional city of Bodaybo. It was formally established in 1982, and covers 585,838 ha (2,261.93 sq mi).
The West Siberian taiga ecoregion covers the West Siberian Plain in Russia, from the Ural mountains in the west to the Yenisei River in the east, and roughly from 56° N to 66° N latitude. It is a vast, flat lowland region of boreal forests (taiga), and wetlands, covering an area about 1,800 km west–east, by 1,000 km north–south.
The Northeast Siberian taiga ecoregion is an area of "sparse taiga forest" between the Lena River and the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia, Russia. The ecoregion's internal borders form a patchwork of territory constituting the southern part of the East Siberian Lowland, as well as lowlands around the East Siberian Mountains, including the ridges and peaks of the Verkhoyansk Range and the Chersky Range. On the southern border of the ecoregion is the north coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, giving the region maritime boreal forests as well as the continental forests situated inland. The ecoregion is one of the largest tracts of virgin boreal forest in the world, due to the very sparse population and difficult access. It is mostly in the Sakha Republic.
The Da Hinggan-Dzhagdy Mountains conifer forests ecoregion covers the Greater Khingan Mountains of Northeast China, and across the border north into the Russian Far East where it follows the mountain ridge for another 500 km to the east. The mountain forests exhibit a floral community called "Daurian flora", a combination of the Siberian taiga to the north and the Manchurian floral types to the south. The eastern slopes are steep and drained by many rivers, the western slopes are gentler, and there are grasslands on some slopes. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a subarctic climate. It covers 35,199,998 km2 (13,590,795 sq mi).
The Sayan montane conifer forests ecoregion covers the mid-elevation levels of the Sayan Mountains, the high mountain range between the taiga of Siberia, Russia to the north, and the steppes of Mongolia to the south. The slopes of the mountains at the mid-altitudes are covered by Temperate coniferous forest. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a cold semi-arid climate. It covers 35,741,835 km2 (13,800,000 sq mi).
The Daurian forest steppe ecoregion is a band of grassland, shrub terrain, and mixed forests in northeast Mongolia and the region of Siberia, Russia that follows the course of the Onon River and Ulz River, and part of the northwestern China. The region has been described as a "sea of grass that forms the best and most intact example of an undisturbed steppe ecosystem and is also one of the last areas in the Palearctic that still supports stable herds of larger vertebrates" in a semi-mountainous area. The area also has flat wetlands that are important to migratory birds. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a dry-winter subarctic climate that borders on a very cold semi-arid climate (BSk) in its southwestern parts. It covers 209,012 km2 (80,700 sq mi).
The Khangai Mountains conifer forests ecoregion covers the northern slopes of the Khangai Mountains in central Mongolia. The montane taiga supports a populations of elk, deer, wild boar, wolves, and brown bear. The diversity of plants and animals has benefited from the relative isolation and low human population of the area.
The Alps conifer and mixed forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in central Europe. It extends along the Alps mountains through portions of France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, and Slovenia. The ecoregion extends from the lower slopes of the Alps to its peaks, which include Mont Blanc, at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) the highest peak in the Alps.
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