World of Gorny Altai - Altai State Nature Reserve. Altai State Nature Reserve Coniferous forests of the Altai Reserve
The Altai State Natural Biosphere Reserve, founded in April 1932, has an area of 8812.38 km 2, which is 9.4% of the territory of the entire Altai Republic.
The location of the central estate of the reserve (the territory of Turachaksky and Ulagansky districts, north-east of Gorny Altai) is the village of Yailu, the main office is the administrative center of the Republic of Altai, Gorno-Altaisk. The reserve is part of the Golden Mountains of Altai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Territory
The reserve is located in the central part of the Altai-Sayan mountainous country, its borders are delineated by the high ridges of the Altai Mountains, the northern one is the Torot ridge, the southern one is the spurs of the Chikhachev ridge (3021 m), the northeastern one is the Abakan ridge (2890 m), the eastern one is the Shapshal ridge ( 3507 m). The western limits of the reserve pass along the Chulyshman River and the right bank and 22 thousand hectares of the water area of Lake Teletskoye, this is the pearl of the Altai Mountains or the “little Baikal” of Western Siberia.
The main goal of creating this nature protection facility was to preserve the biodiversity of the flora and fauna of the shores and waters of Lake Teletskoye, its natural landscapes, protect and restore cedar forests, populations of rare animals (sable, elk, deer) and endemic plants, for research work in environmental, biological and environmental protection.
Animals of the reserve
Abundant and diverse vegetation contributes to the creation of favorable living conditions for a large number of different animals: more than 66 species of mammals, 3 species of reptiles, 6 species of amphibians, 19 species of fish, such as taimen, whitefish, grayling, dace, perch, char, sculpin, teletsk sprat .
Here, the population of a valuable representative of the marten family, the sable, has been restored; among predators in the reserve, such animals as bears, wolves, lynxes, wolverines, badgers, otters, and ermine are often found. 8 species of artiodactyls live here: deer, musk deer, elk, mountain sheep, Siberian roe deer, ibex, reindeer, wild boar. Numerous squirrels jump from branch to branch, several species of rare representatives of bats live in the forests near Lake Teletskoye: Mustachioed night bat, Brandt's night bat, Brown ear bat, Red evening bat, etc., listed in the Red Book of Altai and living exclusively in local landscapes.
Species diversity of avifauna
The reserve is home to 343 species of birds. Nutcrackers (nuts) live in the forests, they eat pine nuts, and also bury them in reserve in the ground, which increases the number of new, young seedlings. A motley hazel grouse lives here, it is practically invisible because of its camouflage, ruffled plumage.
Gray partridges and quails flutter in the valley of the Chulyshman River. Migratory birds (various types of shorebirds) fly to the protected lakes, 16 species of ducks nest, for example, nests of a small duck-whistle duck are found on the lakes and swamps of the Chulyshman Upland. The rare bird Altai Ular lives on the Shapshalsky Ridge.
Vegetable world
The reserve occupies a vast territory, in which there is a place for mountains, and coniferous forests, and alpine meadows, and mountain tundra, and turbulent rivers, and the purest alpine lakes, all this splendor stretches for 230 km, gradually rising in its southeast. The most common tree species in the reserve are Siberian cedars, firs, larches, spruces, pines and dwarf birches. The reserve can be proud of its high-mountain cedar forests, because the diameter of the trunk of these ancient 300-400-year-old trees can reach two meters.
The flora is rich and varied, these are higher vascular plants (1500 species), fungi (136 species), lichens (272 species), algae (668 species). There are no roads here, giant grasses grow under the trees in impenetrable thickets of raspberries, currants, mountain ash, viburnum and bird cherry. Bushes of wild gooseberries and evergreen shrubs - Dahurian rhodendron or deer grow on the rocky slopes of the mountains. More than 20 species of relic plants grow here: European hoof, woodruff, raven, circe.
Red Book flora and fauna of the reserve
Among the 1.5 thousand species of vascular plants of the reserve, 22 are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, 49 in the Red Book of Altai. Plants of the Red Book of the Russian Federation: feathery feather grass, Zalessky feather grass, 3 types of Venus slipper, Altai rhubarb, Chui arthropod, Siberian dentifer, Altai kostyanets, etc.
Among the 68 mammals of the reserve, 2 species are listed in the International Red Book - the snow leopard and the Altai mountain sheep, in the Red Book of the Russian Federation - reindeer (forest subspecies - Rangifer tarandus), rare species of insects - Golubyanka Rimn, Apollo common, Erebiya Kinderman, Mnemosyne.
Among the 343 species of birds, 22 are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation: spoonbill, black stork, common flamingo, mountain goose, steppe eagle, white-tailed eagle, etc., 12 species in the IUCN (International Red Book) - Dalmatian pelican, white-eyed pochard, steppe harrier, imperial eagle, long-tailed eagle, white-tailed eagle, bustard, black vulture, steppe kestrel, etc.
On the tops of the Altai mountains you can see, perhaps, one of the most beautiful places on the planet - alpine meadows. The “permafrost kingdom”, which is located higher, has not yet begun here, but the monotonous tundra has already ended. Alpine meadows are found not only in the Alps. This is a collective name that is used to designate short grass vegetation at the upper limit of its existence in the Pyrenees, Apennines, Cordillera, the Caucasus and Altai. For an extremely short warm period, a real miracle is formed here - a continuous carpet of herbs and flowers.
Lake Teletskoye - the heart of the Altai Reserve, one of the most beautiful places in Siberia
The Alpine meadow is truly a paradise: dozens of outlandish flowers and herbs grow here
- The full name is the Altai State Natural Biosphere Reserve.
- IUCN category: Ia (strict natural reserve).
- Date of foundation: April 16, 1932.
- Region: mountains of Southern Siberia in the Turochaksky district of the Altai Republic.
- Area: 882000 ha.
