Fauna and flora of Baikal

Baikal is the most endemic reservoir on the planet. His many animals and plants no longer meet anywhere in the world. In total, there are more than 2,600 species of inhabitants. We will find out what the flora of Lake Baikal is, and also its fauna.

Vegetable world

In the Baikal, special corals grow, which locals call a sea sponge. In water, they are soft, and harden on air. In the middle of summer mucous and fibrous representatives of fauna are shown in shallow water. The coastal zone boasts a wide variety of vegetation. This relic firs, stilted trees with naked roots, healing cedars, scented poplar of a bizarre shape, a variety of lichens, mosses and much more.

The Baikal mountains are mostly covered with a dense coniferous forest. It is represented by cedars, larch, fir, pine, fir and birch. In the lowlands grow currant bushes, balsamic poplars, Siberian rosemary and low alder.

It should be noted that the local vegetation is very diverse. But let us briefly consider the flora of Lake Baikal, which is of the greatest interest.

Siberian cedar

Siberian cedar, which grows on Lake Baikal, is a fairly powerful tree. In diameter, it reaches up to 1.8 meters, and in height - about 40 meters. Cedar lives up to half a century, and after six decades begins to give a rich harvest of nuts. For this, the locals nicknamed him a Siberian bread tree. From one trunk you can collect more than ten kilograms of nuts. But not every year, because cones mature only 14-15 months.

Earlier from the nuts were made milk, sour cream, halva and oil (instead of sunflower). But now these crafts are undeservedly forgotten. Today, only nuts, such as fruits and cedar wood, are of interest. It has a fuzzy but steady odor that can scare off the moth for dozens of years.

Rhododendrons

A unique representative of the flora of Lake Baikal is Ledum, or, as it is also called, the Daurian rhododendron. He is considered the harbinger of the Baikal spring, because he blooms the very first when there is no greenery in the district. At this time, Ledum is beautifully coloring the coastal zone in pink shades with the petals of its flowers. Most often this plant forms thickets throughout Eastern Siberia.

Following the wild rosemary, Sagaan-Dal, the Adams rhododendron, begins to bloom. In the people it is known as the "white wing" or grass of longevity. This plant is used for toning and stimulating the kidneys, heart and brain. Also, the rhododendron of Adams is famous for its opaque effect. In a glass of tea add no more than five leaves of the flower. Drink is obtained with a strong, but pleasant aroma.

You can see the flowering of the rhododendron, a representative of the Baikal flora, in the photo above. It is easy to imagine what beauty is revealed if you see the flowering of whole thickets of this plant.

Thyme

This plant is also called Bogorodskaya grass. It grows on steppe meadows, stony slopes and open sandy areas. Distributed in Transbaikalia and the Baikal region. All summer, pleases the eye with beautiful pink flowers, which are perfectly visible on the sandy hills.

Thyme contains about one percent of essential oils. Therefore, it is enough to mash a twig in your hands to feel a characteristic and stable odor.

Decoctions and infusions of Bogorodskaya grass are widely used for medicinal purposes, to strengthen the immune system, to eliminate insomnia, nervous diseases and in general to prolong life. For the preparation of a medicine, one or two tablespoons of dried grass and one hundred milliliters of boiling water are usually taken. Shamans, who successfully use the flora of Lake Baikal, throw only a pinch of thyme into the fire for the ritual of purification.

Cheremsha

Sweet cherry grows in almost all areas of Lake Baikal. In some places it forms very thickets.

Begin to collect and sell this representative of the flora in May-June. At this time, the leaves and stems are not yet strong and therefore juicy and soft. Sweet cherry has a wide application in cooking. It is used instead of green onions, although it smells of garlic. Also, the grass is added to salads, meat dishes, pie fillings and salted as sauerkraut.

Rhodiola rosea

Perhaps all the locals know which representative of the flora of Lake Baikal has the properties of ginseng. It is rhodiola pink, or golden root, as it is also called. Blooms in June-July almost throughout the Baikal on stony slopes, rocks and in the cracks of the mountains.

The plant perfectly removes fatigue and stimulates all the processes of the body. For medicinal purposes, only rhizomes are used that are harvested during the flowering period. Dig out the largest specimens, clean, cut and dry in the shade. After that, a liquid extract is prepared for alcohol. It is noteworthy that the root of the root of the golden root in the same place can be held only once in ten years.

Lingonberry

Very rich in useful and therapeutic flora Baikal. Another popular home remedy is cowberry. It grows in the Siberian forests, often forming a continuous carpet of dense thickets. With a good harvest for a few hours you can collect a full bucket of berries. They ripen in August-September.

