Reserve "Magadansky": flora and fauna

The Magadan Reserve was founded in 1982. It includes a wide variety of natural complexes and landscapes of the Magadan region. This object is located on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk.

The reserve of Magadansky consists of several sections, which are located at a sufficient distance from each other. They are inaccessible, there are no transport routes and settlements. The sites to which the Magadan Reserve is divided vary greatly in climatic conditions, terrain, flora and fauna. We will talk about the plant and animal life of this object today.

Forests

More than half of the entire territory is covered with forests. Basically they are coniferous. Larch Kayandera - the main forest forming breed. Larch forests are the most common type on the territory of the reserve. They cover more than half of the forests. Here there are 7 types of larch forests. The most common are stellite-moss. They occupy waterlogged, insufficiently drained terraces, trails of slopes. The second breed, which is widely distributed here, is the cedar stlanik. This species in the reserve is found everywhere in the form of thickets, and under the canopy of larch forests. They cover about a third of the forest area. Cedar-stlanic are also found on the slopes of the mountains, rising above the border of larch woodlands. Mountain tundra and loaches are even higher. Along the creeks and rivers, where there is no permafrost, the belt forests grow. Their strip is the more productive and wider, the more significant the watercourse. Only in the composition of them there are chozenia and poplar, alder and tree-like willows. In addition, there is the greatest wealth and diversity of plant associations.

Thanks to the codewords along the major rivers, relict valley poplar-Chosenia forests are formed. Their main breed is chozenia large-scaly, and also poplar fragrant. Birch flat-leaf and larch occur, which reach maximum productivity in these places. There are also tree-like willows. In the reserve, despite the developed hydrosystem, these forests are small by area. Stone-birch, alder, and white belts are widespread. The smallest areas are forests, in which grows aspen and Siberian spruce.

Undergrowth

As for the undergrowth, its main components are: alder, strawberry, mountain ashberry, Asian birdwhip, edible honeysuckle, spruce and ivory, Stevena, duck-billed and needle-shaped, birches of Middendorf. In the subordinate tiers of shrubs dominate the rosemary roam, cowberry, siksha bisexual, blueberry.

In the moss-lichen layer, different types of green mosses predominate, sphagnum mosses occur in poorly drained areas.

Features of the reserve sites

Characterizing the reserve Magadansky from the point of view of its sites, it should be noted that the vertical zonality of vegetation is common to them. It is especially evident in the Olsky area, where there are many mountains. It is the most southerly. This site is of particular interest. Mountainous terrain and the marine climate determine the uniqueness of the local vegetation. On the Olsky site (the reserve of Magadan) larch is absent, but the vast areas are covered with thickets of cedar elfin. In addition, the mountain tundra also occupies a large area. On the slopes of the mountains there are pure stone birch forests. Topo-Chosenia forests occur in river valleys, small in length. In the upper reaches they are replaced by impenetrable thickets of cedar elfin and alder. In floodplains, common and high-grass mixed-grass grasses are common. Yamskoye lesnichestvo (mainland part of it) includes a place of distribution of Siberian spruce. These plants of the Magadan Reserve are a relic of the Magadan Region. Spruce does not form a pure plantation. It occurs as an integral part of floodplain larch forests, and sometimes poplar-Chosenia forests.

We now turn to the characterization of animals inhabiting the Magadan Reserve. Photos and places of their habitation are presented below.

Terrestrial mammals

Of the most common mammals you can note chipmunk, red voles, hare, hawk, fox, brown bear, ermine, sable, American mink. Los in these places are also numerous. To species that live in all areas, but whose density of settlement is somewhat lower, include a flying squirrel, ordinary squirrel, weasel, vole-housekeeper, wolverine. In all the plots, in addition, lynxes were observed at the Magadan Reserve. These animals belong to one of the rarest species in the reserve. Lynx (pictured above) is found on forest plots. Because of the expensive and original fur, this animal was persecuted before the creation of the reserve.

