In our article we want to talk about the Dagestan reserve. This is a unique and beautiful place.
History of creation
Talk about creating a reserve in Dagestan was conducted in the early twenties. However, everything remained at the level of disputes regarding its location. During this period, several reserves were created. In the second half of the twentieth century, they again returned to this topic, choosing the right place. The reserve "Dagestan" was created in 1986. Its area was more than nineteen hectares. And it was organized to study and preserve the unique complexes of nature in the waters of the Kizlyar Bay (Caspian Sea). I must say that the reserve is one of the first places in the number of animals (more than 60 species), which are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
State Reserve "Dagestan" on its territory has a number of interesting objects. So, for example, there is a natural monument Sarkum dune, which is considered the largest in Eurasia. The reserve is also part of the ornithological territory of international importance as a habitat for many rare and endangered species (Kizlyar Bay). Through its land passes one of the main passageways of waterfowl.
Where is the Dagestan State Reserve located?
Where is the protected area located? The Dagestan Reserve is located in the Tarumovsky and Kumtorkalinsky districts of the Dagestan Republic. It consists of two sections: Kizlyar Bay with an area of more than 18 thousand hectares and Sarykum dunes with a total area of 0.6 thousand hectares. As a result, the entire protected area occupies 19.1 thousand hectares. In addition, the Dagestan State Reserve is surrounded by a protected area with a total area of 18.5 thousand hectares.
How can I get to the reserve?
If you wish, you can visit the reserve "Dagestan". How to get there, we will tell you in detail. The office of the reserve is located in the capital of Dagestan. You can get to Makhachkala by train from Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Baku, etc. There is an international airport and two bus stations from where flights depart to all regions of Russia.
If you plan to visit Kizlyar Bay, the closest village to it is Kochubey (Tarumovsky district of Dagestan). You can get here by any passing transport from Kizlyar or Makhachkala. There is also a train station. From Kochubey to the Kizlyar Bay, you can reach by car the 14th and 12th rounds, and then country roads.
To get to the Sarykum dunes, you first need to get to the village of Korkmaskala. It is approximately eighteen kilometers from Makhachkala. Kormakmaskalu can be reached by any passing transport. And then along the dirt road by car to the very cordon.
To get to the Agrakhansky nature reserve, you first need to get by bus to the village of Staroterechnoye. The approximate distance is 120 kilometers. Further, the reserve staff will take you to the Chakanny cordon, where there are all conditions for visitors.
To get to the Samursky reserve, you need to overcome about 250 kilometers from Makhachkala to one of the villages: Samur, Khtun, Tagirkent, Bil-Bil.
You can get to the Tlyaratinsky Nature Reserve by taxi, going from Makhachkala to Tlyarata, then employees will give you a lift. You need to have a passport with you, since the area is borderline.
Sarykum
The Dagestan Nature Reserve in Russia is the only one that boasts such a large dune, which is the largest in all of Eurasia. Its height reaches 262 meters. An interesting fact is that Sarykum is the only Dagestan place where for five months the average temperature is above twenty degrees.
And at its foot the maximum temperature for Dagestan (42.5 °) was recorded. This unusual phenomenon is explained by the strongest heating of sand. In the summer, the southern slopes heat up to sixty degrees. Even in April, the temperature already exceeds thirty degrees.
Animal world
The reserve "Dagestan" boasts a variety of wildlife. However, it should be noted that at present the complete inventory of the entire species composition of the local flora and fauna has not even been completed. At present, forty species of mammals, 250 species of birds, 70 subspecies and species of fish, 21 species of reptiles are registered in the reserve. Invertebrates are extremely poorly studied.
Fauna of Sarykum
The Dagestan Nature Reserve is world famous for the famous Sarykum dune, but its fauna, unfortunately, is poorly understood. It is only known that at the foot of the dune 148 species of weevils alone and 141 species of ground beetles were recorded. The plans of the scientific composition of the reserve to study more closely the new subspecies and species, which means that we can expect a replenishment of the species composition in the coming years.
The world of Lepidoptera dune is very interesting. Preliminary estimates indicate the presence of more than a thousand species of night and day butterflies.
Small reptiles are very numerous here. It is a fast lizard and round-headed. They are found both at the foot of the dune, and on its slopes. Here you can also find the striped lizard, snakes, western strangler, snakes. The Dagestansky nature reserve has collected on its territory a large number of birds listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation (Buzzard, black stork, white-headed vulture, kestrel, eagle owl, black vulture).
Sarykum, in fact, is the only place in Russia where rare, little-studied species are protected: the red-headed shrike, the Spanish Kamenka, the short-toed sparrow, and the stone bluebird.
Of the rare species, there is also a Mediterranean tortoise, collared airyenis, gyurza. Also in the reserve live white-breasted and eared hedgehogs, sandstones, bogey jerboa, field voles, wolf, brown hare, fox.
Vegetable world
The bay of the reserve is rich in aquatic plants. The coast has both meadow-bog, coastal, so deserted and semi-desert species.
The Kizlyar Bay itself is very shallow, and the water in it is quite strongly desalinated. Its bottom is covered with a significant layer of silt. Such conditions contribute to the development of surface and shallow-water vegetation: cattail narrow-leaved, lake reeds, and ordinary reed. The surface of the reach is covered with carpets of schistifolia, small mollusks, three-lobed duckweed, floating salvia. There are underwater meadows that surprise with the wealth of underwater plants.
Meadow vegetation is represented by thickets of reed and cattail. The height of the reed in the floodplains reaches five meters. Each year, these areas are flooded with water for a period of two to four months, and low-lying places can be under water all year round.
Plants such as wheatgrass, sand cornflower, panicled panic, Persian bindweed, blue alfalfa grow on the sandy shores of the sea. The steppes are covered with ears of wheat, comb, wormwood.
River and sea terraces are completely sown with hodgepodge plants. Also in the reserve there is semi-desert and desert vegetation. Only one Sarykum dune contains more than three hundred species, among which there are not only the rarest specimens, but also endangered species: sandy waida, astragalus, leafless juzgun, leafless eremosparton. Most of the dune is dry sands. The lower parts of the slopes are covered with vegetation. On the south side are the slopes of the Narat-Tyube ridge, which are dotted with unique plants.
