This article will discuss a magnificent mountain region located on the border of Asia and Europe. Its territory stretches from the southern steppes to the northern tundra. This is the Urals.
Recently, as a result of the large scale of their economic activity, people have caused great damage to the nature of these places. In connection with the disappearance and reduction of many species of biological species, the Red Book of the Urals was created, animals and plants in which were brought with special care. We will tell about it below.
The geographical position of the Urals
The large Ural zone includes the Sverdlovsk, Perm, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions, as well as Bashkiria, Udmurtia and part of the adjacent districts of the Komi Republic.
The Ural range is quite accessible and convenient for its development by the most diverse animal species from all over the vast territory of Russia. This is due to the relatively underdeveloped mountainous terrain.
The plants and animals of the Urals are rather mixed.
Ural nature
Ural territory has undergone major changes under the influence of the host. human activities.
Drainage of numerous swamps, deforestation, disturbances and changes in the soil layer during mining, severe pollution of rivers - all of this adversely affected the composition of the flora and fauna of the Urals.
Animals of the Urals: species
Here there are some animals of European species: the mink, the pine marten, the brown hare, the forest polecat, the yellow-throated mouse, the small and garden sony in the eastern part of the region. On the west - a chipmunk, sable, columns, etc. (Siberian species).
There are 5 plots in the Urals (zoogeographical zoning).
- The forest plot is located in the Middle Urals (this is the largest part). 54 species of animals represents the fauna of this area. There are many forest martens, European minks, very few roe deer, columns and reindeer, there are no sables. There are hares, field mice, common voles and hori. The animals of the Urals of this area represent most of the forest species of the entire mountainous territory.
- Severouralsky (forest) district is located east to Ob. It is also represented mainly by forest species (47 in total). Enough in these places sables, chipmunks, columns, red Siberian voles. There are few moles in these places and there are no forest martens at all, minks, badgers, hedgehogs, field mice, European hares, voles, and even common hamsters.
- The middle Trans-Urals stretches from the eastern mountains to Tobol and the Irtysh. It belongs to the Central Ural region, in which representatives of 51 species live. These are mainly hedgehogs, field mice, voles, pine martens, European minks and so on.
- From the taiga forests to the southern steppes, the Pre-Urals area (forest-steppe) stands out, placing 58 species on its territories. Animals of the Urals of this area are of great diversity, among which you can meet both residents of forests and steppes. These are squirrels, martens, lynxes, elks, gophers, marmots, steppe mice, jerboas, steppe moths, hamsters, and so on.
- And the last section - Zauralsky (forest-steppe), located between the Tobol and the foothills of the Urals. 50 species have found their place here, including the squirrel, the large gopher, the chipmunk, the jerboa, the Eversmann hamster, the motley rattle, the little prairie mouse, the little fox and many others. other
The Red Book of the Urals (animals and plants)
The publication of such an important book for this region of Russia has recently been a huge and urgent need.
It should be noted that the Red Book was originally published at the level of individual areas, which are located within the Urals. The first one appeared in the Chelyabinsk region in 2006, and in 2008 similar publications were already published in the Sverdlovsk and Perm regions.
2015 is the year of publication of the Red Book of the Urals, which incorporates the latest data on rare and already endangered species of flora and fauna of the region.
Animals of the Ural Red Book are divided into 6 categories of the degree of danger of their extinction:
- zero, which includes animals that are practically not found in the wild nature of these places: the river beaver, the deer of the north and the tarpan,
- the first includes endangered animals: desman, saiga, maral (they live only in reserves),
- the second category - animals with constantly decreasing numbers: mink and otter,
- the third category - animals living in fairly limited spaces: flying squirrels, large jerboas, lemmings and hamsters,
- The fourth and fifth categories include the most numerous types of animals: steppe pikas, brown ushans, two-tone leathers, Natusius bats, brown dwarf bats, red-haired women, gray and Jungar hamsters, etc.
Not only animals of the Urals tend to decrease and disappear, which are included in the list of the Red Book of the Urals, but also 136 species of plants. This includes 40 species of endemics that grow only in the Ural Mountains.
Red Book of the Middle Urals
This should include endangered species of the Ural nature in the territory of Bashkortostan, Perm Krai, Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions. Pages of this book regularly update poachers and similar business executives. Before you mark the circle of victims, you should pay attention to the external background that accompanies human activity.
