Rare plants and animals of the Russian plain. Ecological problems of the Russian Plain. Problems of rational use of resources of the Russian Plain. Flora and fauna of the East European Plain

The Russian Plain served for centuries as a territory connecting western and eastern civilizations by trade routes. Historically, two busy trade arteries ran through these lands. The first is known as "the path from the Varangians to the Greeks." According to it, as is known from school history, the medieval trade in goods of the peoples of the East and Russia with the states of Western Europe was carried out.

The second is the route along the Volga, which made it possible to transport goods by ship to Southern Europe from China, India and Central Asia and in the opposite direction. The first Russian cities were built along the trade routes - Kyiv, Smolensk, Rostov. Veliky Novgorod became the northern gate of the way from the "Varangians", guarding the safety of trade.

Now the Russian Plain is still a territory of strategic importance. The capital of the country and the largest cities are located on its lands. The most important administrative centers for the life of the state are concentrated here.

The geographical position of the plain

The East European Plain, or Russian, occupies territories in the east of Europe. In Russia, these are its extreme western lands. In the northwest and west, it is bounded by the Scandinavian Mountains, the Barents and White Seas, the Baltic coast and the Vistula River. In the east and southeast it is adjacent to the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus. In the south, the plain is bounded by the shores of the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas.

Relief features and landscape

The East European Plain is represented by a gently sloping flat relief formed as a result of faults in tectonic rocks. According to relief features, the massif can be divided into three bands: central, southern and northern. The center of the plain consists of vast uplands and lowlands alternating with each other. The north and south are mostly represented by lowlands with occasional low elevations.

Although the relief is formed in a tectonic way and minor shocks are possible on the territory, there are no tangible earthquakes here.

Natural areas and regions

(The plain has planes with characteristic smooth drops.)

The East European Plain includes all natural zones found on the territory of Russia:

• Tundra and forest-tundra are represented by the nature of the north of the Kola Peninsula and occupy a small part of the territory, slightly expanding towards the east. The vegetation of the tundra, namely, shrubs, mosses and lichens, is replaced by birch forests of the forest tundra.
• The taiga, with its pine and spruce forests, occupies the north and center of the plain. On the borders with mixed broad-leaved forests, places are often swampy. A typical Eastern European landscape - coniferous and mixed forests and swamps are replaced by small rivers and lakes.
• In the forest-steppe zone, one can see alternating uplands and lowlands. Oak and ash forests are typical for this zone. Often you can find birch-aspen forests.
• The steppe is represented by valleys, where oak forests and groves, alder and elm forests grow along the banks of the rivers, and tulips and sage blossom in the fields.
• Semi-deserts and deserts are located on the Caspian lowland, where the climate is harsh and the soil is saline, but even there you can find vegetation in the form of various varieties of cacti, wormwood and plants that adapt well to a sharp change in daily temperatures.

Rivers and lakes of the plains

(A river on a flat area of ​​the Ryazan region)

The rivers of the "Russian Valley" are majestic and slowly carry their waters in one of two directions - north or south, to the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, or to the southern inland seas of the mainland. Rivers of the northern direction flow into the Barents, White or Baltic Seas. Rivers of the southern direction - to the Black, Azov or Caspian Seas. The largest river in Europe, the Volga, also "flows lazily" through the lands of the East European Plain.

The Russian Plain is the realm of natural water in all its manifestations. The glacier, which passed through the plain millennia ago, formed many lakes on its territory. Especially a lot of them in Karelia. The consequences of the stay of the glacier were the emergence in the North-West of such large lakes as Ladoga, Onega, Pskov-Peipsi reservoir.

Under the thickness of the earth in the localization of the Russian Plain, reserves of artesian water are stored in the amount of three underground basins of huge volumes and many located at a shallower depth.

Climate of the East European Plain

(Flat terrain with slight drops near Pskov)

The Atlantic dictates the weather regime on the Russian Plain. Western winds, air masses that move moisture, make summer on the plain warm and humid, winter cold and windy. During the cold season, winds from the Atlantic bring about ten cyclones, contributing to changeable heat and cold. But the air masses from the Arctic Ocean are still striving for the plain.