For a number of species, conditions necessary for existence exist only in certain areas. For example, the coastal slopes of Yamsky and Olsky are the only places in the reserve where the black-capped marmot lives. Such animals as the wolf, forest lemmings, reindeer and muskrat are found only in Seimchan and Kava-Chelomjinsky areas. Only the last recorded Asian mouse and Far Eastern shrew.

Red-gray and red voles, chipmunk, vole-housekeeper and forest lemmings are inhabitants of taiga fauna, which are typical for the Magadan region as a whole. One of the rodents most rare on Earth is the Amur Lemming. It can be found only in eastern Siberia.

Marine mammals

As for marine mammals, the species that is most widely distributed in the Magadan Reserve is the seal of the lagga (pictured above). This animal prefers to stay near the coastline for the entire ice-free period. It arranges deposits during low tides, resting on stony scythes or on a bare shore. Akiba, or ringed seal, occurs mainly along the coast of the Koni Peninsula. Lahtak, or sea hare is quite common in the waters of the reserve. It is most often found singly, near the shore. On the island Matykil (refers to the Yamsky Islands), there is only one large field, which includes about 60 individuals. There is also the only rookery of the sea lions in the Magadan Reserve. They leave this rookery in autumn, going to places south of it. Then, in the spring, they reappear here for the product of offspring.

Whales

The most common whale that lives in the waters of the reserve is the killer whale. It is most numerous near the Koni peninsula. In the Sea of Okhotsk, along its entire northern part, there is a sharply pointed, or small, minke whale. He often visits coastal shallow areas. In summer, the minke whale usually comes across the Koni peninsula.

Extremely rare in the reserve is a gray whale. It is known only about several meetings with him during the entire existence of the reserve we are interested in. Occasionally, in the coastal waters, sea pigs, beluga whales, and lionfishes come by chance.

Amphibians

We continue to talk about the fauna of such an object as the reserve of Magadan. The description of amphibians living here does not take much time. They include only two kinds. A representative of the tailed amphibians is the Siberian fart, and the Siberian frog is tailless. The Siberian angler (pictured above) lives on all the sites of the Magadan Reserve. The Siberian frog is met by disconnected populations. It can be found on the territory of the reserve only in the basins of the Taui, Kolyma, Yama, and Kava rivers.

Fish

Among the migratory fish, the most common species are chum, pink salmon, coho salmon. Separately there are sockeye salmon and chinook salmon. On the rivers of Chelomja and Yama there are natural spawning grounds for salmon, the territory of which is considered the largest in Okhotor. In the largest rivers on the territory of this reserve (Kava, Yama, Chelomja) numerous kunja, char, grayling are numerous. The latter is the most common inhabitant of the rivers of the Magadan Reserve. Malma is also one of the most numerous.

Birds

As for the avifauna, it does not differ in any way from the region peculiar to the Okhotsk-Kolyma region. On the territory of the reserve you can find representatives of 13 detachments that live in the northeast of Russia. In the Taui lowland, where the Kava-Chembuljan area is located with many old and thermokarst lakes, one of the main reserves of waterfowl is located. Here nestle taiga bean, swan-screamer, chirk (cod and whistle), pintail, wig, mallard, broad-beaked, large and medium-sized crumbs. Typical for eastern Siberia species (killer whale, teal-clawtun, Kamenushka and American sung) give the Far Eastern fishes a waterfowl fauna. In valleys of rivers, there are often a stone capercaillie, a white grouse, hazel grouse.

Protection of anseriformes

Reserves of the Magadan region are very important for the protection of natural diversity. In particular, Magadansky plays a very important role in guarding the swarms of anseriformes that fly through its territory. The fact is that all areas are located on the main migration routes of birds. Before the reserve was established, intensive hunting was conducted in the feeding areas of the schools and at the passes. Through the territory occupied by the State Natural Reserve "Magadansky", a significant part of swans, geese, and some species of ducks migrate in the extreme north-east of our country.