According to official documents, the quality of water in many reservoirs of the Sverdlovsk region varies from dirty to very dirty or even extremely dirty. Total air pollutant emissions are more than 1.2 million tons per year. The volume of wastewater, of which 68% are polluted, is almost 1.3 billion cubic meters. meters per year, that is, about a cubic kilometer of dirty water pours alone Sverdlovsk region. The rest of the regions are no better.
Six main rivers of the region designated as the most polluted water bodies of Russia. In the absence of landfills for the disposal of toxic waste, on the territories of industrial enterprises there are sludge storages and settling ponds, which have accumulated about 900 million cubic meters of toxic wastewater.
About 20% of the forests around industrial centers are devoid of part of the needles or leaves due to harmful emissions. Some cities and even entire districts of the Sverdlovsk region are knocked out even from such depressing statistics. The existing economic relations do not give reason for optimism: it is more profitable for enterprises to pay some kind of penalty payments than to change production technologies and allocate funds for reconstruction.
This is not idle speculation, but almost verbatim excerpts from the decrees of the Government of the Sverdlovsk region. Damage compensationapplied to nature remains an empty declaration. Even the rivers with exceptionally beautiful shores of Usva and Chusovaya, which flow through protected areas, are fouled by industrial effluents. And if we take into account the complicated procedures for obtaining budget funds and the almost unconcealed cracking theft and corruption, then the Red Book of the Urals can only be watched as the case of the disease is hopelessly ill.
Despite the enormous wealth of the Urals natural resources, there are still many places that are not of industrial interest, and therefore well preserved and inhabited not only by people but also by wild animals. For those who are much less fortunate, the Red Book is wide open.
This is exactly the animal to whom out of luck with the place of residenceand it fell into the first category of the Red Book of the Middle Urals, more precisely, the Perm Territory and the Chelyabinsk Region. (The main desman habitats are floodplain lakes, and they are located west and east of the Ural Range). Shallow reservoirs that dry in summer and freeze through in winter are not suitable for it. Desman can only survive in burrows with a release below the water level, and for this the banks of the reservoirs should be well expressed.
Human greed has always been the main danger for this little animal. When the number of desman was still large, it was massively destroyed because of its beautiful, valuable fur. The breeding of the muskrat with the same pragmatic goal led to the displacement of the muskrat from the usual habitats. Human economic activity has an even more negative impact on the population size: water for irrigation, drainage, and pollution of water bodies.
Placing a hedgehog in the Red Book of the Sverdlovsk Region may surprise anyonebut not residents of Yekaterinburg or Nizhny Tagil, who, in their own skin, experience all the delights of the local environmental situation. If dozens of insect species do not withstand it, the food chain reaches the hedgehog. Cutting down and plowing the undergrowths only exacerbates the situation. Hedgehog eared listed in the Red Book of Bashkortostan.
European mink
In the Red Book of the Chelyabinsk Region, this animal falls into category 1, in Bashkortostan it falls into category 2, and in the Red Book of the Perm Territory it is completely absent, as it is in the list of hunting resources. So for the European mink, the American species is more dangerous than humans.
Other animals
If we ignore the everyday notion of animals, which means only mammals, and keep in mind what biologists understand, then a swarm of insects, birds and everything alive except plants will take several pages only from their enumeration.
Of mammals can be distinguished bats:
- whiskered night
- water well
- natusius bat
- bat dwarf
- pond night
- northern leather jacket
- late leather
- Natterera night
Representatives of the rodent squad:
- flying squirrel - can make planning flights up to 50 m
- big jerboa
- forest lemming
- gray hamster
- garden dormouse
- hamster Eversman
- Djungarian hamster
Red Book of the Southern Urals
It includes endangered species of Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions. The main contribution to the environmental situation of the Orenburg region is made by JSC Orsknefteorgsintez and Gaysky GOK. Given the barbaric attitude to nature, one name: “Mednogorsk Copper-Sulfur Combine” is enough for environmentalists to shudder if they are not yet accustomed to larger-scale consequences. In the Orenburg region, sources with clean water make up only 5%, while extremely dirty water is found in 16% of water resources.
About half of the land is plowed, which causes soil erosion, drought and reduces fertility. In this case, about 25% of the water of the Ural River basin is taken along with millions of cubic meters. dirty drains of the Chelyabinsk region and their own. Biologists who have practically no levers of influence can only record the changes in the Red Book.
