Reserve "Azas": animals and plants. The history of the reserve "Azas"

It is located in the center of the Todzha depression in the Republic of Tuva, founded in 1985. Has an area of 300.4 hectares. "Azas" is a reserve, a short "biography" of which sounds like this. In this article we will try to tell you more about this wonderful place.

From the history of creation

"Azas" is a nature reserve created in 1985 on the basis of the national reserve "Azas". The main goal is to protect and study the unique and typical ecosystems of the Todzha basin and its surrounding mountains, protect the animal and plant life of Southern Siberia.

Geographical features

The reserve "Azas" is located in the area of the former ice cover, which created a unique relief. The bottom of the basin increases from 850 to 2000 meters from west to east. It is surrounded by uplands, reaching a height of 2900 meters.

The mountain rivers of the reserve are marked by rapids, clamps and waterfalls. Their waters are impeccably clean and transparent - through them you can see the pebble bottom. The largest rivers of the reserve are Sorug and Azas.

The climate is moderately wet and sharply continental. Winter in these places is calm and very cold. Summer is pretty cool - summer frosts also happen.

The minimum temperature of January can reach -54 ° С, but in the last 15 years it has not fallen below -49 ° С. The average daily air temperature in January is -28.7 ºC, in July +14.6 ºC.

Geology

Paleozoic and Proterozoic rocks - conglomerates, sandstones, limestones, gneisses, crystalline schists, porphyrites, granite intrusions participate in the geological structure of this territory. In the east, they are blocked by a thick layer of tuffs and basalts.

Vegetable world

The reserve "Azas" is distinguished by a great variety of vegetation. It is represented by various types - meadows, steppes, bogs, tundra. The highest vascular plants are represented by 909 species, most of which are found in Eurasia and Asia.

The territory of the reserve is inhabited by more than 20 species of various ferns, located in places with high humidity. The family of pine trees includes 5 species of trees, including larch, cedar and Siberian pine.

A significant role in the formation of the landscape is played by birch (fluffy and dangling) and tree-like willows, which grow on stony soils along the banks of rivers and lakes.

"Azas" is a reserve of Russia, under protection of which there are flowering plants. These include the Venus shoe, the orchis shlomonosny, the saussure of Dorogostaisky.

"Azas" is a reserve with more than 200 medicinal plants - spiraea (medium and dubkovolistnaya), needle-shaped dog-rose, berry bushes, thick-bodied balan, Siberian mountain ash and others.

To the decorative species growing on the territory of the reserve, it is necessary to attribute a large variety of buttercup and composite, all kinds of orchids and most lily.

In the lakes and marshes you can find sedge and marsh cranberries. More than 6% of the territory of the reserve "Azas" is covered by marshy light forests. The edible berries, except cranberries, include blueberries, cranberries and blueberries growing in the mountain taiga forests, and black currant in the valley forests, which reaches a height of 3 m, the red currant, along the creeks the ramson or onions win victorious.

The vegetation cover of the reserve is the predominance of mountain taiga forests (most often cedar and deciduous forests), on the slopes - steppes predominate, tundra-goltz communities are formed at the foot of the slopes.

Tundra shrubs are represented by juniper communities with a predominance of the Adams rhododendron.

Reserve "Azas": animals

The fauna of the reserve is typical for this mountainous region. Today it is represented by 51 species of mammals, 23 of which are considered rare or disappearing.

The most diverse on these lands is a detachment of rodents. In the deciduous, cedar and mixed forests there is a common squirrel. In the high mountains among the tundras and meadows live gopher colonies of long-tailed. In the spring, the chipmunk awakens in the reserve. This animal is considered quite rare here.

Small rodents are represented by the red-gray and red voles, the eco-vole, the Asian forest mouse. Often there is muskrat, but its population is small due to the lack of feed, due to the deep freezing of water bodies.

Tuva Beaver

This animal should be told in more detail. The first mention of Tuvan beavers appeared at the end of the XIX century - they were found in the upper Yenisei. Local residents argue that this animal was revered as sacred, so hunting for it was banned. At the same time, in the early 1960s, the population of beavers living on the Azas River was only 24 individuals. Today this figure has increased more than 3 times.

Beavers prefer to settle on sites with great depth, slow current and high banks. Of course, for them the supply of food resources is important.

The reserve "Azas" is a place where beavers survive in very severe conditions - a limited food base, lack of sufficient space for equipping burrows. This explains their low fertility.

Predators and other animals

In the reserve, the number of wolves does not exceed 60 individuals. They feed on marals and roe deer. The constant inhabitants of the reserve were brown bears, who in the early summer choose their places with grassy vegetation. In autumn they go to the taiga, sometimes prey on ungulates.

The sable population is small - no more than three animals per 1000 hectares. He eats berries, nuts, rodents. But weasel and ermine are represented here extensively. Sometimes you can meet a wolverine, and in the aquatic environment there is an American mink and a river otter.

Elks live on the whole territory of the reserve, which are under special protection.

Birds

Lakes are inhabited by black-throated loons, the Anseriformes inhabit small and medium-sized taiga lakes.

The thickets of water and coastal vegetation of Lake Azas are good for nesting ducks. Of these, the most common wiggly, mallard, teal teal, shirokonoska, gray duck.

Representative of birds of prey is a goshawk, common buzzard and sparrowfish, hunting for small birds - tits and sparrows.

The vultures live in valleys of taiga rivers and on Lake Azas. The white-tailed eagle is the largest bird of prey in the reserve. They arrive in early April. Their numbers are stable and do not cause fear.

In the open and forest marshy areas a gray crane settles.

"Azas" - a reserve, a photo of which you can see in our article, has become a permanent habitat for 9 species of owls. The largest predator among birds is the long-tailed owl. Much less often you can meet a swamp owl, the hawk flies into the reserve only during seasonal migrations. In the spring you can hear how the eagle owls. Small owls live in dark coniferous forests.

In late May - early June, huge swarms of swarms feed on the surface of the water. In the reserve are common white-tailed, black and needle-tailed swifts. Among the rare and endangered birds on the territory of the reserve there are an osprey, white-tailed eagle, a black stork, a golden eagle, a saker.

Amphibians

To the group of amphibians that inhabit the reserve "Azas", there is a Siberian angler and a sharp-pointed frog that are spread over moistened places.

Reptiles on this territory are few in number, and lizards (quick and viviparous), a mackerel ordinary and an ordinary viper are rare.

Tourist paradise

The reserve "Azas" is the most beautiful high-altitude landscapes with volcanoes, canyons, circuses, mineral springs and countless lakes. The territory of the reserve includes 18 sacred places, which is worn by the indigenous population - Todzhan Tuvans. A special attraction of these places are the Arzhaans (Beech-Sorug, Oorash).

In the reserve tourist routes are being developed, which introduce visitors to high-mountainous and taiga ecosystems, with cult rituals conducted at medical sources, with everyday life of reindeer herders.

Lake Azas is a natural monument of this land. It is located at an altitude of 944 meters. It can be visited during a one-day excursion.

Not less interesting are the large border lakes of the reserve - Kadysh and Mani-Khol. Their maximum depth reaches 100 meters.

In the highlands there are picturesque volcanoes, on mountain rivers - waterfalls and canyons. This landscape contrasts with the colorfulness of the alpine meadows.