Therefore, the climate becomes continental only in the depths of the massif, closer to the south and southeast. The East European Plain has two climatic zones - subarctic and temperate, increasing continentality towards the east.

Shaded. In the Pacific part of Russia, the influence of the ocean affects the patterns of zonal distribution of vegetation cover. The zoning structure is manifested in regional complexes. Each regional complex differs in the set of subzonal categories of vegetation. Vegetation categories of the same type in terms of latitudinal position in different sectors have different species composition.

The vegetation of the tundra type forms the cover of the Far North of the country, which stretches in a strip along the coast of the seas and is found on the islands. The main features of the tundra type of vegetation include the absence of a tree layer, the large role of low-growing small-tree plants (from shrubs and elfins to prostratic (creeping) shrubs and dwarf shrubs). Herbaceous perennials are widely distributed. The importance of mosses and lichens is great. The perforation of the vegetation cover is characteristic - the presence of spots of bare soil.

There are 5 regional complexes in the tundra. The westernmost one, the Atlantic one, is represented only by the southern ones with the participation of Betula nana, Calluna vulgaris, Empetrum hermaphroditum, Carex bigelowii, in which boreal species, such as blueberries, are constantly found. The East European, West Siberian and Central Siberian sectors have the most complete zonal spectrum from high arctic to southern tundra. High arctic tundras are found only on some islands in the Arctic Ocean. A significant area of ​​the islands is occupied by glaciers, and the vegetation cover is fragmentary. Herbaceous-lichen-moss spotted tundra dominate. Lichen-moss and moss-lichen communities (with an insignificant participation of flowering ones) are widespread, which are confined to strongly gravelly and stony soils. On the archipelago and Novaya Zemlya (East European–West Siberian sector), tundra communities include Deschampsia alpina, Cerastium arcticum, and C. regelii ssp. caespitosum, which are not found in the Central Siberian sector. The presence of Ranunculus sabinii, Cerastium bialynickii, C. regelii s.str., Deschampsia brevifolia determine the specifics of the high arctic tundras of the Central Siberian sector. There are no high arctic tundras in the East Siberian and Chukchi regional complexes.

Arctic tundras are found in all but the Atlantic complexes. Shrubs begin to play an important role in them. Salix nummularia is the background species for the East European - West Siberian sector, the role of Salix polaris, S. reptans increases in the Central Siberian sector, 2 types of Dryas vegetation - D. punctata and D. octopetala are found. In the East Siberian sector, Cassiope tetragona takes the first place, D. octopetala disappears. The Arctic tundra communities are characterized by Salix rotundifolia, S. phlebophylla, Dryas integrifolia, and Carex lugens. Arctic tundra to the south are replaced by hypoarctic ones, which are represented by northern shrub-moss and southern shrub-moss-lichen subzonal categories. Their differences from sector to sector are also marked by geographically differentiating species (NN 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15)1.

Boreal (taiga) vegetation is located south of the tundra. Taiga occupies a leading position in the north. She stretched from to . Most of the taiga vegetation of Eurasia is concentrated on the territory of Russia. Taiga forests are also characteristic of many mountain systems, forming mountain-taiga belts in them.

The boreal vegetation of the plains includes 5 subzonal categories: from pre-tundra woodlands to subtaiga. It is characterized by the dominance of dark coniferous, light coniferous, small-leaved and mixed forests. The dominant species of coniferous forest species: Picea abies, P. obovata, Abies sibirica, Larix sibirica, L. gmelinii, L. cajanderi respectively replace each other from west to east, forming 7 regional complexes.

The Eastern European sector () has a complete zonal alignment from birch-spruce light forests (17) to subtaiga (24, 25). The subzonal categories of vegetation are represented by spruce forests (18, 20, 22, 24) and pine forests replacing them on soils of light mechanical composition (19, 21, 23, 25). In the subtaiga forests, the forest stand dominated by spruce or pine, or in the form of undergrowth includes nemoral tree species: oak, linden, maple, hazel. This also includes the coniferous-broad-leaved forests of the Kaliningrad region, in which there are Central European species - beech and hornbeam.

The forests of the Ural complex have features of the European and Siberian taiga. This regional complex is found on both sides of the Urals. A complete zonal series (26-32) is also expressed here, from spruce and larch-spruce woodlands to broad-leaved-fir-spruce subtaiga forests.

