(Also: Bureinsky Zapovednik) , iucn_category = , photo = File:Озеро Медвежье.jpg , photo_caption = Bear Lake, Bureya Zapovednik , photo_width=300 , map = Russia , relief = yes , map_caption = Location of Reserve , location =

Dusse-Alin The Dusse-Alin (russian: Дуссе-Алинь) is a mountain range in Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Far East.Google Earth Although it is named after this range, the Dusse-Alin Tunnel of the Baikal–Amur Mainline is located about to the southwest. ...

Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...

, nearest_city =

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

, coordinates = , coords_ref = , area = , established = , website=http://zapbureya.ru/ , governing_body=

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia) The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство природных ресурсов и экологии Российской Федерации) is a ministry of the Government of Rus ...

Bureya Nature Reserve (russian: Буреинский заповедник) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

(

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 whi ...

) about 200 km northwest of the city of

, in the Verkhnebureinsky District of

, in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

. The territory is one of mountain tundra, rivers and lakes, and taiga forests. It includes the headwaters of the left and right tributaries of the Bureya River, part of the lower

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

basin. The reserve was created in 1987, and covers an area of .

Topography

The Bureya Reserve covers the Left Bureya and Right Bureya River, which combine into the Bureya River as it flows south into the

. It is located in the central and southern part of the

. The area is surrounded by mountain ranges - the Ezop Range to the northwest, the

Yam-Alin The Yam-Alin (russian: Ям-Алинь) is a mountain range in Amur Oblast and Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Far East.Google Earth The range is part of the Ezop/Yam-Alin volcanic zone. History The range is located in a remote area and was unexplored ...

to the north and the

Bureya Range , photo = Korbohon.jpg , photo_alt = , photo_caption = View of Korbokhon lake at the northern end of the range , country_type = , country = Russia , country1 = , count ...

to the south. The mountains in the reserve itself range in height from to , and because the reserve sits at the meeting points of several faults. The tops of the river valleys are often convex-shaped bald mountains. The headwaters of many streams are glacial cirques, and lower levels along the rivers feature floodplains and lakes; in between the river valleys are generally too steep for terraces and the tributaries of the Bureya are often in rapids. Because the winters are relatively dry, the Spring floods are small; the summer floods are larger due to the seasonal rains. The reserve is remote: the closest town, Sophisk, is 40 km west of the border. There are no roads in the reserve. Korbohon

Climate and Ecoregion

Bureya is the largest protected area in the " Okhotsk-Manchurian taiga" ecoregion. This region of coniferous taiga is at the northernmost extent of Manchurian flora communities, while also supporting the southwestern range of Okhostsk-Kamchatka/Beringia communities. It is affected by the climatic influence of the Pacific Ocean, which causes warmer winters and cooler summers than areas further from the ocean. The reserve is important for large mammals including bear, wolverine and sable. Bureya has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

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 ...

''Dwc''). characterized by cool summers, and very dry cold winters, moderated slightly in the case of Bureya by the relative proximity of the ocean.

Flora and fauna

The Bureya Reserve has never been subject to the commercial harvesting of timber; any clearing of tree cover has come from natural causes (fires, landslides). The peaks are bare rock with lichen, below that is a zone of alpine meadows. Below 1,100 meters the forest zone begins; the middle slopes are covered with larch forests, spruce-fir forests, thickets of cedar, and on the lowest level there are floodplain intra-zonal forests. The animals are represented by the typical Okhotsk-Kamchatka forest species, including brown bear, ermine, sable, hare, squirrel, and wolverine. Upper elevations feature alpine species such as ptarmigan and pika. The reserve has recorded 190 species of birds, with 89 known to nest in the territory.

Management

The reserve has a visitor center and nature museum open to the public. The park sponsors 3-hour helicopter tours of the territory, rafting trips on the Right Bureya River, and allows limited access to three hiking trails in supervised groups with permits. The hiking trails are to notable sights - Bear Lake, Lake Korbohon, "The Kings Highway", and waterfalls of the Kuraygagna River.

References

External links