- Relief: mountainous.
- Climate: continental.
- Official website: http://www.altzapovednik.ru/.
- Email: [email protected]
History of creation
The Altai Reserve is one of the largest in Russia. Initially, it was allocated areas of up to 1.3 million hectares, but gradually they were reduced to the size that exists today. Interestingly, since 1930, a family of hermits-Old Believers Lykovs lived in the Altai mountains, completely unfamiliar with modern civilization.
The Altai Reserve is, without a doubt, a treasure of Russia. That is why today it is difficult to understand how it could happen that the reserve was liquidated twice - in 1951 and 1961.
Vegetable world
1480 species of vascular plants from 107 families, 250 species of mosses, more than 500 algae grow on the territory of the reserve, among which diatoms of Teletskoye Lake and other water bodies predominate, about 37 species of lichens. In general, about 200 plant species are endemic to this region.
The amazingly beautiful landscapes of the Altai Reserve will not leave indifferent any visitor.
The coniferous forests of the Altai Reserve consist mainly of Siberian cedar (Pinus sibirica), Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) and Siberian spruce (Picea obovata). Of the hardwood species, the main birches are warty (Betula pendula) and downy (Betula pubescens).
On the mountain peaks of Altai grows a strange flower edelweiss (Leontopodium), translated from Greek - "lion's paw" (from leon - "lion" and podion - "paw"). It is also called the Alpine star, the silver flower of the rocks. As an image of strong love that overcomes any obstacles, as well as a symbol of inaccessibility and good luck, this flower is found in many Altai tales and legends.
Altai herbs... This phrase always sounds fascinating for admirers of a healthy lifestyle, because Altai means healing, rare, with amazing properties. But these ideas are actually close to the truth. The most common here are Dahurian goldenrod (Solidago dahurica), broad-leaved bittersweet (Saussurea latifolia), various-leaved watercress (Cirsiurn helenioides), safflower-like raponticum (leuzea), or maral root (Rhaponticum carthamoides), a unique medicinal plant that grows in the Altai mountains. It effectively enhances immunity and contributes to the overall strengthening of the body. It was “prompted” to a man by marals - Siberian deer deer (Cervus maral).
Animal world
58 species of mammals, 323 birds, 6 reptiles, 18 fish and about 15 invertebrates live here.
Wolverine is one of the most interesting animals of the Altai Reserve, the largest representative of the mustelid family
The animal world of Altai is rich and varied: from squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) and Asian chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus) to deer (Cervus maral), bears (Ursus arctos) and wolverines (Gulo gulo). One of the most remarkable animals is the lynx (Lynx lynx). She perfectly mastered all the landscapes and habitats of Altai, climbs trees, runs and swims perfectly. Lynx fur is considered the subject of special chic, so these animals are in danger.
Wolverine is a predatory animal of the mustelid family, resembling both a bear and a badger. Having long paws disproportionate to the proportions of the body (with a maximum body length of 86 cm, the average length of the limbs is 10 cm), the animal easily, like on skis, moves along the snow cover.
Among all the inhabitants of the reserve, birds most clearly characterize its main feature: altitudinal zonality. In general, 323 species of birds live on the territory of the Altai Reserve. Black-throated diver (Gavia arctica) and red-cheeked grebe (Podiceps auritus) are found in water bodies. In the forests one can always see the Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) and the Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos).
There are 14 species of fish in the waters of Lake Teletskoye, among which the most common are taimen (Hucho taimen), Teletskoye grayling (Thymallus arcticus), lenok (Brachymystax lenok).
The main attraction of the Altai Reserve is Lake Teletskoye, whose length is 78 km, and the maximum depth is 325 m. About 400 years ago, tribes called themselves Teleses lived along the shores of the lake, thanks to which this name appeared. But the local population called it Altyn-Kel - "Golden Lake". In addition to the main Chulyshman river, 70 rivers and more than 150 temporary streams flow into it. Lake Teletskoye flows into the Biya River, feeding the Ob with its waters. The Korbu waterfall, a natural monument since 1978, is located at the foot of the Korbu ridge, a hundred meters from the shore of Lake Teletskoye. It, like the entire right bank of the lake, is located on the territory of the Altai Reserve. The only way to get to Korbu is by boat on the lake. And such excursions are very popular among tourists.
Korbu WaterfallIn the Uimon steppe, near the Chulyshman valley, there is a unique natural phenomenon - stone mushrooms, rocky formations that have been formed over millennia under the influence of erosion and weathering.
Information for visitors
Reserve mode
The Altai Reserve can be visited by agreement with its administration. The Teletsk School of Youth Ecological Tourism was established at the reserve. A number of interesting ecological routes are constantly operating.
How to get there
You can get to Gorno-Altaisk by train, then by car or regular bus to the village of Artybash at the mouth of Lake Teletskoye. After that - the lake message. By car you can get to the village of Yailu - the central estate of the Altai Reserve.
Where to stay
In the villages of Iogach, Artybash, located near the reserve, at the mouth of Lake Teletskoye, there is a network of campsites, tourist centers and "green" houses. The information center of the Altai Reserve operates here, where you can find out all the information about accommodation, excursion and other tourist services. In the village of Yailu there is a guest house, as well as "green" houses of local residents, where you can stay by prior arrangement.
Altai reserve. General information and history of creation
N. A. Maleshin, N. A. Zolotukhin, V. A. Yakovlev, G. G. Sobansky, V. A. Stakheev, E. E. Syroechkovsky, E. V. Rogacheva
The Altai State Nature Reserve - one of the largest reserves in the mountains of Southern Siberia - has existed since 1932, however, due to voluntary government decisions in 1950-1960, its fate was twice subjected to severe trials.