South Russian dressing
This animal is from family Mustelle inhabits treeless dry steppes and semi-deserts. No wonder that in the plowed territories it fell into category 1. Like the steppe polecat, this animal preys mostly at night: rodents, birds and small vertebrates. A dexterous and swift animal avoids the neighborhood with man and the cultivated landscapes.
Although spotted camouflage dressing is not valuable for hunters, this animal is found in nature less and less.
Saiga - Saiga tatarica
The subfamily of antelopes, saiga (k), even by international standards, the degree of danger of extinction is in a critical condition. In the Red Book of the Orenburg region, this animal is also in category 1. Many people recognize this hunchbacked antelope. This form is explained by the evolution of love sounds during the rut - the most powerful males make sounds (through the nose) of a lower frequency, preliminary selection goes in this direction.
In the Orenburg region there is a state reserve "Orenburg", which consists of 4 isolated areas, the largest of which is the Ashchysai Steppe, which has an area of 7,200 hectares. In hectares, the figure looks, maybe even impressive, but with regard to the protection of saigas, this sounds more like a mockery: a frightened herd of these antelopes will cross an area of 8 x 9 km in less than 10 minutes. So the phrase: small herds of saigas are found in the southeastern part of the Orenburg region, it should be understood in this context - they may accidentally wander.
Steppe cat
For the laziest and sluggish of cats, small areas of reserves are not such a big loss. Perhaps this is why this beautiful animal is in the Red Book of the Orenburg Region. not very dangerous 3 category. His prey mainly become rodents and birds. In winter, when gerbils do not come to the surface, starving cats can wander to human habitation and crawl into the hen house.
In conclusion, it can be said that the barbaric attitude to nature is characteristic not only of the Ural region. The depressing impression is left by the environs of Norilsk and the nature of the Kola Peninsula around industrial plants. As long as the sacred animals remain the dollar and the euro, wild animals will find a safe place category 0 only in the Red Book.
Amphibians listed in the Red Book of the Middle Urals
7 species of amphibians (amphibians) are listed in the Red Book. This is a Siberian salafer, a crested newt, a red-bellied toad, an ordinary garlic, a green toad, a Siberian frog, a lake frog. All these species belong to the category III rarity of species.
Crested triton - rare, sparse species on the periphery of the range. In the Urals, it was found in the southwest of the Sverdlovsk region, in the Perm region it was marked up to Solikamsk. In the Middle Urals it is very rare, it occurs in several individuals per 1 ha.
Drying of reservoirs, their pollution and backfilling, land improvement, deforestation - these factors are destructive for this type of amphibian. Therefore, it is necessary to stop discharging industrial and household waste into water bodies, to create artificial water bodies that would not dry out in dry years.
Red-bellied toad - small view of the periphery of the range. Distributed in Central and Eastern Europe. To the east it reaches the Ural Range, to the north - to 58 ° N. Drying of reservoirs is destructive for this species. Therefore, it is necessary to preserve the habitat, create microreserves.
Siberian frog - a rare view of the periphery of the range. Distributed in Western Siberia, the Far East, China, Mongolia. In the Middle Urals, found only in the area of Verkhoturye and Turinsk.
For the Siberian frog, as well as for all amphibians, the drying up of water bodies and their pollution with industrial effluents and household waste are detrimental.
Fish listed in the Red Book of the Middle Urals
Fortunately for us, only one species of fish is listed in the Red Book of the Middle Urals - the common bullhead of the squiggly order, the Kerchak family.
Common bullhead - a widespread species with a declining number. It occurs mainly in rivers and streams with cool clean water, less often in oligotrophic lakes.
On the shallows of the Kozhim, Shchugor, Sylva, and Vishera rivers, and on the Kama River near Perm, the density of the bullhead varies from 3-8 individuals per 1 square meter. m channel to a complete absence for many kilometers.
Pollution of rivers by industrial wastewater, agricultural waste, disturbance of soil during mining is detrimental to this species. In order to protect the common bullhead, it is necessary to fight for the cleanliness of small rivers, to prevent the dumping of industrial, agricultural and forestry waste into rivers.
Arachnids listed in the Red Book of the Middle Urals
In the Red Book of the Middle Urals, there is one species of arachnids - the South Russian tarantula.
South Russian Tarantula - rare (II category) species, representative of entomocenosis of mountain stony steppes. In our region, it is noted in the southern regions of the Sverdlovsk and Perm regions.