The Ob-Irtysh sector unites the forests of the largest taiga complex (33-42). The role of swamps in the structure of the vegetation cover of the West Siberian Plain is enormous. In terms of area, swamps here prevail over forests. The role of the vegetation of the vast Ob floodplain is great. (130).

In the north of the Ob-Irtysh, larch sparse forests predominate (33). A large area is occupied by hilly swamps (124). To the south, woodlands give way to the north, where larch (36) and larch-pine (35) forests dominate. The watersheds are occupied by hilly and aapa swamps, huge upland systems with an abundance of lichens, and large lakes (126 b). Larch-spruce-cedar forests are also characteristic (34). In the middle taiga, spruce-cedar forests predominate, in places with fir, larch-pine forests are less common. In the middle taiga, the confinement of forests to river valleys is especially noticeable. There are many raised bogs on the watersheds.

In the southern taiga of Western Siberia, dark coniferous cedar-spruce-fir forests predominate. Pine forests dominate in the west. The presence of linden is typical in the southern taiga forests. On the watersheds, sphagnum raised bogs are common, forming systems that include aapa, including the famous Vasyugan bog.

The transition from the southern taiga to the subtaiga is gradual. Of the coniferous forests in the subtaiga, there are only pine forests on the sands (41). Birch and aspen forests predominate (42), they usually grow in small groves (choppings), alternating with damp meadows, swamps, and pine forests. Often birch groves are confined to depressions with pronounced solodization of soils.

The Central Siberian (43-47) and East Siberian (45-51) sectors have a shortened zonal section. There is no subtaiga in Central Siberia, the latitudinal section ends with middle taiga forests. The boreal vegetation of these most continental sectors is formed by light coniferous, predominantly larch forests.

The boreal vegetation is enclosed by a peculiar Far Eastern complex. The features of its vegetation cover are associated with the originality of the floristic composition and difficult physical and geographical conditions - the influence of the Pacific Ocean and monsoons in the southeast, and the seas of the Arctic Ocean in the north, the continentality of Siberia and Central Asia, the complexity of the relief and. Northern taiga larch forests (52) occur in small areas along the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk; significant areas are occupied by middle taiga larch forests and sphagnum mari (53). Southern taiga forests are diverse: spruce-fir (Ricea ajanensis, Abies nephrolepis), larch and pine-larch. Betula davurica and B. platyphylla are found sporadically in their stands; undergrowth of Rhododendron dauricum, Duschekia manshurica, Lespedeza bicolor, Corylus heterophylla is well developed. The subtaiga forests of the Far East are especially peculiar, represented by broad-leaved-pine and broad-leaved-larch forests with Mongolian oak and Manchurian birch (58.59), birch-pine (60) and spruce-fir-cedar forests with Pinus koraiensis, Picea ajanensis and Abies nephrolepis (57 ).

Nemoral vegetation is represented by broad-leaved forests that grow in Russia only in the west (Eastern European regional complex) and in the east (Far Eastern complex). In the west of Europe, nemoral vegetation occupies almost its entire territory, and in eastern Asia it descends much further south than in Europe, which is undoubtedly due to the influence of the Pacific Ocean. In the continental regions of Siberia, broad-leaved forests are absent and are territorially replaced by steppes.

The broad-leaved forests of the Eastern European sector are represented by linden-oak with ash (61) and linden with oak (63). On light soils, they are replaced by pine-broad-leaved forests (62) and steppe pine forests with oak (64).

Strengthening of the continentality of the climate from west to east leads to a gradual reduction of European nemoral types of vegetation, of which only half reaches the western slopes of the Urals. The role of South Siberian light-loving and cold-resistant species becomes noticeable. An important frontier is the Volga, towards which many tree species, such as ash, shrubs and herbaceous species, gradually fall out from the west.

Small groves of oak forests are found quite far to the north in the subzone of the southern taiga (Leningrad, Novgorod, Pskov regions), and linden forests (probably derivatives that arose on the site of linden-spruce forests) are found even further north. In the south, broad-leaved forests along the beams and the so-called ravine forests penetrate far into the steppe region.