In the late 1920s, the scientific department of the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR and the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation were looking for opportunities to create new reserves in the areas where the sable lives. A comprehensive expedition led by Professor V. I. Baranov, who worked in Altai in 1929, outlined a mountain reserve with an area of more than 2 million hectares from the border with Tuva to the Katun River. Teletskoye Lake would be in the center of this vast territory. This option was rejected as impeding the development of the economy of the Oirot (Gorno-Altai) Autonomous Region, and on May 4, 1930, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR issued a resolution that provided for the creation of the Gorno-Altai Reserve with an area of up to 600 thousand hectares. In 1931, a new expedition of the People's Commissariat of Education was sent to Altai to clarify the boundaries of the reserve, in which the enthusiast of the reserve business F.F. Schillinger participated. In the project presented by the expedition, the protected area covered an area of 1 million hectares, including 800 thousand hectares of the Oirot and 200 thousand hectares of the Khakass Autonomous Regions in the upper reaches of the river. Big Abakan (Schillinger, 1931). In accordance with this project, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR issued in April 1932 a resolution "On the establishment of the State Altai Reserve within the Oirot and Khakass Autonomous Regions." Although the text of the decree referred to the territory of "about 1 million hectares", in fact its area was larger - 1.3 million hectares.
The reserve was guarded not only by rangers and foresters, but also by border guards, since the eastern and southern borders of the protected area coincided with the border of the USSR and the Tuva People's Republic. In the thirties, there were 5 settlements on the territory of the reserve, one border outpost, 8 cordons, 16 taiga huts and 1220 km of horse trails. In 1935, 1116 people lived on the right bank of the Chulyshman. In the upper reaches of the Bolshoi Abakan, the Lykov family of Old Believers lived, first described in the literature by the scientist-writer A. A. Malyshev and later gained fame thanks to the essays of V. M. Peskov. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, more than 60 foresters, researchers and workers of the reserve went to the front; 57 of them died.
In 1951, the Altai Reserve was liquidated. Difficulties in logging in the mountains and the lack of roads prevented significant logging in the protected area. At the initiative of the scientific community, the Altai Reserve was restored in 1958 in the system of the Main Directorate of Hunting and Nature Reserves under the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR (Glavohota RSFSR). Its area has decreased to 940 thousand hectares due to the territory of Khakassia (upper reaches of the Greater Abakan) and certain sections of the right bank of Chulyshman.
In 1961, the reserve was liquidated for the second time. However, the need to protect the nature of Gorny Altai was so obvious that by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR of October 7, 1967, the Altai Reserve was restored again on an area of 863.8 thousand hectares. At present, after the exchange of individual plots of land with neighboring land users and the inclusion of part of the water area of Lake Teletskoye within the reserve, its area is 881,238 hectares. The reserve has an elongated shape and, with an average width of about 35 km, extends in the meridional direction for 250 km.
^ Physical and geographical conditions
According to geomorphological zoning, the entire territory of the reserve belongs to the Altai province of the country "Mountains of the South of Siberia" (Olyunin, 1975). Along the boundaries of the reserve there are high ridges: in the north - Abakan, reaching 2890 m above sea level. y. m. (Sadonskaya town), in the south - Chikhachev (Getedey town, 3021 m), in the east - Shapshalsky (Toshkalykaya town, 3507 m). Several isolated mountain ranges are also located in the center of the reserve: Kurkure (Kurkurebazhi, 3111 m), Tetykol (up to 3069 m), Chulyshmansky (Bogoyash, 3143 m). From the west, the territory is bounded by the valleys of the Chulyshman, Karakem and Lake Teletskoye rivers.
The high-mountainous alpine relief is presented on most of the ranges. This type of relief is distinguished by narrow ridges with sharp peaks, numerous kars and troughs. The walls of the caravans are usually very steep, and powerful screes form at the foot of the slopes. There are small glaciers and numerous snowfields. The alpine relief on the Kurkure ridge is especially pronounced - powerful jagged walls, sharp bizarre peaks rise sharply above the Chulyshman plateau.
On the other ridges of the reserve, high- and medium-mountain, slightly dissected relief prevails. Watersheds have soft outlines, and wide valleys have gentle slopes. Such a relief is most typical on the Tetykol, Plosky and Elbektularkyr ridges.
In the Dzhulukul basin and the upper reaches of the Chulcha River, formations of glacial and fluvioglacial origin are widely developed. Glacial deposits include terminal, stadial, and main moraines; fluvioglacial intraglacial deposits are eskers that look like sandy banks, as well as kames and kame terraces. All these formations are also represented in the upper reaches of the river. Chulchi.
The underlying rocks are mainly represented by gneisses, granites, diorites, granodiorites and quartzites. There are gabbro, sandstones, shale. On the northern coast of Lake Teletskoye there are massifs of crystalline limestones and marbles.
The hydrographic network of the reserve belongs to the right-bank part of the drainage basin of Lake Teletskoye and its main tributary - the river. Chulyshman. Flowing from the ridge Chikhachev river. Taskyl and several other tributaries of the river. Mogenburen belong to the river basin. Kobdo. From a number of lakes. located on the border of the reserve along the Abakansky and Shapshalsky ridges, streams and rivers originate, rushing their waters into the tributaries of the Yenisei - Khemchik and Bolshoi Abakan. The total area of reservoirs in the reserve is 28,766 ha (3.2%), of which 11,757 ha are in the protected part of the water area of Lake Teletskoye.
The rivers of the reserve with many of their large and small tributaries form a very branched and dense hydrographic network (average 1.5 - 2.0 km/km2). Most of the rivers begin on the Abakansky and Shapshalsky ridges and their spurs, crossing the territory of the reserve in the latitudinal direction. The maximum length, water content and development of large valleys are the Chulcha rivers (the length with the Itykulbazhi tributary is 98 km), Shavla (with the Saikho-nash tributary - 67 km), Bogoyash (58 km) and the Chulyshman river (241 km), flowing from Lake Dzhulukul . Chulyshman flows through the reserve only for 60 km - from the source to the Kudrul tract. Treeless, swampy upper reaches of rivers usually have wide, trough-shaped valleys plowed by glaciers. In the middle and lower reaches of the rivers, the valleys cut deeply into the thickness of the mountains and have steep, forested slopes.
