In our article we want to talk about the "Khankai" nature reserve. It is located on the West Seaside Plain of the Khankaysky, Chernihiv, Khorolsky, Kirovsky, Spassky Districts of the Primorsky Territory. The reserve was created in 1990 in order to protect places of wintering and nesting birds.
The location of the reserve
The Khankaisky State Nature Reserve is located in the southeastern part of Primorsky Krai, on the shores of Lake Khanka, near the Russian-Chinese border.
On the territory of the biosphere reserve grassy marshes with meadows prevail. In total, forty-eight species of mammals live here, and four of them are generally listed in the Red Book of Russia. The Khankaysky Nature Reserve has an area of over 39,000 hectares. This included the water area of the large fresh lake Khanka, which is surrounded by fairly extensive grassy swamps.
The coastal lands of Lake Khanka are rich in swamp, meadow and forest vegetation, the most important are grassy meadows and swamps. The coast is covered with numerous thickets of reeds, sedges, grass meadows.
But as for forest plants, they are fragmented. Most of them are concentrated on the Luzanovaya Sopka. Aspen, Mongolian oaks, linden, velvet grow on this site.
History of the creation of the protected area
Back in 1971, Lake Khanka and the surrounding areas were recognized as water bodies of international importance. The very idea of creating a protected area appeared in the twenties of the last century. And only in 1990 the Khankaisky Nature Reserve was created here - very young, one might even say that it is the youngest in the entire Primorsky Territory.
In April 1996, the governments of Russia and the PRC signed an agreement on the establishment of the international reserve "Khanka Lake" on the basis of the Chinese Sinkai-Hu zone and the Khanka reserve lands.
A number of wildlife sanctuaries were organized on small swamp areas. One of them is the Sosnovy site. It was organized in 1965. There are also such reserves: “River” (1948), “Khankaysky” (1963), “Spassky” (1962).
It must be said that the entire protected area is divided into five completely isolated parts:
- Plot "Pine" with an area of 375 hectares.
- Plot "River". Its area is 12,494 ha.
- Plot "Melgunovsky" with an area of 300 hectares.
- Plot "Damn swamp". Its area is 16,641 ha.
- Plot "Crane". Its area is 9479 ha.
Climate
The Khankaysky Nature Reserve is located in the monsoon climate zone. Therefore, there are large seasonal and daily temperature fluctuations. Winter in this region is not snowy, and spring is dry and cool, summer is rainy and warm. Precipitation is very uneven throughout the year. The coldest month of the year is January, the temperature can drop to –20 degrees. But the warmest time is July, when a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius is set on the thermometer.
The soil
The Prikhantiysky lowlands have an alluvial character. They are formed from lake deposits, mainly loams and clays. The bottom of the lake is covered with sand. On the elevated parts are loams. But on the flat territory bog and semi-bog soils prevail. The peat horizon is not very large - no more than fifty centimeters. And under it is clay, which is a waterproof layer, which determines the swampiness of soils.
Nature reserve
As we have already said, the general-purpose protected zone of the Khankaisky Zapovednik is, first of all, low-lying meadows with swamp and forest vegetation. The coast of the lake is overgrown with reeds and sedges. Trees grow mixed with shrubs. At the foot of the hills you can see cereal meadows. There are very few forests. On the banks of the Sungacha River, you can see areas of rare oak and ash forests. The eastern shore of Lake Khanka is covered with broad-leaved thickets. I must say that the flora of the reserve includes 712 varieties of vascular plants: 32 - tree species, 43 - shrubs, 3 - tree vines, 9 - shrubs, 625 - herbaceous plants.
Marshes occupy approximately seventy percent of the protected areas. Their characteristic feature is a simple structure. This is manifested in the fact that, as a rule, one or two bog plants dominate , which completely cover the occupied area. Four types of swamps are distinguished here: sedge, reed-sedge, coarse grass, and cotton grass-sedge.
If we talk about large grassy swamps, then they mainly consist of reed, cattail, wild rice, common calamus. This is the first stage of overgrowing of a reservoir. With subsequent drainage, sedge and then reed-sedge swamps develop, which subsequently change to reed meadows. It is these ponds that are of great importance for waterfowl, who here find not only protection, but also the necessary food.
Meadows, in turn, are divided into two types: wet, wet. So, reed meadows comprise less than one percent of the total area. They are located mainly on swamp soils. Humidified abundantly or strongly. The plants characteristic of them are Scutellaria, narrow-leaved reed, Langsdorf reed. Grass here grow tall and dense.