In the Far East, broad-leaved forests are found in the south. In the southwestern part, they are represented by oak (Quercus mongolica) and black-birch-oak. Some western oak forests have a cryophilized grass cover. Oak and mixed oak-broad-leaved forests are common in the eastern part, with the participation of the mesophilic group of trees: Amur velvet, linden (Tilia amurensis, T. mandshurica, T. taquetii) and lianas (65).

The steppe vegetation of Russia in the form of a strip extends from the western border of the country to the South Siberian mountains. To the east, steppes are found in isolated areas, mainly in intermountain basins. In European Russia, this strip is very wide and in the south it reaches the Caucasus, and in Asian Russia it reaches the state border and continues in the countries of Central and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, China).

The steppe vegetation unites communities of xerophilic microthermal soddy herbaceous plants. Sod grasses from the genera Stipa, Festuca, Agropyron, Koeleria, Poa, Cleistogenes, Helictotrichon, etc. are the dominant biomorph in B. Under different environmental conditions, communities of sod sedges, onions, forbs, semishrubs and shrubs are formed. Steppe communities are polydominant, their distribution is associated with and chestnut.

In the steppe type of vegetation, 4 regional complexes are distinguished: East European, Trans-Volga, West Siberian and Transbaikal. The steppes of the Eastern European and Trans-Volga complexes are most fully represented and have a complete zonal spectrum; the West Siberian sector is represented only by the northern part of the zonal spectrum, and its southern part is located in. The Transbaikalian complex unites disparate parts of the steppes that occur in intermountain basins and are in florogenetic relationship with the Central Asian (and Chinese) steppes.

There are 4 subzonal latitudinal categories of steppe vegetation: northern, middle and southern. The latitudinal differentiation of the steppes from north to south is associated with an increase in the degree of climate aridity, and its regional differentiation is associated with an increase in continentality.

Meadow steppes are the northernmost type of steppes. They are characterized by the predominance of forb-grass communities with a predominance of mesoxerophilic and xeromesophilic species, mainly loose shrub and rhizomatous grasses, rhizomatous sedges and forbs. Meadow steppes are common in the south of the nemoral region in the European part of Russia and the boreal region in Siberia. Together with forests (oak and oak-linden in the west and birch and aspen in Siberia), they form the forest-steppe subzone. Typologically, meadow steppes are considered within the steppe type of vegetation, but from a botanical and geographical point of view, they do not belong to the steppe zone, but are closely connected with forests and without anthropogenic intervention (haymaking, grazing), meadow steppes turn into forests.

The northern steppes begin the zonal series of the steppe zone. They are characterized by the dominance of fescue-feather grass steppes, i.e. the dominance of turf grasses, with the participation of abundant xeromesophilic and mesoxerophilic forbs.

The middle steppes are also characterized by the predominance of fescue-feather grass steppes, but the forbs in them are much poorer and are represented by much more xerophilous species.

The southern steppes are distinguished by the participation of semishrubs as codominants in fescue-feather grass communities.

Throughout their range, steppe communities, especially within the same subzonal category, have a large number of common species. The identification of mapped steppe categories within regional complexes is therefore based on a small number of geographically differentiating species.

The Eastern European regional complex includes rich forb-grass meadow steppes with Bromopsis riparia, Carex humilis, Peucedanum macrophyllum; forb-turf-cereal northern steppes with Stipa ucrainica; soddy-cereal middle steppes with Stipa ucrainica; wormwood-bunch-grass southern steppes with Stipa lessingiana, Artemisia taurica, Alercheana.

The Zavolzhsky regional complex combines rich forb-grass meadow steppes with Bromopsis riparia, Bromopsis inermis, Carex humilis, C. pediformis, Peucedanum alsaticum; forb-turf-cereal northern steppes with Stipa zalesskii, S. korshinskyi; sod-cereal middle steppes with Stipa lessingiana; wormwood-bunchgrass southern steppes with Stipa sareptana, Artemisia lercheana.

The West Siberian sector, the western border of which runs along the Ishim River, includes only 2 northern latitudinal categories: rich forb-grass meadow steppes with Bromopsis inermis, Stipa zalesskii, Carex pediformis, C. supina, Peucedanum morisonii and forb-turf-grass northern steppes with Stipa capillata, S zalesskii, Helictotrichon desertorum. The steppe soils of this sector are characterized by salinity.