The channels of the turbulent swift rivers here are cluttered with stones, the flow speed reaches 2-5 m/s. The width of the river valleys is largely determined by the nature of the cut rocks, narrowing in the areas of granite distribution and expanding where chlorite schists are developed. The rivers of the reserve are picturesque - with powerful rapids, rifts, quiet reaches and waterfalls. More than ten rivers have waterfalls from 6 to 60 m high: Big Shal-tan and Big Korbu, Kishte, Kaira, Aksu and others. On the river Chulche, 8 km from the mouth, is the largest waterfall in Altai - "Impregnable". This is a 150-meter cascade of water raging among huge gneiss blocks.
There are 1190 lakes in the Altai Reserve with an area of more than 1 ha each. Most of them are in the highlands. The origin of lake basins is associated with the activity of glaciers. Kara lakes have an oval, sometimes round shape and steep banks. Often plumes of scree descend into the lakes. The depth of tarn lakes is significant - up to 35-50 m. Thermokarst lakes are found in the zone of permafrost development in the southeastern part of the reserve. These are either small oval single lakes, or bizarre complexes of connected thermokarst basins with a ridge-hollow bottom and small islands.
The largest among the alpine lakes of the reserve - Dzhulukul - is located in the basin of the same name at an altitude of 2200 m above sea level. y. m., among many other reservoirs of moraine origin. The area of Dzhulukul is 3020 ha, the depth is 7-9 m, the length is about 10 km. Very picturesque are mountain moraine-dammed lakes, with steep rocky shores or bordered by forest (basins of the rivers Shavla, N. Kulash, etc.)
Teletskoye lake - the largest and most beautiful lake in Altai - is located at an altitude of 434 m above sea level. y. m. Altyn-Kol - the "Golden Lake" of the Altaians - is devoted to many enthusiastic descriptions of scientists and travelers. Lake with surrounding mountains and dark coniferous. predominantly cedar, taiga - a magnificent natural monument of Siberia.
A narrow blue ribbon, squeezed by the Korbu and Al-tyntu ridges, the lake stretches for 78 km. Its area is relatively small - 223 km2, but due to its great depth (up to 325 m) it contains a huge amount - 40 billion cubic meters. m - excellent fresh water, clean, oxygenated. Giving its waters to the Biya River, the lake largely provides food for the Ob. About 70 rivers and 150 temporary streams flow into the lake, and more than half of all water comes from the Chulyshman River.
The position of the reserve near the center of Asia determines the general continental character of the climate. However, the features of the relief and the conditions for the transfer of air masses with a large size of the reserve give rise to a significant variety of climatic conditions. Its northern part is characterized by warm and humid summers, snowy and relatively mild winters. The average annual temperature is 3.2°; the average January temperature is -8.7°; July - +16.0°С. There is a lot of precipitation - up to 850-1100 mm per year, about half of which falls in summer. The near Teletskoye region is also characterized by a significant thickness of snow cover - up to 80-120 cm. In general, the northern part of the reserve adjacent to Lake Teletskoye is one of the warmest and most humid places in the Altai Mountains.
In the southeastern part of the reserve, the climate is sharply continental and very severe. In winter, frosts reach -50°C, and in summer days the maximum temperature sometimes reaches +30°C. The average annual temperature is -5°. Precipitation is 3-4 times less than at Lake Teletskoye, and the duration of the growing season is only one and a half months against five months in the northern part.
Climatic conditions also change in different altitudinal zones. The amount of precipitation increases (up to 1500 mm at an altitude of 1200 m), average temperatures decrease, and the frost-free period shortens.
The soil cover of the territory of the reserve is characterized by vertical zonality and latitudinal zonality. On the steppe slopes, predominantly chernozem-like and chestnut-like primitive heavily gravelly soils are developed. Podzolized burozems and gray forest soils are formed in the northern part of the reserve under black aspen-fir and fir-cedar forests. In the taiga, under fir-cedar, cedar and spruce-cedar forests, acid cryptopodzolic, soddy non-podzolic and humus-podzolic soils are formed. Soddy-podzolic and humus-podzolic processes prevail under the larch taiga. In the central part of the reserve, under larch and cedar forests, thin podzols are formed, and on the border with high mountains, humus and sod-humus soils are formed.
In the highlands, at low temperatures and high atmospheric moisture, mountain-tundra primitive peaty and peat-gley soils are formed on a stony-rubbly basis. Among the Dzhulukul depression, mountain-tundra soddy soils are developed under fescue and cobresia meadows.
Mountain-meadow soils are characteristic of gentle slopes of southern exposure, as well as hollows and depressions occupied by high-mountain meadows.
More than 20% of the area of the reserve is covered with rocky outcrops, scree, pebbles, snowfields.
^ Land cover
All the variety of lower plants of the Altai Reserve is not yet amenable to complete review.
Separate groups of fungi and myxomycetes were studied by such specialists as T. N. Barsukova, I. A. Dudka, O. G. Golubeva and a number of others, who managed to make many interesting discoveries and describe species new to science. Of the specially protected species of mushrooms previously listed in the Red Book of the RSFSR, it should be noted the double net-bearer, which was discovered in the Oimok tract in 1986 in birch-pine-pine grass-green moss forests. In the Priteletsky district of the reserve there are: umbrella griffon, pistillate horned, coral blackberry. For the reserve, a girl's parasol mushroom is also indicated.
More than 500 species of algae are known in the reserve, among them diatoms of Lake Teletskoye and surrounding water bodies predominate.
