Magadan Nature Reserve (russian: Магаданский заповедник) (also Magadansky) is a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

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) located in four different sectors across the Magadan region of 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 admin ...

, including the northern shore of the Sea of Okhotsk. All sites are far away from each other, have different climates, topography, flora and fauna, and no settlements or transportation routes. On the streams of the territory are some of the largest undisturbed spawning sites of the chum and

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientif ...

. One area, the Yam Islands, is home to colonies of sea birds, with a total of up to 6 million individuals. These include Auklets-crumbs, guillemot, spectacled guillemots, lund, and the horned puffin. The reserve is situated in the Olsky District of Magadan Oblast. Recently, the reserve has experimented with very limited cruise ship visits (under 200 passengers) to one of the islands, and plans are being studied for ways to increase educational eco-tourism in the highly inaccessible area.

Topography

The largest sector, Kava-

Chyolomdzha The Chyolomdzha (russian: Чёломджа; eve, Чаламдя) is a river in Magadan Oblast, Russia. It has a length of and a drainage basin of . The Chyolomdzha is the longest tributary of the Taui (Kava) and flows across an uninhabited area ...

(), is in the southwest corner of Magadan Oblast. It is separated from the Okhotsk Sea by the Kava-Taui regional nature reserve. The second largest sector is the Seymchan section () located inland by the right bank of the Kolyma River, from the city of Magadan. The third largest sector is the Ola section (), which occupies the western part of the Koni Peninsula that extends into the Okhotsk Sea. The fourth sector is the

Yama Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. ...

section (), in the southwest of the region, and itself is divided into coastal, floodplain, and island subsections.

Climate and ecoregion

Magadan is located in the '' Cherskii-Kolyma mountain tundra'' ecoregion. This ecoregion covers the mountainous areas of northeast Siberia. It is an ecoregion of extreme cold and extreme aridity. The climate of Magadan is '' Subarctic climate, without dry season'' (

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 ...

Subarctic climate (Dfc)). This climate is characterized by mild summers (only 1-3 months above ) and cold, snowy winters (coldest month below ).

Flora and fauna

More than half of the reserve territory is coniferous forest, mostly larch ( Larix gmelinii). The second most common tree species is the Creeping cedar. Among mammals, the common species are the bank voles, chipmunks, pika, hare, brown bear, fox, sable, ermine, and mink.

Ecotourism

As a strict nature reserve, the Magadan Reserve is mostly closed to the general public, although scientists and those with 'environmental education' purposes can make arrangements with park management for visits. The reserve does, however, make available to the public the ability to go on eco-tourist excursions on the site, but public visitors must join a group led by a reserve ranger, and must obtain written permits in advance. There is a public visitor's center with nature exhibits at the reserves main office in the city of Magadan.

References

External links