Lingonberry is good as a febrifuge and diaphoretic. But also it is an excellent addition to hot meat or tea in the form of jam. Berry is perfectly stored in sugar, water and in the freezer.

Fauna of Baikal

The variety and beauty of the flora and fauna of the lake does not leave anyone indifferent. It is enough to look at the photos of the flora and fauna of Lake Baikal, although the living inhabitants are even more shocking.

In the lake itself there is a unique sponge, which scientists have recently been classified as an animal. It is thanks to the activity of this creature that the water remains crystal clear. Such conditions have a great effect on the diversity of fish. Baikal is home to cod, sturgeon, salmon, catfish and carp species, as well as omul, golomyanka, grayling, perch, pike and whitefish. But the most famous and popular endemic of the lake can be called a seal.

In the forests, Siberian animals such as bears, wolves, foxes, hares and sables live. Also, tourists on their way can meet a ferret, a wolverine, an ermine, a marmot, a squirrel, elk, a tarbagan, a wild boar, a deer and a wild goat.

There are a lot of different animals on Lake Baikal, but we will only consider the most interesting representatives of the fauna.

Omul

Omul is one of numerous commercial species of Lake Baikal. This fish is not the largest (weighing up to five kilograms and a length of up to fifty centimeters). But in the lake there is a subspecies, which is endemic. In total, there are four populations: Severobaikalsk, Selengin, ambassadors and Chivirkuysky omul.

Today in Lake Baikal, the flora and fauna of which is very diverse, experts number about thirty thousand heads of these fish. Compared with the previous years, their population is growing slightly. The omul does not live more than a quarter of a century. It feeds on invertebrates, crustaceans and young growth of other fish. The Baikal subspecies is valued because of its unique salty and delicate taste.

Golomyanka

The most numerous fish of Lake Baikal can rightly be called a golomyanka. Its total biomass and abundance is twice that of other species. It is interesting that the golomyanka gives birth to live fry, and does not spawn, like the others. Such a method of breeding is no longer found in any of the known fish of the world.

Also attracts the attention of the golomyanka body. It is half fat and therefore translucent. Through the tail of a large specimen, you can even read the text written in large letters.

Golomyanka lives at all depths: both on the bottom and on the surface. Therefore, it is equally dispersed throughout the water column. This fish is the main source of food for the seal, which is just as interesting as other endemic representatives of the flora and fauna of Lake Baikal.

Seal

The Baikal seal is the only seal in the world that lives in fresh water. It is distributed throughout the lake, but especially in its middle and northern parts. To date, experts have about one hundred thousand seals. They weigh 50-130 kilograms, and in length the body of the largest individual reaches almost two meters. These seals live 55 years, they feed on golomyanka and Baikal bullhead.

This is a very friendly, curious and easily trained animal. Nerpas often swim to the drifting vessels and are very near. It's amazing that these seals learned to breathe under the ice through the air. With their front paws, they tear a hole one or two meters in diameter. And the animal periodically removes ice from it to maintain the size. But this is the main thing, and around are scattered smaller additional holes.

Nerpa is the peak of the food chain of the Baikal ecosystem. The only danger to her is only a man. Poachers are destroying more cubs with white fur, which is highly valued in their circles.

Barguzin Sable

This legendary animal is found not only on Baikal, but also throughout the taiga of Russia. Sable is called soft gold, because it has a beautiful, durable, and therefore expensive fur. And the Barguzin form due to the darkest skin was generally considered a godsend at auctions. Because of this, the animal almost died out in the Soviet era, when they began to exterminate the unique flora and fauna of Lake Baikal.

Sable is not the largest animal, the body in length reaches about half a meter. But he has a twenty-centimeters fluffy and beautiful tail. He prefers to dwell in cedars, in the upper reaches of mountain streams, thickets and among stone placers. High activity sable shows in the evening and in the morning, during the hunt.

Birds of Baikal

In the vicinity of Lake Baikal, ordinary forest birds live, and the lake itself, because of the abundance of food, attracts sea anglers. Most often there are various ducks who like to gather on the water in large flocks. Rocky islands densely populate seagulls, and over open areas hover black cormorants. On the banks you can rarely see swans-screamers, geese, black-eared loons and gray herons.

Eagles use special respect from local residents. There are seven species inhabiting Baikal. These are eagles-longtails, white-tailed eagles, steppe eagles, eagle-dwarfs, large eagles, golden eagles and burial grounds. There is no such diversity anywhere in Asia.

So, the flora and fauna of Lake Baikal was briefly considered. Now you know which animals and plants are found in this amazing place.