For the territory of the reserve, 37 species of lichens were previously indicated. In 1985 E.F. The Queen has begun an inventory of the lichen flora, which, according to preliminary data, includes at least 500 species. So far, the families Peltigeraceae (16 species), Nefromaceae (6), Lobariaceae (6), Hymniaceae (7), Parmeliaceae (40), Umbilicariaceae (18), Cladoniaceae (47 species) have been processed. Three species of lichens are found in the reserve, included in the Red Books of the USSR and the RSFSR: Lobaria pulmonaria is quite common as an epiphyte on tree trunks; lobaria net - the only find on the rocks along the river. bayas; bordered stikta - occasionally on mossy trunks and boulders.
Based on collections collected in 1934, 1935, 1976-1980. and identified by N.V. Samsel, L.V. Bardunov, E.A. and M.S. Ignatov, about 250 species of bryophytes were known in the reserve. Subsequent special studies (N. I. Zolotukhin, M. S. Ignatov) made it possible to increase this list to 510 species. Species that were included in the Red Book of the RSFSR grow in the reserve: Krylov's campillium and South Alpine leptopteryginandrum. A new for science monotypic genus (Bardunov's orthodontopsis) and a new species (Altai polytrichastrum) of bryophytes have been described from the territory of the reserve, many interesting species with disjunctive ranges have been found, including, for the first time in Russia, leaf-bearing barbula, bryoerythrophyllum unequal-leaved, brachythecium sickle-shaped, etc.
On the modern territory of the reserve, 1480 species of vascular plants from 107 families are known, without taking into account 144 species of anthropochores introduced by man and growing or growing only in the village of Yailu, at cordons, tourist camps. The largest families: Compositae - 192 species, grasses - 155, sedge - 106, Rosaceae - 97, legumes - 85 species. The main genera are: sedge - 88 species, cinquefoil - 40, willow - 31, wormwood - 27 species. Ferns (36 species) and orchids (26), represented by almost all species of Altai, are distinguished by a significant diversity; but at the same time, the role of legumes in the reserve has been reduced - 55% of their diversity in the Altai Mountains, which is explained both by natural historical reasons and by the fact that the reserve, after reorganization, lost most of the steppe areas on the right bank of the Chulyshman.
Of the Compositae, the most common species are Dahurian goldenrod (in the meadows and forests of the entire reserve), broad-leaved bittersweet, various-leaved watercress, safflower-like raponticum (maral root) - in large-grass meadows, in park forests and in light forests. Particularly rare Compositae - sad carpezium, recently discovered in the lower reaches of the Kyga and Kamga rivers, and previously known only in the Far East; waldheimia three-lobed, Price's ragwort and glacial bitterness are ultra-high-mountain species that grow in the reserve only in the extreme south of the Shapshalsky ridge at altitudes from 2600 to 3340 m. lilac color, found on the rocks of the coast of Lake Teletskoye and the right bank of Chulyshman.
The most common cereals of the reserve are sphagnum fescue, fluffy oatmeal, alpine fragrant spikelet, meadow foxtail, Siberian and meadow bluegrass; in the highlands, in addition, Altai trichaetin, Altai bluegrass, Alpine bison. Rare are Kitagava snake (steppe areas), Sobolevskaya bluegrass (only the upper reaches of the Chulcha River near the border with the Western Sayan), Mongolian sheep grass (highlands of the southern part of the reserve), Vereshchagin reed grass (Dzhu-lukulskaya hollow, endemic described from the reserve). Feather grass and Zalessky were listed in the Red Book of the RSFSR. The first species is a fairly common and numerous steppe plant in the reserve, the second is noted only in the Berektuyaryk tract.
Among the sedge family, the largest genus is the sedge. The reserve represents 90% of the total species diversity of this genus in Gorny Altai. Common sedges are large-tailed (found in various forests), Ilyina (cedar forests and green moss larch forests), stop-shaped (forest-steppe, rocky slopes), narrow-fruited and Ledebour (mountain tundra), dark (high-mountain meadows), Shabinskaya (swamps, meadows, tundra - the most massive view), swollen (reservoirs, swamps), as well as cobresia mousetail (highlands). Only at the lake Derinkul marked loose sedge, included in the Red Book of the RSFSR. Martynenko's sedge, an endemic of the reserve, was described from the northern shore of Lake Teletskoye. In total, about 1000 specimens of this interesting species are known, the closest relatives of which grow in the Far East.
Representatives of the orchids (orchids) family in the reserve are diverse, but they are distributed mainly in the Teletsky district. Many species are rare, few and were included in the Red Books of the USSR and the RSFSR: Lezel's liparis - a meadow in the vicinity of Yailu; Baltic palmate root - swampy meadows on the shores of Lake Teletskoye; helmet-bearing yat-ryshnik - meadows on the coast of Lake Teletskoye and in the lower reaches of Chulyshman; real lady's slipper - glades in birch and pine forests in the Bela region, the lower reaches of the Kyga, Chulyshman rivers, as well as the more widespread lady's slipper large-flowered, leafless chin, neottiante klobuchkovaya.
Among herbaceous plants of other families are mountaineers serpentine, alpine and viviparous, two-flowered and spring minuartia, high delphinium, hybrid stonecrop, thick-leaved bergenia, summer and Siberian saxifrage, shrub pentaphyllum (Kuril tea), South Siberian kopeechnik, white-flowered and South Siberian geraniums, ivan - narrow-leaved tea, golden and multi-veined volodushki, dissected hogweed, large-flowered gentian, boreal bedstraw, blue and Altai honeysuckle, Siberian patrinia. In the highlands, the narrow-leaved beautiful flower, the glandular catchment, the single-flowered cotoneaster, the cold and snow-white cinquefoil, the alpine pungent, the alpine thick rib, the cold gentian, the blunt swirl, the whole-leaved lagotis, the Eder's mytnik are relatively common.