The Transbaikalian regional complex is characterized by a great peculiarity of the species composition of the steppe communities, since it is florogenetically related to the Central Asian steppes, and from the European-West Siberian, representing part of the Black Sea-Kazakhstan steppes, it is separated not only botanically and geographically, but also territorially by the South Siberian mountain ranges. It includes 3 latitudinal categories: rich forb-grass meadow steppes with Filifolium sibiricum, Peucedanum baicalense; forb-soddy-grass northern steppes with Stipa baicalensis, Leymus chinensis and sod-grass middle steppes with Stipa krylovii.

Steppe communities and their fragments penetrate far to the north of Eastern Siberia, which is associated with a sharp continental climate, but above all with historical paleogeographic events that took place in this territory in.

Desert vegetation completes the zonal series of vegetation types of the plains. The desert type includes communities with the dominance of xerophilic, hyperxerophilic micro- and mesothermal plants of various life forms, mainly semi-shrubs, semi-shrubs and shrubs, semi-trees. In desert communities, ephemeroids and hemiephemeroids, perennial short-vegetative plants, are often abundant; annual herbaceous plants of summer-autumn vegetation and ephemera - annual herbaceous plants of spring, autumn-spring or autumn-winter vegetation. In Russia, there is only a small section of a vast area of ​​​​deserts. It is represented by the Caspian sector of temperate deserts, which belong to the northern latitudinal category: wormwood (79) and sandy wormwood (80) northern deserts. Their distribution is associated with brown soils. In the Caspian region, soils of light mechanical composition, sandy and sandy loam, are widespread, therefore, along with polynyas, Poa bulbosa grass is often found here.

The East European Plain is second in size only to the Amazonian Lowland, located in South America. The second largest plain of our planet is located on the continent of Eurasia. Most of it is located in the eastern part of the mainland, the smaller one is in the western part. Since the geographic location of the East European Plain is mainly in Russia, it is often called the Russian Plain.

East European Plain: its boundaries and location

From north to south, the plain has a length of more than 2.5 thousand kilometers, and from east to west, 1 thousand kilometers. Its flat relief is explained by almost complete coincidence with the East European platform. And, therefore, large natural phenomena do not threaten her, small earthquakes and flooding are possible. In the northwest, the plain ends with the Scandinavian mountains, in the southwest - with the Carpathians, in the south - with the Caucasus, in the east - with the Mugodzhars and the Urals. Its highest part is located in the Khibiny (1190m), the lowest is located on the Caspian coast (28 m below sea level). Most of the plain is located in the forest zone, the southern and central parts are forest-steppes and steppes. The extreme south and eastern part is covered with desert and semi-desert.

East European Plain: its rivers and lakes

Onega, Pechora, Mezen, Northern Dvina are large rivers of the northern part that belong to the Arctic Ocean. The Baltic Sea basin includes such large rivers as the Western Dvina, Neman, Vistula. The Dniester, the Southern Bug, the Dnieper flow to the Black Sea. The Volga and the Urals belong to the Caspian Sea basin. The Don rushes its waters to the Sea of ​​Azov. In addition to large rivers, there are several large lakes on the Russian Plain: Ladoga, Beloe, Onega, Ilmen, Chudskoye.

East European Plain: wildlife

Animals of the forest group, arctic and steppe live on the Russian Plain. Forest representatives of the fauna are more common. These are lemmings, chipmunks, ground squirrels and marmots, antelopes, martens and forest cats, minks, black polecat and wild boar, garden, hazel and forest dormouse and so on. Unfortunately, man has caused significant damage to the fauna of the plain. Even before the 19th century, the tarpan (wild forest horse) lived in mixed forests. Today in Belovezhskaya Pushcha they try to save bison. There is a steppe reserve Askania-Nova, in which animals of Asia, Africa and Australia settled. And the Voronezh Reserve successfully protects beavers. Moose and wild boars, which had previously been completely exterminated, reappeared in this area.

