In the south of the Far East, in the center of the Khabarovsk Territory, where the right and left Bureya river basins are located, there are picturesque places with taiga forests, raging rivers with stone rapids and mountain peaks covered with snow. Beautiful lakes and thundering waterfalls delight the eye, unusual plants and rare animals surprise with their originality. The primitive nature and its non-triviality prompted the creation of the Bureya State Nature Reserve in these places in 1987.
Climate and vegetation
The reserve is surrounded by mountain ranges, where mountains and hills are replaced by flood river valleys.
Weather during the year under the influence of monsoon winds changes dramatically. The dominance of the Siberian anticyclone in winter leads to the fact that the temperature drops to -45 degrees. In summer, on the contrary, warm air from the ocean raises the temperature to +38. There are no frosts for only two months, the end of October is considered the beginning of the establishment of snow cover.
512 different plant species are found in the reserve, not including mosses and algae. Twenty-two species of them belong to unique and endangered representatives of the flora. Their list is diverse, rosaceae, asteraceae, cereals and sedges occupy the leading positions.
293 species of mosses were recorded, one of which, the Amurian Krythea, was unfamiliar to science. The group of lichens has 101 species, the most diverse of them are bush cladonia lichens, which are called deer moss.
Forests located on the watersheds are composed of conifers: larch and spruce. Sometimes there are also deciduous forests, consisting of poplars and chosenia. The vegetation of the hills consists of willow and cedar dwarfs, which also represent the plant world here.
Wildlife (Bureinsky Reserve)
Briefly telling about the animals inhabiting this area, it is still worth highlighting some species. After all, the animal world of the protected area is no less rich and amazing than the plant one.
From the Far Eastern world of animals, the bird from the black grouse family - the wild-boar, as well as the Amur waxwing - is especially interesting.
There are a lot of animals and birds that live in the taiga and mountain tundra: brown bear, reindeer, sable, royal chick, tundra partridge, pine nut. It is also possible to meet rare representatives of the fauna, such as the small sparrowhawk or the Siberian coal minder.
There are many rivers in the regions where the Bureinsky Reserve is located. There is a place for spawning taimen, grayling, lenok. Bureya is the only river in the world where four varieties of beautiful and swift grayling fish are found.
It was here that the Bureinsky and large-scaled grayling species were first discovered.
Animals
Bureya is a mountain river and has a wild character. To those who appear here for the first time, she seems kind, and after a while she can wash away from the shore tents and everything that was in them. Precipitation often falls in these places. The Bureinsky reserve is located in such impassable places that the animals that live in the vicinity of the Upper Bureya do not meet a person, since he does not appear there.
In the mountains, cedar elderberry predominates, there are a lot of lingonberries and blueberries, eating them, the owner of the taiga is a brown bear, which is found in the river basin, before fattening in the den, it walks fat. The Himalayan bear is rare, it is listed in the Red Book.
In the upper reaches of the river, where reindeer, horsetail and mushrooms grow, there is a sokzhoy - wild deer. Here you can also meet the red deer - red deer, roe deer, lynx and the smallest deer - musk deer.
In the meadows with copses in the lower reaches of the river there are a lot of roe deer, a large number of raccoon dogs and white hares.
A huge variety of fur animals: harza, ermine, otter, weasel, American mink, squirrel, sable. There are many wolves and raccoon dogs, and foxes rarely appear.
In the mountains, representatives of the rabbit-like, pikas, who are otherwise called haylords, often whistle.
Birds
Large animals of the Bureya Reserve on the Upper Bureya are not the main part of its "population". There are a lot of insects and arachnids. Birds live here, some of which fly to acquire offspring, while the other lives permanently in protected areas. Of the mammals, the most mouse-like rodents are: voles, lemmings. Often makes noise and cedar at the sight of a large beast or person.
Grouse is commonly found in the forests of the reserve from commercial birds. Thanks to large ponds, there is enough fish that birds of prey feed on. Many migratory birds, such as geese, cranes, ducks, herons and waders, which make nests in river valleys. Birds are found everywhere: near ponds, near roads, in forests, in meadows. These are lapwings, pheasants, storks that make nests on tall trees standing among meadows.
Birds that live near water feed on amphibians (Far Eastern toads, frogs, tree frogs, Siberian coals) and mollusks.
Reptiles
Reptiles are represented by a squad of scaly - lizards and snakes. Of the lizards in the reserve, as in the whole of Primorye, there is only one species - the viviparous lizard, but the snake lives in three families. In the mountain valleys you can find Japanese snake, very rarely - Amur snake, most often from non-poisonous snakes there is a patterned snake.
Of the venomous snakes, it is worth highlighting the muzzles and the Sakhalin viper, which is listed in the Red Book of the Amur Region
Insects
The meadows of the reserve are generously inhabited by various insects. Grasshoppers, which number up to 50 different individuals. Butterflies are quite rare species, for example, ksut.
There are more than 20 varieties of dragonflies. And in total there are more than 1 thousand species of insects. All this splendor can be seen by visiting the Bureinsky Reserve.
Vegetation
In the reserve, vegetation coverings are of forest, swamp, meadow, shrub, and mountain-tundra types. Most of the area is occupied by forests and mountain-tundra plants.
Forest types of plants include larch, spruce, chosenia-poplar, creeping from willow and cedar dwarf forests.
The main forest species of the reserve is Gmelin larch. Deciduous forests dominate in the river valleys of large rivers, where fragrant poplar, hearty willow, birch, and chosenia grow.
A message about the plants of the Bureinsky reserve will be incomplete without a story about the specific natural conditions of the area. Permafrost, a sharp change in temperature significantly limit the growth of trees. Due to the difficult terrain, the vegetation is divided into three levels: forest, subalpine and char.
Genetic groups
The flora of this territory has a colorful composition. Five groups are allocated:
- Nemoral - includes an Asian purebred, Pennsylvania-based lily, branchy pine forest, and red-flowered undergrowth.
- Taiga-boreal - consists of sour, northern linnaea, one-sided ramishia, one-flowered corn.
- Angarid - consists of black-headed sedge, skinny birch, ledum, dissected wormwood.
- Beringian - it includes streptopod streptopus, Ud clintonia, ayan aisle.
- Alpine - it belongs to the golden rhododendrons, a bluish phyllodoc.
The Bureinsky Reserve has collected on its territory a huge number of plants, of which sedge plants include 59 different species, rosaceae - 37, bluegrass - 34, and asteraceae - 44. Most of these plants grow in the limiting distribution area.
Tourist routes
The Bureya Nature Reserve, whose animals and plants are of particular interest, attracts a large number of tourists. There are walking and sand-water routes.
The journey begins with a visit to the Dusse Alin ridge and lasts 11 days. The best time to visit these beautiful places is in August and September. This is an 80 km hiking trail. Accommodation is organized in a campground and in huts. To participate in the tour you need to evaluate your physical fitness (you need an average level).
There is also a transport scheme of the route, allowing you to abandon the group on a Mi-8 helicopter from Khabarovsk to Lake Karbakhon, where the main camp is located. Travel time is 3 hours, and the distance is 550 km.
They also organize car deliveries, followed by a twenty-kilometer walking tour to the area. In time, it will take two weeks.
On any route you can meet with wild animals: brown bear, wolverine, musk deer and reindeer; see a kite, grouse, partridge.
You can participate in scuba diving to the bottom of the lake to a depth of 24 m. Rafting along the Bureya River is also organized. The main mode of transport in summer is rafts and boats, and in winter snowmobiles and a helicopter, which can fly to places far from the river. In the northern part is the old "royal road", now inactive. On the southeast side, now abandoned pack paths can be found.
