Bogdinsko-Baskunchakski Nature Reserve (russian: Богдинско-Баскунчакский) (also Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky) is a Russian '
zapovednik
Zapovednik (russian: заповедник, plural , from the Russian , 'sacred, prohibited from disturbance, committed o protect committed o heritage; ) is an established term on the territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which ...
' (strict nature reserve) in a semi-arid area around two notable features:
Lake Baskunchak
Lake Baskunchak (russian: Баскунчак; kk, Басқұншақ, translit=Basqunshaq) is a salt lake of 115 km² in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, located at , about 270 km north of the Caspian Sea, and 53 km east of the Volga. Sinc ...
, Russia's largest undrained salt lake, and Big Bogdo Mountain, the highest point (at 147 meters) in the
Caspian Depression
The Caspian Depression ( kk, Каспий маңы ойпаты, ''Kaspıı mańy oıpaty''; rus, Прикаспи́йская ни́зменность, p=prʲɪkɐˈspʲijskəjə ˈnʲizmʲɪnnəsʲtʲ, Caspian Lowland) or Pricaspian/Peri-Casp ...
and home to the "singing rocks". It is about halfway between
Volgograd
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...
and
Astrakhan
Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...
, placing it about 200 km north of the
Volga River
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchme ...
Delta, where the river enters the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
from the northwest. About 20 km east of the lake is the border with
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. Baskunchak has been a source of salt to Russia for centuries. The reserve is an important site on the bird migration route between northern Siberia and wintering regions. The reserve is situated in the
Akhtubinsky District of
Astrakhan Oblast.
Topography
The reserve lies in the trough of the Caspian Depression, just east of the Volga's present main floodplain. The boundaries wrap around the north, east and south shores of the lake, and the mountain is in a separate sector just south of the lake. The main features - the shores of Lake Baskunchak and Big Bogdo Mountain, are seated about 25 meters below sea level. The top of Big Bogdo is 130 meters above the terrain. The hill itself is a karst (limestone) formation with over 30 caves. It is growing approximately 1 mm in height each year due to the pressure of the underlying salt dome.
Roten Felsen am Bolschoje Bogdo.JPG , Red Rocks at the foot of Bolshoye Bogdo (Big Bogdo) Mountain
ПородыБогдо.jpg , "Singing Rock"; air flow over limestone formations causes unusual sounds
File:Закат на озере Баскунчак.jpg
Climate and Ecoregion
Bogdinsko-Baskunchakski is located in the northwest of the
Caspian lowland desert
The Caspian lowland desert ecoregion (WWF ID: PA1308) covers the north and southeast coasts of the Caspian Sea, including the deltas of the Volga River and Ural River in the northern region. While the region gets relatively low amounts of precipit ...
ecoregion. This region, on the north and northeast shores of the Caspian Sea, is characterized by sand dunes and ridges, salt soil, clay deserts (
takyrs), and in places solonchaks (shors) or salt pans of 30–40 cm thickness devoid of vegetation. The sedimentary landscape is recently exposed lake bed (during the Tertiary the Caspian Basin was connected across the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.)
The climate of Bogdinsko-Baskunchakski is ''
Humid continental climate, cool summer'' (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
(Dwb)). This climate is characterized by high variation in temperature, both daily and seasonally; with dry winters and cool summers.
Average annual temperature is 15.4 C. Annual precipitation averages 150 mm.
Flora and fauna
Aminals
![Aquila nipalensis 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Aquila_nipalensis_4.jpg)
Birds
![Pygmy cormorant - Aammiq Wetland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Pygmy_cormorant_-_Aammiq_Wetland.jpg)
Bogdo-Baskunchak Nature Reserve is also a site for many varieties ofeagles, such as the
Golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...
, the
Tawny eagle
The tawny eagle (''Aquila rapax'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. Its heavily feathered legs mark it as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as booted eagles.Helbig, A. J., Kocum, ...
, the
White-tailed eagle
The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diurnal raptors ...
and the endangered Russian
Steppe eagle
The steppe eagle (''Aquila nipalensis'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "booted ...
.
Other birds of prey are the
Saker falcon
The saker falcon (''Falco cherrug'') is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia ...
, the
Common kestrel
The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where n ...
, the
Eurasian hobby
The Eurasian hobby (''Falco subbuteo'') or just hobby, is a small, slim falcon. It belongs to a rather close-knit group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus '' Hypotriorchis''.
Taxonomy and systematics
The first formal description of ...
and the
Red-footed falcon.
Demoiselle cranes are among the
migrating birds and come back every spring to mate, nest, bring up their chicks and leave again for the winter. Some of the
water birds
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...
are the
Black-winged stilt
The black-winged stilt (''Himantopus himantopus'') is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family ( Recurvirostridae). The scientific name ''H. himantopus'' is sometimes applied to a single, almost cosmopolitan sp ...
, the
Pygmy cormorant
The pygmy cormorant (''Microcarbo pygmaeus'') is a member of the Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant) family of seabirds. It breeds in south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia. It is partially migratory, with northern populations wintering further ...
and the
Pied avocet
The pied avocet (''Recurvirostra avosetta'') is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and across the Palearctic to Central Asia then on to the Russian Far East. It is a ...
