The Urals montane tundra and taiga
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...
(WWF ID: PA0610) covers the main ridge of the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
(both sides) - a 2,000 km (north-south) by 300 km (west-east) region. The region is on the divide between European and Asian ecoregions, and also the meeting point of tundra and taiga. It is in the
Palearctic realm
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
, and mostly in the Boreal forests/taiga ecoregion with a
Humid continental climate, cool summer climate. It covers .
Location and description
The ecoregion is centered on the Ural mountains, a range that reaches heights of . The western edge of the region is the
Russian Plain
The East European Plain (also called the Russian Plain, "Extending from eastern Poland through the entire European Russia to the Ural Mountaina, the ''East European Plain'' encompasses all of the Baltic states and Belarus, nearly all of Ukraine, an ...
, and the eastern edge is the beginning of the
West Siberian Plain
The West Siberian Plain (russian: За́падно-Сиби́рская равни́на ''Zapadno-Sibirskaya ravnina'') is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River ...
.
To the north is the
Northwest Russian-Novaya Zemlya tundra ecoregion, to the west are the
Scandinavian and Russian taiga
The Scandinavian and Russian taiga is an ecoregion within the taiga and boreal forests biome as defined by the WWF classification (ecoregion PA0608). It is situated in Northern Europe between tundra in the north and temperate mixed forests in ...
,
Sarmatic mixed forests
The Sarmatic mixed forests constitute an ecoregion within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature classification (ecoregion PA0436). The term comes from the word "Sarmatia".
Distribution
This e ...
and
East European forest steppe
The East European forest steppe ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0419) is a patchwork of broadleaf forest stands and grasslands (steppe) that stretches 2,100 km across eastern Europe from the Ural Mountains in Ural, through Povolzhye, Central Russia to the mi ...
ecoregions, to the east the
West Siberian taiga
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
, and to the south the
Kazakh steppe.
Climate
The climate of the Urals 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 ...
(Dfc)). This climate is characterised by long cold winters, and short, cool summers.
Flora and fauna
Protections
Large federally protected areas in the ecoregion include:
*
Basegi Nature Reserve
Basegi Nature Reserve (russian: Басеги заповедник) (also Bassegi) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) along the Basegi Ridge, in the Middle Ural mountains. "Basegi" means "beautiful" in the local Urals dialect. It i ...
. An IUCN class Ia "strict ecological reserve" (a
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 ...
). (Area: 379 km2)
*
Bashkirsky Nature Reserve
Bashkirsky Nature Reserve (Zapovednik) (russian: Башкирский) ( ba, Башҡортостан дәүләт ҡурсаулығы) is located in the central part of the Bashkir (Southern) Urals. It features forested mountain slopes from the w ...
. An IUCN class Ia "strict ecological reserve" (a
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 ...
). (Area: 4,961 km2)
*
Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve
Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve (russian: Печоро-Илычский заповедник, ''Pechoro-Ilychsky zapovednik'') is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) in the Komi Republic, Russia. It currently occupies 7,213 square kilometer ...
. An IUCN class Ia "strict ecological reserve" (a
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 ...
). (Area: 7,213 km2)
*
Visim Nature Reserve
Visim Nature Reserve (russian: Висимский заповедник) (also Visimskiy) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) protecting an area of southern taiga in the low Middle Ural Mountains. In 2001, it was named a UNESCO MAB Bio ...
. An IUCN class Ia "strict ecological reserve" (a
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 ...
). (Area: 335 km2)
*
South Ural Nature Reserve
South Ural Nature Reserve (russian: Южно-Уральский заповедник) (also Yuzhno-Uralsky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) protecting mountain taiga ecosystems in the highest part of the Southern Ural Mountains. ...
. An IUCN class Ia "strict ecological reserve" (a
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 ...
). (Area: 2,528 km2)
*
Zyuratkul National Park
Zyuratkul National Park (russian: Зюраткуль (национальный парк)) is a Russian national park established in 1993 in the southern part of Satkinsky Raion (Chelyabinsk Oblast, Urals). The park lies about 30 km south o ...
. An IUCN class II "national park". (Area: 874 km2)
*
Taganay National Park
Taganay (russian: Таганай, ba, Тағанай) is a group of mountain ridges in the Southern Urals, on the territory of Chelyabinsk Oblast, with the highest point rising 1178 m. above sea level. Taganay National Park was established in 199 ...
. An IUCN class II national park. (Area: 568 km2)
See also
*
List of ecoregions in Russia
The following is a list of ecoregions in Russia, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF):
Terrestrial Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
*Caucasus mixed forests (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Turkey)
*Central European mixed fo ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Map of ecoregion Ural montane forests and taiga. GlobalSpecies.org
Ecoregions of Russia
Ecoregions of Asia
Palearctic ecoregions
Taiga and boreal forests
Montane forests