Of the specially protected plants of other families in the reserve, there are Altai onions (wild batun) - a very valuable species that suffered outside the protected area from immoderate harvesting; volodushka Martyanova - Sayan endemic, in the upper reaches of the river. Chulchi passes the western border of the range; vesiculate arthropod - Altai endemic, noted in the extreme south of the Shapshalsky ridge; chuysky ostrich - high-mountainous Altai species; kan-dyk Siberian - Altai-Sayan endemic, common in the reserve
^ Altai Reserve
weed, but increasingly rare in other areas where it is harvested as an ornamental plant; Altai rhubarb is a valuable species for breeding, it is widely distributed in the reserve; larkspur ukokskaya - Altai endemic, growing in the south of the Shapshalsky ridge; deceptive wrestler - Altai-Sayan endemic, quite widespread in the reserve; wrestler Pasko - high-mountainous Sayan endemic, the western border of the range of which runs along the Shapshalsky ridge; amazing bedstraw - rare, in Altai it is found only in the reserve; lacustrine polushnik - in Southern Siberia it is known only from three lakes of the Altai Reserve; smooth seed (Parria) stemless - Altai-Saur high-mountain endemic, growing in the south of the Shapshalsky ridge; brunner sibirica is a rare Altai-Sayan endemic, it is not found in other reserves.
In addition to the listed species, there are many other rare plants in the reserve, including those recently described for the first time: iron-bearing chickweed, Irina's violet, Altyn-Kolsky onion. The complex relief with altitudes up to 3500 m, various climatic and natural-historical conditions create a significant diversity of the vegetation cover of the Altai Reserve. The predominant part of it (62% of the total area) belongs to the highlands, 36% - to the forest belt, and only 2% of the territory falls on the forest-steppe.
The mountain steppes of the reserve occupy separate areas in the Chulyshman valley, in the lower reaches of its tributaries - Kaira, Chul-chi, Aksu, Chakrym, Shavla, on the eastern coast of Lake Teletskogo.
The true and meadow steppes, as well as their petrophytic variants, are most fully represented. Deserted steppes, found only in the Akkurum tract, are developed on moraine terraces and proluvial plumes. In various variants of the deserted steppes, chia is dominated by a brilliant - large-turf grass up to 1.5 m high; sedge hardish; cinquefoil is stemless.
Real steppes are developed on gentle slopes and floodplain terraces. The main species here are comb-legged, hair-like and pinnate feather grass, cold wormwood. In early spring, among the dry last year's grass, purple "bells" of a flowering dubious lumbago stand out, low iris with yellow flowers, miniature gentians splayed and false water.
Meadow steppes are found along the borders of steppe areas, in hollows, floodplains. Grasses are the most abundant in plant groups: steppe timothy grass, fluffy and Altai sheep, Siberian feather grass, and ground reed grass. Of the forbs, it should be noted Russian iris, open backache, crescent-shaped alfalfa.
The communities of upland xerophytes are confined to the steep southern slopes with stony and rubble-grass substrate, which include xerophytic shrubs, shrubs and semi-shrubs: Cossack juniper, one-seeded and horsetail conifers, small-leaved honeysuckle, dwarf caragana, three-lobed meadowsweet (spirea), Siberian barberry wormwood rutolistnaya, astragalus horn-fruited, ziziphora fragrant.
The forests of the reserve are formed mainly by coniferous species: Siberian larch, Siberian cedar (Siberian pine) and Siberian fir.
Larch is the most common in the reserve, especially in its central and southern parts. Light-loving, undemanding to heat, it usually forms sparse, in some places "park" forests, in sharp contrast with the gloomy dark coniferous taiga. Individual oppressed larch trees penetrate into the highlands up to 2550 m.
The main tree species in the biogeocenoses of the reserve is the Siberian cedar. It is found in all areas, except for the south of the Dzhulukul depression. Siberian pine forms dense, pure plantations, and in the Teletsky region, together with fir. Undemanding to heat, humidity and the nature of the substrate, it rises to the mountains up to 2450 m, but the increased dryness of the air limits its distribution. More than half of all forests in the central and southern parts of the reserve are cedar-larch and larch-cedar. But here there is a clearly expressed change of larch to cedar, since larch undergrowth less than 80 years old is almost completely absent, and cedar is well renewed, including under the canopy of larch. The most powerful cedars are found in the river basin. Kygi - trees 300-400 years old, up to 38 m high and 1.7 m in diameter.
Siberian fir actively forms plantings only in the Teletsky part of the reserve and in some parts of the river basin. Shavly. On the upper border of the forest, it sometimes forms low-growing elfin thickets of trunks and branches spread on the ground.
Siberian spruce and Scotch pine play a subordinate role in the vegetation cover of the reserve. In the northern part of the reserve, spruce is found very rarely - as individual trees or groups, and only on the Chulyshman Plateau does it sometimes enter as a significant admixture into the taiga; sometimes along the banks of rivers and sphagnum bogs forms pure stands. Pine forests are found in separate massifs on the eastern and northern coasts of Lake Teletskoye and along the valleys of the Kyga and Shavla rivers. Above 1750 m, pine does not rise in the reserve.
Of the small-leaved species, the most common are drooping birch and common aspen. They are more typical for the Teletets region, are less common in the basins of the Chulcha and Shavla rivers, and are practically absent in the southern third of the reserve. It is interesting that massifs of birch and aspen forests are also found along steep slopes in the depths of the taiga in areas that have never experienced felling.
The undergrowth in the reserve is formed mainly by goat willow, bird cherry, Siberian mountain ash, blue honeysuckle, dark purple currant, meadowsweet, Ledebour's rhododendron, and shrub alder. In the northern part of the reserve there are common viburnum, oak-leaved meadowsweet, and tree-like caragana. In many types of forests of the reserve in the lower tier, thickets of blueberries, lingonberries, and blueberries are well developed.