Minerals of the East European Plain

The Russian Plain contains many mineral resources that are of great importance not only for our country, but also for the rest of the world. First of all, these are the Pechora coal basin, the Kursk deposits of magnetic ore, nepheline and apathetic ores on the Kola Peninsula, the Volga-Ural and Yaroslavl oil, brown coal in the Moscow region. No less important are the aluminum ores of Tikhvin and the brown iron ore of Lipetsk. Limestone, sand, clay and gravel are distributed almost throughout the plain. Salt is mined in the Elton and Baskunchak lakes, and potash salt is mined in the Kama Cis-Urals. In addition to all this, gas is being produced (the area of ​​the Azov coast).

In zoogeographic terms, almost the entire Russian Plain belongs to the European-Siberian zoogeographic subregion of the Palearctic region. Only a small southeastern part of it - the semi-deserts and deserts of the Caspian lowland - belongs to the Central Asian subregion. In accordance with the dominant landscapes on the Russian Plain, three main groups of animals are represented: arctic (tundra), forest and steppe. Forest animals are the most widely distributed: some of their species go through floodplain and island forests to the Barents Sea in the north and to the Black Sea in the south.

As in the vegetation cover, in the animal world of the Russian Plain, a mixture of western and eastern species is observed. The western border of the range is on the Russian Plain, for example, such eastern species as lemmings (hoofed and Ob) - representatives of the tundra, columns and chipmunk - inhabitants of the taiga, marmot (baybak) and reddish ground squirrel, inhabiting the open Steppes, saiga antelope, found in Caspian semi-desert and desert, and many others. Western species gravitate towards mixed and broad-leaved forests. These will be: pine marten, mink, forest cat, wild boar, garden dormouse, forest dormouse, hazel dormouse, polchek, black polecat.

The fauna of the Russian Plain, more than any other part of the USSR, has been changed by human intervention. The modern ranges of many animals are not determined by natural factors, but by human activity - hunting or changing the habitat of animals (for example, deforestation).

Fur-bearing animals and ungulates suffered the most, the former because of their valuable fur, the latter because of their meat. River beaver, marten and squirrel were the main subjects of fur trade and trade among the Eastern Slavs inIX- XIIIcenturies Already then, a thousand years ago, the beaver was valued very highly, and as a result of unregulated hunting to the beginning XXcenturies, only a few individuals of this animal survived.

Sable in XVIin. mined in the forests of Belarus and Lithuania. Several centuries ago, a brown bear was a common animal in the island forests of the forest-steppe and steppes.

To end XVIIIin. the wild forest horse, the tarpan, lived in mixed and broad-leaved forests. Another subspecies of the tarpan was found in the steppes; in the 60s XVIIIin. it was described in detail by S. Gmelin.

In the west of mixed and broad-leaved forests there were aurochs and bison. Tur - the ancestor of the gray Ukrainian breed of cattle - has long been completely exterminated, like the tarpan, and bison have survived to this day in very small numbers, are taken under protection and are not found in the wild.

AT XVII- XVIIIcenturies the common animal of the steppes of the Russian Plain was the saiga antelope, now living only in semi-deserts and deserts. Caspian lowland. Wild ungulates were characterized by seasonal migrations. Huge herds of saigas at the end of spring, when the southern steppe began to burn out, moved to the north, to the forest-steppe rich in grasses, I in autumn, under the influence of cold weather, they again returned to the south. According to P. S. Pallas in In 1768, under the influence of drought, numerous herds of saigas reached the Samara River in the Volga region and even moved further north. Still in the middle XIXcentury, according to E. A. Eversmann, mass migrations of saigas from the semi-deserts of Kazakhstan to the Ural valley in the north were observed.

Others were seasonal migrations of roe deer in the west of the forest-steppe. In the spring, they headed south, from the forests to the steppes, and in the autumn they moved back north, into the forests.

As a result of centuries of human economic activity, the animal world of the Russian Plain was greatly impoverished. In the Soviet years, a lot of work was done to enrich the animal world: hunting is strictly regulated, reserves for the protection of rare animals have been created, re-acclimatization and acclimatization of valuable species are being carried out.

