The Daurian Nature Reserve (Даурский заповедник ''Daurskiy zapavyednik'') 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 whi ...

' (strict nature reserve) situated in the southern part of the

Zabaykalsky Krai Zabaykalsky Krai ( rus, Забайкальский край, r=Zabaikal'skii krai, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲskʲɪj kraj, lit. "Transbaikal krai"; bua, Yбэр Байгалай хизаар, Uber Baigalai Xizaar) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai) t ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, Russia, close to the border with

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. It is part of a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

named "The Landscapes of Dauria". The reserve has been established in 1987 to protect the dry steppes and wetlands of South Siberia. It is contiguous with the Dornod Mongol Biosphere Reserve in Mongolia, a area of steppe immediately to the south. The reserve comprises 222,965.00 ha, of which about 173,201.00 ha constitute the buffer zone. The core area is of about 49,764.00 ha and is divided into 9 plots. The buffer zone of the reserve covers the Torey Lakes, two large lakes called Barun-Torey and Zun-Torey.

Ecoregion and climate

The Daurian Reserve is located in the

Daurian forest steppe The Daurian forest steppe ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0804) is a band of grassland, shrub terrain, and mixed forests in northeast Mongolia and the region of Siberia, Russia that follows the course of the Onon River and Ulz River. The region has been de ...

ecoregion, a band of grassland, shrub terrain, and mixed forests in northeast

and a portion of Siberia, Russia. The climate at the Daurian Reserve is '' Subarctic climate, dry winter'' (

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 ...

Subartic climate(Dwc)). This climate is characterized by mild summers (only 1-3 months above ) and cold winters having monthly precipitation less than one-tenth of the wettest summer month.

Flora and fauna

The vertebrate fauna includes 48 mammal species, 317 bird species, 3 reptile species, 3 amphibian species and 4 species of fish. In addition, there are about 800 species of insects. The reserve also contains 1 colony of the rare ''

Iris potaninii ''Iris potaninii'' is a species in the genus '' Iris'', it is also in the subgenus of '' Iris'' and in the ''Psammiris'' section. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Siberia in Russia, Mongolia and China. It is a dwarf plant, having either subte ...

''. It had been planned to introduce the

Przewalski horse Przewalski's horse (, , (Пржевальский ), ) (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), also called the takhi, Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered horse originally native to the steppes of Ce ...

to the reserve in the 1980s, but the plans were cancelled following the collapse of the Soviet Union, although hopes for their implementation were rekindled in 2009. Mammals of the reserve included on the IUCN red list are dzeren,

pallas cat The Pallas's cat (''Otocolobus manul'', also known as the manul, is a small wild cat with long and dense light grey fur. Its rounded ears are set low on the sides of the head. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a long bushy tail. It is ...

and

Daurian hedgehog The Daurian hedgehog (''Mesechinus dauuricus'') is a solitary small hedgehog. It is listed in the Red book of Russian Federation as a protected species with an unclear status, generally considered to be endangered, although the IUCN lists it as ...

Recently a new

zakaznik Zakaznik (russian: зака́зник, зака́зники, transliterated: ''zakaznik, zakazniki''; uk, singular: заказни́к or зака́зник; plural: заказники́ or зака́зники, transliterated: ''zakaznyk'', ''zak ...

, the Dzeren Valley (Долина дзерена ''Dalina dzyeryena''), has been created in the area to ensure migration of the dzeren between Russia and Mongolia.WWF-Russia (November 2011)
New refuge for Mongolian Gazelle
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References

External links

Daursky Nature Reserve at mapcarta.com

Whitleyaward - Vadim Kirilyuk: Research and Conservation of migrating Mongolian Gazelles across Russian-Mongolian Border, Russia

Daursky Nature Reserve at official site daurzapoved.com
{{Russian Zapovedniks Nature reserves in Russia Geography of Zabaykalsky Krai World Heritage Sites in Russia Tourist attractions in Zabaykalsky Krai Zapovednik