.
Mammals
The natural reserve is among the last places where the endangered
Saiga antelope
The saiga antelope (, ''Saiga tatarica''), or saiga, is a critically endangered antelope which during antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe spanning the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the northwest and Caucasus in t ...
s hope to recover from being hunted close to their extinction. There are several
carnivorous hunters, including the
Wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
, the
Red fox, the
Corsac fox
The corsac fox (''Vulpes corsac''), also known simply as a corsac, is a medium-sized fox found in steppes, semi-deserts and deserts in Central Asia, ranging into Mongolia and northern China. Since 2004, it has been classified as ''least concern ...
and the
Golden jackal
The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy ...
. Among the smaller predators are the
African wildcat
The African wildcat (''Felis lybica'') is a small wildcat species native to Africa, West and Central Asia up to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2022.
In Cyprus, an African wil ...
, the
Marbled polecat
The marbled polecat (''Vormela peregusna'') is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus ''Vormela'' within the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae. ''Vormela'' is from the German word , which means "little worm". The specific name ''pereg ...
, the
Stoat
The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...
and the
Steppe polecat.
Numerous
Rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
s serve as prey for the hunters, among them are various
ground squirrels
Ground squirrels are members of the squirrel family of rodents ( Sciuridae), which generally live on or in the ground, rather than trees. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known ...
(
Spermophilus
''Spermophilus'' is a genus of ground squirrels in the squirrel family. As traditionally defined the genus was very species-rich, ranging through Europe, Asia and North America, but this arrangement was found to be paraphyletic to the certa ...
),
meriones (such as
Meriones tamariscinus and
Meriones meridianus
The midday jird (''Meriones meridianus''), also called midday gerbil, is a rodent species in the family Muridae and native to sandy deserts in Central and East Asia. It has been listed on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern since 2008.
Descript ...
),
jerboas
Jerboas (from ar, جربوع ') are hopping desert rodents found throughout North Africa and Asia, and are members of the family Dipodidae. They tend to live in hot deserts.
When chased, jerboas can run at up to . Some species are preyed on b ...
(
Allactaga major
The great jerboa (''Allactaga major'') is a species of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It is found in Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It mainly lives in deserts.
Description
The great jerboa is the biggest of all spec ...
and
Allactaga elater
The small five-toed jerboa (''Allactaga elater'') is a rodent of the family Dipodidae and genus '' Allactaga'', that has five digits. They are hopping rodents of the rocky deserts in Asia. They have been found in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan ...
),
hamsters
Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The ...
(
Cricetus cricetus and
Cricetulus migratorius
The grey dwarf hamster, grey hamster or migratory hamster (''Cricetulus migratorius'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. Its range extends from Eastern Europe through the Middle East, Russia and Central Asia to Mongolia and western ...
), as well as some mice.
Reptiles
![Elaphe quatuorlineata2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Elaphe_quatuorlineata2.jpg)
Big Bogdo Mountain is the only habitat in Russia of the squeaky gecko
Alsophylax pipiens
''Alsophylax pipiens'', also known as the even-fingered gecko, is a species of gecko found in
Mongolia (Gobi Desert),
former USSR between Wolga and Ural; Kazakhstan (Caspian Sea to Lake Zaysan) south to Uzbekistan, N Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, NW ...
.
The other reptiles include the
spotted toadhead agama, the
steppe-runner and the lizard ''
Eremias velox'', as well as various snakes, including the
black whipsnake and the
four-lined snake
''Elaphe quatuorlineata'' (common names: four-lined snake, Bulgarian ratsnake) is a member of the family Colubridae. The four-lined snake is a non-venomous species and one of the largest of the European snakes.
Description
The species' common ...
.
Plants
Due to heat and lack of moisture, plant life is sparse but features highly specialized halophytes (salt-tolerant plants).
The
garden tulip usually blooms for less than a week, after some rain fell.
Ecotourism
Big Bogdo mountain is considered a sacred site by some Buddhists, and there is one trail open to visitors - a 2.5 km hike to Big Bogdo ("Trail Legends of the Holy Mountain") with an observation deck and informational placards. There is also driving tour escorted by reserve officers to the shore of the lake. Passes must be obtained from the reserve office in
Akhtubinsk
Akhtubinsk (russian: Ахту́бинск; kk, Ақтөбе, ''Aqtóbe'') is a town and the administrative center of Akhtubinsky District in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Akhtuba River (a tributary of the Volga), north ...
. As a strict nature reserve in a sensitive environment, however, most of the Reserve is closed to the general public and access is strictly guarded by patrols. Scientists and those with 'environmental education' purposes can make arrangements with reserve management for visits.
See also
*
List of Russian Nature Reserves (class 1a 'zapovedniks')
References
External links
Topographic Map of Reserve, Official website, in Russian
{{Russian Zapovedniks
Nature reserves in Russia
1997 establishments in Russia
Protected areas established in 1997
Geography of Astrakhan Oblast
Zapovednik