The meadow type of vegetation in the forest belt of the reserve is represented modestly. Steppe meadows are found on the eastern shore of Lake Teletskoye, in the basin of the river. Chulchi (especially along the Yakhansoru and Suryaz rivers and in the Kumyrskha-lu tract), along Shavla, Chulyshman and in some other places. Mass species of steppe meadows are fluffy sheep, narrow-leaved bluegrass, foot-shaped sedge, Russian iris, multi-veined ox-eye.
Dry meadows are found in separate small areas in various areas of the reserve. Of the grasses, meadow fescue, cocksfoot, Siberian bluegrass, meadow foxtail, and Siberian trichaete are common here. The most numerous species of forbs are: common and Asian yarrow, golden volodushka, meat-red mytnik, boreal bedstraw, lupine clover, small cornflower, Asian swimsuit, blue cyanosis.
Lowland meadows, developed in floodplains and intermountain depressions, occupy a very limited area. Here there are soddy pike, Langsdorf's reeds, blunt-shuichaty and Pavlov's, Asian swimsuit, Veronica long-leaved, Siberian onion, Kurai sedge, common cuff.
Meadows in the subalpine belt of the reserve play a subordinate role, occupying mainly small depressions. Only in certain areas of the Abakan Ridge, the upper reaches of the Chulcha and the right bank of the Shavla, subalpine meadows are represented as well as dwarf birches.
Tall-grass subalpine meadows are developed on sufficiently thick and moist mountain-meadow soils. The floristic composition is variegated. Broad-leaved bittersweet, safflower-like raponticum, Lobel's hellebore, and various-leaved calendula predominate.
Short-grass subalpine meadows are colorful. Such decorative species as ferruginous columbine, Pallas's primrose, Fischer's gentian, and compact mytnik predominate here. Of the other species, white-flowered geranium, Siberian bluegrass, and darkest sedge are common.
The subalpine belt in the upper reaches of the Chulyshman is distinguished by great originality. Here, large areas are occupied by meadows with a predominance of cobresia mousetail and Altai fescue.
The main species in the large-grass alpine meadows within the reserve are the Asian swimsuit, the ferruginous catchment area, the Altai doronicum, the South Siberian kopeechnik, the strange Sayanella, the shaggy schulzia, the Altai snakehead.
Low grass alpine meadows develop on saddles, in hollows, near snowfields. Altai violet, Altai hollywort, large-flowered gentian, and Altai buttercup dominate. Alpine tundra occupy large areas in the reserve. The tundra type of vegetation includes shrub tundras: dryad, shikshevo-dryadovaya, shiksheva. The sharp-toothed dryad and the near-Holarctic shiksha predominate here. Lloydia late, Ledebour's sedge, sphagnum fescue, Eder's mytnik, as well as lichens from the cladina, cetraria, and alectoria genera are common. Moss-lichen dwarf birches can also be attributed to the tundra type of vegetation. Round-leaved birch is represented by low specimens and does not form continuous thickets. Of the mosses, ordinary polytrichum, Schreber's pleurium are common. Of the lichens, star-shaped and forest hoards, Icelandic and hooded cetraria, and worm-like tamnolia predominate.
Dernik-moss tundras occupy gentle slopes of northern exposures and leveled areas. Mosses form a continuous cover on the soil: brilliant hylocomium, common polytrichum, Schreber's pleurocium, hooked ladus.
Stony and gravelly "tundra" should perhaps be attributed to another type of vegetation - rocky. V. B. uKuvaev (1985) refers them to the golts deserts with the reservation that in Altai their landscape is subordinate to the alpine-glacial one. They occupy a large area of highlands in the reserve. Of the flowering plants, various saxifrages, minuartia, oxeye, fescue, alpine bison, Altai bluegrass, Turchaninov willow and barb-rice-leaved, golden skerda are often found, scale lichens from the genera lecanor, lecidea, and rhizocarpon are common.
The swamp type of vegetation in the Teletsky part of the reserve occupies only small areas, it is more developed on the right bank of the Chulcha (especially in the area of Lake
Saigonysh). Lowland swamps are found along the banks of rivers and streams. From woody plants in such swamps grow alder, round-leaved birch. There are many sedges (ash-gray, soddy, swollen, sword-leaved), as well as soddy pike, marsh marigold, marsh chickweed.
Real raised bogs with an active peat-forming process are rare in the reserve. It is dominated mainly by mosses of the genus Sphagnum, as well as blueberries and small-fruited cranberries. Pale sedge, multi-spike cotton grass, and soddy downy sedge are common.
There are hundreds of lakes, rivers, streams on the territory of the reserve, but there are few places where rich aquatic vegetation is developed. Almost all tarns are generally devoid of large aquatic plants; only diatoms are relatively diverse (as in Lake Teletskoye).
Thickets of macrophytes in the protected part of Lake Teletskoye are found in the Kamginsky and Kyginsky bays, at Cape Azhi and the mouth of the river. Oyor. They are formed by pierced-leaved and gramineous pondweeds.
In small lakes in the central and southern parts of the reserve, northern briar, Gmelin's buttercup, water mulberry, alpine pondweed, etc. grow.
The richness of the vegetation cover, including 34 species of mosses, fungi, lichens and vascular plants listed in the Red Books of the USSR and the RSFSR, more than 200 Altai-Sayan endemics, as well as rare well-preserved steppe, forest, water and high-mountain communities, determines the outstanding role Altai Reserve in the protection of flora and vegetation of Southern Siberia.
^ Animal world
A significant area of the Altai Reserve is located at the junction of the mountain systems of Altai, Sayan, Tuva. The complexity of the natural-historical development and biogeographic boundaries, the diversity of natural conditions determine its exceptional faunal richness. In the protected area you can meet the inhabitants of high latitudes (reindeer, white partridge), and the inhabitant of the Mongolian steppes (gray marmot), and many typical "taiga". The unique zoogeographical interest of Altai was noted in the classical works of Academician P.P. Sushkin (1938).