Of the reserves located on the Russian Plain, the most interesting are: Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Voronezh, Askania-Nova, Astrakhan. Bison are protected in the dense mixed forests of Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Western Belarus). In the Voronezh Reserve, for the first time in the world practice, they began to successfully breed beavers in captivity. From here, from the Voronezh Reserve, beavers are taken out for reacclimatization to the most diverse regions of the USSR. The Askania-Nova steppe reserve (south of the Ukrainian SSR) is known for its work on acclimatization and hybridization of a wide variety of animals from Asia, Africa and even Australia. The reserve is under the jurisdiction of the All-Union Research Institute of Acclimatization and Hybridization of Animals. M. F. Ivanov, whose employees bred valuable breeds of domestic sheep and pigs. The Astrakhan Nature Reserve was created in the Volga Delta to protect waterfowl and fish spawning grounds.

The experience of acclimatization on the Russian Plain of such valuable fur-bearing animals of North America as muskrat and mink, South American nutria, Ussuri raccoon and Far Eastern sika deer turned out to be successful.

Thanks to protection, the number of moose has increased dramatically. In recent years, elk, marten and some other forest animals have been vigorously moving south, which, obviously, is facilitated by forest plantations carried out here on large areas. The elk appeared, for example, in the Stalingrad and Voronezh regions. In many forests, a wild boar that has been killed earlier is also being restored (Voronezh, Lipetsk, Belgorod and other regions).

Despite the strong human disturbance, the wild fauna of the Russian Plain retains its great national economic importance. Many animals serve as a subject of trade (squirrel, fox, marten, ermine, mole, white hare and hare, from birds - capercaillie, hazel grouse and many others).

- Source-

Milkov, F.N. Physical geography of the USSR / F.N. Milkov [and d.b.]. - M .: State publishing house of geographical literature, 1958. - 351 p.

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The Russian Plain is one of the largest plains on the planet. It is located in the eastern part of Europe, therefore its second name is the East European Plain. Since most of it is located on the territory of the Russian Federation, it is also called the Russian Plain. Its length from north to south is more than 2.5 thousand kilometers.

Relief of the Russian Plain

This plain is dominated by a gently sloping flat relief. There are many natural resources of Russia here. Hilly areas on the Russian Plain arose as a result of faults. The height of some hills reaches 1000 meters.

The height of the Russian Plain is approximately 170 meters above sea level, but there are some areas that are 30 meters below sea level. As a result of the passage of the glacier, many lakes, valleys arose in this territory, and some tectonic depressions expanded.

Rivers

The rivers flowing along the East European Plain belong to the basins of two oceans: the Arctic and the Atlantic, while others flow into the Caspian Sea and are not connected with the oceans. The longest river, the Volga, flows through this plain.

natural areas

On the Russian Plain, there are all types of natural zones, as in Russia. There are no earthquakes or volcanic eruptions in this area. Tremors are quite possible, but they do not cause harm.

The most dangerous natural phenomena in the East European Plain are tornadoes and floods. The main environmental problem is pollution of the soil and atmosphere by industrial waste. There are many industrial enterprises in this area.

Flora and fauna of the Russian Plain

Three main groups of animals are observed on the Russian Plain: arctic, forest and steppe. Forest animals are more common. Oriental species - lemmings (tundra); chipmunk (taiga); marmots and ground squirrels (steppes); saiga antelope (Caspian deserts and semi-deserts). Western species - pine marten, mink, forest cat, wild boar, garden dormouse, forest dormouse, hazel dormouse, black polecat (mixed and broad-leaved forests).

The fauna of the East European Plain is larger than any other part of Russia. Due to hunting and changes in the habitat of animals, many fur-bearing animals suffered because of their valuable fur, and ungulates because of their meat. River beaver and squirrel were trade items among the Eastern Slavs.

Almost until the 19th century, a wild forest horse, the tarpan, lived in mixed and broad-leaved forests. Bison are protected in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Reserve. Beavers have been successfully bred in the Voronezh Reserve. A variety of animals from Africa, Asia and Australia live in the Askania-Nova steppe reserve.

In the Voronezh regions, an elk appeared and a previously destroyed wild boar was restored. The Astrakhan Nature Reserve was created in the Volga Delta to protect waterfowl. Despite the negative influence of man, the fauna of the Russian Plain is still great.