Reducing habitat is a limiting factor for this species of arthropod class.
To date, the South Russian tarantula has not been guarded. It is necessary to strictly observe the protection regime established for state monuments of nature, which are declared many of the tiny islands of steppe vegetation. Tough penalties protecting up the mountain-steppe areas from economic use are relevant.
Insects listed in the Red Book of the Middle Urals
In the Red Book of the Middle Urals 34 insects. Of these, 5 - belong to the I category of rarity of species, 12 - to II, to III - 8 and to IV - respectively 9. Consider the most rare of them in the Middle Urals.
Steppe dybka - a very rare species, a representative entomocenosis of steppe meadows of forest-steppe. This species is distributed in southern Europe, including the Iberian, Apennine, Balkan (without Greece) peninsulas, Crimea, and the Caucasus, in the east it reaches Lake Zaisan, as well as to the North and West Tien Shan, to the north extends to Kharkov, Voronezh and Chelyabinsk regions . In our region, it is known by its only discovery in the southern suburbs of Yekaterinburg (“Gorelovsky cordon”, shooting grounds) in July 1968.
Reduction or disappearance of suitable habitats - these factors are limiting for this species. Steppe dybka protected in almost all European countries. Для охраны необходимо выяснить современное состояние вида в регионе и обеспечить охрану участков лугово-степной растительности.
Красотел пахучий — редкий вид, представитель реликтовых энтомоценозов горных широколиственных лесов. На Среднем Урале известен по нескольким экземплярам, найденным в окрестностях города Двуреченска и в черте города Екатеринбурга.
Reduction or destruction of suitable areas of oak and elm forests is destructive for this species of the ground beetle family. Bluehead Roman - a rare species with a declining number, representative of steppe entomocenoses.
Locally found in the steppes from the south-east of Ukraine to the Altai. In the Middle Urals, marked by one copy, produced on July 4, 1989 in the vicinity of Yekaterinburg.
For pigeon, Roman is destructive reduction or lack of suitable habitats. Therefore, it is necessary to ascertain the habitats of the species in the region and to ensure compliance with the protection regime of the steppe vegetation islands. Intensive grazing, excessive mowing, chemical treatment of neighboring territories are unacceptable. We need tough penalties that protect the mountain-steppe areas from economic use.
Tail thorns - relict species, a representative entomocenosis of deciduous and mixed forests. This species is distributed in Central and Southern Europe, in southeastern Russia, in the Caucasus, Asia Minor, and Northern Iran. In the region, it is known for the only male caught on June 18, 1895 on Spasskaya Hill (Kungursky District of the Perm Region).
For the vital activity of the tail thorns, suitable habitats are needed - relic islands of deciduous forests.
To date, this species has not been guarded. For protection, it is necessary to protect from the economic exploitation of the islands of deciduous forests in the south-west of the Middle Urals.
The official publications of the past years (the Red Book of the USSR, the Red Book of the RSFSR) indicate the need to protect a number of animal and plant species found on the territory of the Urals. Nevertheless, in our region there are many other species that also need protection.
The Red Book of the Middle Urals, published in 1996, reflects a new stage in the study of the gene pool of the fauna and flora of the territory of the Middle and part of the Northern Urals within the Sverdlovsk and Perm regions. It presents the characteristics of distribution, ecology and biology, habitat conditions, in particular mammals, exposed to the greatest danger of extermination, and recommendations for their protection.
Due to intensive economic activities in the Sverdlovsk region, the number of species that can be attributed to the rare and endangered, is simply increasing. Such previously common species as the common hedgehog, European mink are considered rare in the region.
The unfavorable ecological situation and the powerful anthropogenic pressure on the wildlife of the region lead to a further reduction in the number of plant and animal species, while the species have already been put on the verge of extinction.
Recently, one of the problems is also a sharp increase in the volume of illegal trafficking in wild animals, trophy products, and zoological collections. The “red book” types most valued in the market fall into the hands of ecobusiness “dealers”. The uncontrolled sale of wild animals, the sale of stuffed animals and collectible specimens, semi-legal taxidermy workshops - all this should be the object of the most close attention of environmental protection and law enforcement agencies.
An important aspect of environmental activities is the improvement of regional environmental legislation.