The variety of invertebrate animals of the reserve is great, but relatively complete information is available only on the fauna of stoneflies, dragonflies, mayflies and caddisflies (Belyshev and Dulkeit, 1964; Borisova, 1985; Zapekina-Dulkeit, 1977, etc.). Research continues on a number of other groups of insects.
Of the insects that are particularly rare and deserving of protection, the only representative of a peculiar order of grilloblatids in Siberia, the Galloisiana Pravdini, described from the territory of the Altai Reserve, should be noted. It lives under stones and fallen trees in coniferous-small-leaved forests. Two other species from this order are found in Russia only in the south of Primorsky Krai.
Among the Lepidoptera included in the Red Data Book of the USSR (1984), Apollo, Phoebus, Gero's sennitsa, and the rarer swallowtail are noted in the reserve. Eversmann's Apollo is occasionally found in the highlands, and in Yailu, a blue ribbon butterfly was observed.
Fish in the reserve are represented by 16 species. Minnow and loach from the loach family are inhabitants of the shallow waters of Lake Teletskoye and the estuarine sections of its tributaries. Anadromous char, or Dolly Varden, is also found in the upper reaches of the Chu-lyshman and in some high-mountain lakes. Pike and perch are common in Lake Teletskoye, which are kept in the Kamginsky and Kyginsky bays, in lakes and oxbow lakes of the mouth of Chulyshman. They spawn in May-June on spills, laying eggs on the flooded last year's grass. The only freshwater representative of the cod family - burbot - prefers reservoirs with clean cold water. Teletskoye Lake can be considered an ideal place for its habitat. Burbot keeps at the bottom, climbing under snags and stones. There are cases of his capture from a depth of more than 100 m.
Shirokolobok or gobies are called Siberian and variegated sculpins in Altai, found along the entire coast of Lake Teletskoye at a shallow depth. These small fish serve as food for burbot, while they themselves feed on invertebrates. The distribution of rainbow trout in Lake Teletskoye is not ruled out. It was released in the 1970s into the high-mountain lakes of Eastern Altai, including Lake Ezhlyu-Kol, connected to Lake Teletskoye by the river. Little Chile.
The most common species of fish in the reservoirs of the reserve is the grayling. Of the salmon, taimen, lenok, teletsky and Pravdina whitefish are characteristic. The largest fish of the reserve - taimen - lives in Lake Teletskoye. Spawning takes place in early spring in the lower reaches of Chulyshman. In June, spawned fish descend into the lake along with shoals of dace, migrating along the protected shore following the muddy spring water of the river. Lenok, or local uskuch, is relatively rare in Lake Teletskoye and in the lower reaches of its tributaries; Teletsky whitefish, on the contrary, is a very numerous inhabitant of it. The endemic of Lake Teletskoye - Pravdina's whitefish - is the smallest representative of salmon. Its size does not exceed 13-14 cm, and its weight barely reaches 20 g. The carp family is represented by 4 species - dace, bream, minnow and osman. Osman is especially interesting. The range of the species is small, it includes the South-Eastern Altai, Tuva, North-Western Mongolia and the Mongolian Gobi. In the reserve, the Ottomans are found in the high-mountain lakes of the Dzhulukul basin. These fish have an elongated body with small scales; the average weight is 200-300 g, although individual specimens can reach a length of 60 cm and a weight of 2-2.5 kg. By autumn, they accumulate in wintering pits, where up to 200 fish can fit in a volume of 50 - 100 liters. Located between large boulders in the coastal part of the reservoirs and covered with peat and moss from above, these pits serve as a reliable refuge from fish-eating birds, mainly from cormorants.
In November, at the mouth of the Chulyshman in shallow waters, through thin, transparent ice, as through the glass of an aquarium, large schools of small fish are visible. This is a Teletsky dace. If you frighten the fish, it rushes in all directions, rushing to the smallest places, where it has to move between the ice and the bottom on its side. Similar
Photo: Altai State Nature Reserve
Photo and description
The Altai State Nature Reserve is a unique specially protected area in Russia, which is a UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site. The history of the reserve began on April 16, 1932.
In terms of biological diversity, the Altai Reserve occupies one of the leading places among the protected areas of the country. The reserve is located in the north-east of the Altai Republic, in Turachaksky and Ulagansky districts. The central estate of the nature reserve is located in the village of Yailu, and the central office is in the capital of the Republic, the city of Gorno-Altaisk. To date, the Altai Reserve consists of four departments: the department of science, the department of environmental education, the department of protection, and the economic department.
The total area of the reserve is more than 881,235 hectares, including the water area of Lake Teletskoye with an area of 11,757 hectares. The territory of the Altai Reserve gradually rises towards the southeast. The main ecosystems of the reserve are lakes, the Siberian taiga, taiga low and middle mountains, alpine and subalpine high and middle mountains, glacial-nival high mountains, tundra-steppe high mountains, tundra high mountains and middle mountains.
Everywhere in the mountains are scattered the purest springs, streams with cold water. The largest alpine lake is Dzhulukol, located at the headwaters of Chulyshman. Its length is about 10 km. Among the most common tree species are pine, cedar, spruce, fir, birch. The real pride of the reserve are cedar alpine forests. In general, the flora of the reserve consists of more than 1500 species of higher vascular plants, 111 species of fungi and 272 species of lichens.
One of the main animal species living in the Altai taiga is the sable. Of the ungulates, reindeer, maral, Siberian goat and Siberian roe deer, mountain sheep, musk deer and so on live here. On the mountain ranges, the Siberian mountain goat is very common. Altai mountain sheep live in the south of the reserve and in the adjacent territory.