Olyokma Nature Reserve (russian: Олёкминский) (also Olekminsky) 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) located south of the middle reaches of the

Lena River The Lena (russian: Ле́на, ; evn, Елюенэ, ''Eljune''; sah, Өлүөнэ, ''Ölüöne''; bua, Зүлхэ, ''Zülkhe''; mn, Зүлгэ, ''Zülge'') is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean ...

on the right bank of its second largest tributary - the

Olyokma River , image = Olyokma river.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = View of the river , pushpin_map = Russia Sakha Republic , pushpin_map_size = , pushpin_map_caption= Location in the Sakha Republic, R ...

at the junction of the

Aldan Highlands The Aldan Highlands, or Aldan Plateau ( rus, Алданское нагорье, r=Aldanskoye Nagorye; sah, Алдан үрдэлэ) are a mountainous area in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. Aldan town and Tommot are loc ...

and the

Olyokma-Chara Plateau The Olyokma-Chara Plateau ( rus, Олёкмо-Чарское плоскогорье; sah, Өлүөхүмэ-Чаара хаптал хайалаах сир) is a mountainous area in the Sakha Republic and Irkutsk Oblast, Far Eastern Federal Di ...

Olyokminsky District Olyokminsky District (russian: Олёкминский улу́с; sah, Өлүөхүмэ улууһа, ''Ölüökhüme uluuha'') is an administrativeConstitution of the Sakha Republic and municipalLaw #172-Z #351-III district (raion, or ''ulus''), ...

of the

Sakha Republic Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...

(Yakutia). The area is remote and relatively undisturbed, being 80 km from a town.

Topography

The region is in the foothills of southwest Yakutia, on the

, an area cut by river valleys. The major rivers of the area are the Tuolby and

Amga River The Amga (russian: Амга; sah, Амма) is a river in Sakha (Yakutia), Russia. The length of the river is . The area of its basin is . The Amga freezes up in the first half of October and stays under the ice until May. Many different kinds ...

. Within the borders of the reserve are 85 streams and rivers stretching from 3 to 110 km, acting as tributaries of the Olyokma, Tuolby, and Amga.

Climate and Ecoregion

Olyokma is located in the ''

East Siberian taiga The East Siberian taiga ecoregion, in the Taiga and boreal forests biome, is a very large biogeographic region in eastern Russia. Setting This vast ecoregion is located in the heart of Siberia, stretching over 20° of latitude and 50° of longitu ...

'' ecoregion. The ecoregion covers the area between the

Yenisei River The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук ...

and

down to the

Okhotsk Sea The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

. Its northern border reaches the Arctic Circle, and its southern border reaches 52°N latitude. The dominant vegetation is light coniferous taiga with Dahurian larch Larix gmelini forming the canopy in areas with low snow cover. This ecoregion is rich in minerals. The climate of Olyokma 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 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 ...

(Dfc)). This climate is characterized by mild summers (only 1–3 months above ) and cold, snowy winters (coldest month below ). Snow begins in October in Olekminsky, and last on average 200 days. Average annual precipitation is 400–500 mm.

Flora and fauna

The reserve is covered 88% by forest, mostly conifers. Some zoning is seen: above 1,000 meters are more tundra communities, in a belt at 900–1000 meters is a sub-taiga of

Dahurian larch ''Larix gmelinii'', the Dahurian larch or Gmelin larch, is a species of larch native to eastern Siberia and adjacent northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China (Heilongjiang), South Korea and North Korea. Description ''Larix gmelinii'' is a m ...

, and from 400–900 meters is larch-pine forest with alder and Dahurian rhododendron thickets. Olyokma is notable for relatively high levels of bidoversity: of the total 1,010 species of vascular plants in the East Siberian taiga ecoregion, 650 are found in Olyokma.

Ecotourism

As a scientific nature reserve, the Olyokma Reserve is mostly closed to the general public, although scientists and those with 'environmental education' purposes can make arrangements with reserve management for visits. There are a few 'ecotourist' routes in the reserve that are made available to a limited number of school groups and ecotourists accompanied by reserve guides, and which require permits to be obtained in advance. The main office is in the city of Olekminsk.

References

External links