But Langsdorfeynikovye meadows are concentrated on swampy soil. On them there are only twelve plant species. Cereal and forb meadows also have no more than ten varieties of vegetation.
But reed-grass meadows are already represented by twenty herbs, among them: a field-marsh, a cornflower, narrow-leaved reed, and bedstraw.
Reserve birds
The Khankaisky Nature Reserve is a paradise for near-water and water birds. In total, 336 varieties are recorded here. In addition, there are six species of amphibians and seven species of reptiles, among them there is the well-known Far Eastern tortoise listed in the Red Book.
The reserve is very important in terms of nesting and seasonal bird migrations. In this region, 110 species of birds nest. About 25 pairs of Japanese cranes and 8 pairs of Duar cranes nest here annually. The total number of each species of cranes reaches one hundred individuals. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of Far Eastern storks, now they nest here up to 25 pairs. During a massive spring flight of birds at Hank, up to 500 thousand species of ducks, geese and swans stop. This is actually an incredible sight. You just imagine what an incredible number of birds is simultaneously concentrated within one, albeit a large reservoir.
In Russia, only in the Khankaisky Zapovednik the white egret and reed bush nest.
69 species of fish were recorded on the conservation area, of which 9 are listed in the Red Book. In the reservoirs of protected places, the small-scaled yellowfin spawning, perch auha, Amur black bream, as well as Soldatov catfish spawn.
Animal world
The "Khankai" reserve, whose animals are distinguished by species diversity, boasts very rare specimens. I must say that in the territory of the nature protection zone there are many rare species listed in the Red Book of Russia and the Red Book of Primorye, much more than in other reserves. The Khankaisky Reserve occupies the first position among the conservation zones of the Primorsky Territory. Of the 112 rare animals of this region, 60 are found in the reserve.
There are also 45 registered species of mammals. The list of those who constantly lives in this territory includes 8 species of insectivores, 12 rodents, 9 species of birds of prey, 2 hare-like and one ungulate. Rare mammals are represented by four species. They are all listed in the Red Book.
On the territory of the reserve, such rodents as the field mouse, gray rat, Far Eastern vole, Daurian hamster, Amur hedgehog, and big shrew are the most common. Many roe deer live in meadows with tall grasses. In these places the transitions of brown and Himalayan bears are located. Also on the territory of the conservation zone live animals listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. Among them are the famous Amur tiger, as well as the red wolf, the Far Eastern leatherback turtle.
There are also animals that regularly or occasionally come from the neighboring territory: Himalayan and brown bears, American mink, wild boars, tigers, sika deer and red deer .
Ancient people parking
In the reserve on the island of Ryabokon found parking of ancient people. The earliest finds date back to the ancient Stone Age, they are about 15 thousand years old.
In addition, monuments of the early Neolithic dating back to 7.5 thousand years, as well as the late Neolithic (5 thousand years), the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, were found.
Scientists consider the reserve a unique place where many archaeological finds from a variety of eras are concentrated in a small area.
Such an amazing place - the "Khankai" reserve. Primorsky Krai nowhere does not have such a number of archaeological sites.
Unique places in the reserve
From a scientific point of view, there are completely unique objects on the territory of the reserve. One of them is the community of the Khankai ostracis, living on Cape Arsenyev, Cape Przhevalsky and Sosnovy Island.
In addition, unique thickets of Komarov lotus grow on the reserved lands (at the mouth of the Ilistaya River).
But the mouth of the Melgunovka River boasts the largest colony of herons in the Far East. During spring flights this place is a huge gathering of birds.
On the island of Ryabokon, on the south coast, is the only place in Primorye, where pale licorice grows, listed in the Red Book of Primorye.
How to get to the reserve?
The nearest city to the reserve is Spassk-Dalniy. It is here that the administration of the Khankai Reserve is located. It is located 220 kilometers from Vladivostok. From it to Spassk-Dalniy can be reached by bus. He walks only once a day.
Administration address: Primorsky Territory, the city of Spassk-Dalniy, 10 Yershov Street.
Instead of an afterword
The Khankaisky Reserve is the youngest in Primorye. However, Lake Khanka, located on its territory, has long been a reserve for birds of international importance. Actually, the goal of creating the reserve was to study and preserve natural phenomena and processes, increase and preserve the gene pool of the animal and plant world. The environmental regime of the territories is affected by a large concentration of endangered and rare plants and animals. The reserve is a unique place with a huge concentration of birds, which makes it unique and extremely important for migratory birds.