The formation of regional environmental legislation began with the development of individual object-specific regional laws. On December 6, 1995, the Regional Law “On Specially Protected Natural Territories of the Sverdlovsk Region” was adopted, and on March 12, 1996, the Regional Law “On the protection of wildlife and the use of its resources” was established. Both laws are integral regulatory and legal acts regulating all relations in the field of wildlife conservation and the use of its resources, as well as specially protected natural territories of the Sverdlovsk region, and are brought into line with federal legislation.
The principle of sustainable development of territorial entities is based on the requirement of economical, careful use of native resources in volumes that prevent their exhaustion and the requirement to maintain the ecological balance of a particular territory.
The protection of wild animals from exploitation in the Sverdlovsk region is carried out in the reserves Denezhkin Kamen and Visimsky, the national park Pripyshminsky Bor, and integrated state hunting reserves.
In the rest of the region, hunting animals and birds are protected by tenant organizations of hunting grounds. 15.6 million hectares (about 80% of the territory of the region) of hunting lands, including: the farms of Rosokhotrybolovsoyuz, 5.8 million hectares, the hunting grounds of the Central European Union of Russia, 1.5 million hectares, state-owned field farms - 7.1 m. for the farms of the Ministry of Defense - 186.2 thousand hectares, for VFSO “Dynamo” - 83 thousand hectares, other users 867.6 thousand hectares. To protect wildlife in the Sverdlovsk region, 19 state game reserves have been established and function with a total area of 694.6 thousand hectares.
Specially protected areas together with reserves constitute in total about 5% of the area of the Sverdlovsk region.
Supervision over the observance of hunting rules in the region is carried out by the Hunting Management. To fight against poaching, hunting administrations, a public hunting inspection, employees of internal affairs bodies are involved. In 1995, 918 violators of hunting rules were identified (709 in 1994 and 648 in 1993). In 1996, 825 violators of hunting rules were identified. In 15 cases, the materials on violations were transferred to the investigating authorities for the initiation of criminal cases. However, the measures taken have no significant effect on the number of violations related to the illegal hunting of moose, roe deer and wild boar. Illegal hunting for ungulates is observed regardless of the season of hunting and in terms of production volume is comparable to their legal shooting.
The facts of illegal hunting are noted everywhere. The greatest number of violations was found in the territory subordinated to the cities of Karpinsk, Ivdel, in Novolyalinsky, Prigorodny, Serov, Verkhotursky, Taborinsky, Nizhneserginsky districts.
In this regard, the problem of increasing the area of specially protected natural areas excluded from economic use is particularly relevant. The total area of protected areas in the region in 1996 was 901.8 thousand hectares (excluding the area of geological and geomorphological monuments of nature), which is equal to 10.2% of the area of the region. They include two state reserves, two national parks, 1 branch of the reserve (Arkaim), 22 zoological and 1 botanical reserve. The area of state reserves and national parks is 189.8 thousand hectares, or 2.14%.
The protection of rare and endangered species of plants and animals is the main task of the protected areas, their activities are aimed at preserving the biodiversity of the ecological balance in the region.
There is currently no centralized biota monitoring service in the Urals. The state of the fauna of the Ural region as a whole, as one of the constituent elements of biota, can be indirectly judged by the dynamics of the population of rare and endangered animal species, reflecting the change in the biological diversity of the faunal complexes.
The plant and animal world of the Urals over the past two or three centuries has been and is undergoing ever-increasing anthropogenic pressure, first due to deforestation, mining and agricultural development of the territory, and in recent years as a result of the rapid development of industry farm, land reclamation, urbanization, recreation.
A retrospective analysis of the species diversity of the animal world of the Sverdlovsk region shows that as early as the beginning of the 20th century, about 20 species of animals could be considered rare. By the end of this century, their number had increased to 57. The number of the brown hare, desman, and European mink was particularly sharply reduced (from mammals).
The integrity of natural complexes (ecosystems) is ensured by the functional interrelation of a certain set of species, which was formed during a long evolution. The loss of at least one link in this harmonious system can lead to negative consequences (a decline in the productivity of ecosystems, a decrease in their resistance to anthropogenic press, etc.).
The Red Book of the Middle Urals (Sverdlovsk and Perm Regions): Rare and endangered species of animals and plants / Edited by V.N. Bolshakov and P.L. Gorchakovsky. - Ekaterinburg: Ural University Press, 1996
Mammalian fauna and its protection // Urals and Ecology: Study Guide / Edited by AM Chernyaeva, BA Urvantseva-Yekaterinburg, 2000
