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Central Siberia Nature Reserve

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Central Siberia Nature Reserve ( Russian : Центрально-Сибирский заповедник ) (also Tsentralnosibirsky ) is a Russian ' zapovednik ' (strict nature reserve). 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 .

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23-610: The Central Siberia Reserve has a terrain that is mostly taiga (about 80% of the territory) and Yenisei floodplain meadows and wetlands (20%). It is located towards the northern edge of the taiga belt, and on the low hills of the west of the plateau. The reserve covers both sides of the Yenisei, and runs parallel to the Stony Tunguska river to the south. Central Siberia is located in the East Siberian taiga ecoregion,

46-484: A strict nature reserve, the Central Siberia Reserve is mostly closed to the general public, although scientists and those with 'environmental education' purposes can make arrangements with park management for visits. There are four 'ecotourist' routes in the reserve, however, that are open to the public, but require permits to be obtained in advance. Two of these routes are rafting trips on streams of

69-448: A trunk up to 1 m diameter. The crown is broad conic; both the main branches and the side branches are level, the side branches only rarely drooping. The shoots are dimorphic, with growth divided into long shoots (typically 5–30 cm long) and bearing several buds , and short shoots only 1–2 mm long with only a single bud. The leaves are needle-like, light green, 2–3 cm long; they turn bright yellow to orange before they fall in

92-594: A vast region between the Yenisei River and Lena River. Its northern border reaches the Arctic Circle, and its southern border reaches 52°N latitude. The dominant vegetation is light coniferous taiga with Larix gmelini forming the canopy in areas with low snow cover. This ecoregion is rich in minerals. The climate of the Central Siberia Reserve is Subarctic climate, without dry season ( Köppen climate classification Subarctic climate (Dfc)). This climate

115-462: Is adapted to a long period of winter rest; the warm winter weather in Britain can tempt it into leaf as early as the start of January, with the tender young leaves then being killed by the next frost. In its native region, daily minimum temperatures above freezing do not occur until late May or June, with no further frost until the brief summer is over. Larix gmelinii cone scales are used as food by

138-539: Is characterized by mild summers (only 1–3 months above 10 °C (50.0 °F)) and cold, snowy winters (coldest month below −3 °C (26.6 °F)). The plant life of the reserve has aspects of both boreal and arctic floral communities, and are representative of the low hills of the Central Siberian Plateau dominated by taiga forests. Typical trees are the Siberian pine ( Pinus sibirica ). At

161-546: 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

184-567: 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

207-509: 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

230-488: The Siberian tiger , Amur leopard , East Siberian brown bear , among others. Larix gmelinii 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. Larix gmelinii is a medium-sized deciduous coniferous tree reaching 10–30 m tall, rarely 40 m, with

253-673: 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

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276-595: 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

299-785: 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 ),

322-429: 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

345-724: The World Online accepts four varieties : Larix gmelinii forms enormous forests in the eastern Siberian taiga , growing at 50–1,200 m altitude on both boggy and well-drained soils, including on the shallow soils above permafrost . It is unique in two respects, being the northernmost tree in the world, reaching 73° 04' 32" N 102° E as creeping forms of the trees in the tundra of the Taymyr Peninsula, 72° 55' 07" N 106° 08' E as comparatively vertical growing single trees and small groups of trees, 72° 31' N 105° 03' E at Lukunsky grove and 72° 28' N 102° 15' E at Ary-Mas as

368-483: The autumn, leaving the variably downy reddish-brown shoots bare until the next spring. The cones are erect, ovoid, 1–2 cm (rarely 2.5 cm) long, with 15–25 moderately reflexed seed scales; they are green (rarely purple) when immature, turning brown and opening to release the seeds when mature, 3–5 months after pollination. The old cones commonly remain on the tree for many years, turning dull grey-black. The scientific name honours Johann Georg Gmelin . Due to

391-498: 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

414-658: The latitude of the Central Siberian Reserve (60 degrees North), the Siberian pine grows at 100–200 meters in altitude; farther south into Mongolia it is a mountain tree growing at 1,000-2,000 meters. There are stands of larch and other pine in the reserve. There are also lesser numbers of Siberian spruce ( Picea obovata ), mixed in stands with fir and cedar. Common understory bushes are blueberries, cranberries, and rhododendrum, with oxtails and sedges. The river valleys support extensive wetland meadows with reed-grass and forb plant communities and aquatic plants of

437-654: 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 . 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

460-558: The reserve, one is to river-side rock formations, and one is for birdwatchers. The main office is in the village of Bor ("Forest"), just to the south on the Yenisei. East Siberian taiga 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 (52° to 72° N, and 80° to 130° E). The climate in

483-410: The shallow oxbow lakes. Scientists on the reserve have recorded over 500 species of vascular plants. The reserve is known for large concentrations of elk along the Yenisei during winter. Overall, the terrestrial animal life of the reserve is that of the north central boreal forest: sable, reindeer, etc. The Yenisei is a flyway for migratory birds, and the reserve supports bird-watching excursions. As

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506-531: The species' variability, it has acquired numerous synonyms in the botanical literature, including L. cajanderi, L. dahurica, L. kamtschatica, L. komarovii, L. kurilensis, L. lubarskii, L. ochotensis . Dahurian larch intergrades with the closely related Siberian larch L. sibirica of central and western Siberia where their ranges meet along the Yenisei Valley; the resulting hybrid is named Larix × czekanowskii . As of April 2022 , Plants of

529-615: The subtundra sparse forests which are situated both in the Taymyr Peninsula, Khatanga river basin, and also the most cold-hardy tree in the world, tolerating temperatures below -70 °C in the Oymyakon – Verkhoyansk region of Yakutia . One tree in Yakutia was recorded as being 919 years old. Dahurian larch is occasionally grown in botanical gardens in Europe and North America; it is not an easy tree to grow in areas with mild winters as it

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