This article will talk about the magnificent mountain region, located on the border of Asia and Europe. Its territory extends 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 extinction and reduction of many species of biological species, the Red Book of the Urals was created, animals and plants in which were entered with special care. We will talk about this below.
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 regions of the Komi Republic.
The Ural Range is quite accessible and convenient for its development by a wide variety of animal species from different parts of the vast territory of Russia. This is due to the relatively underdeveloped mountainous terrain.
Plants and animals of the Urals are quite mixed.
The nature of the Urals
The Ural territory has undergone great changes under the influence of households. human activities.
Drainage of numerous marshes, deforestation, disturbances and changes in the soil layer during mining, severe pollution of rivers - all this negatively affected the composition of the flora and fauna of the Urals.
Animals of the Urals: species
Some European species live here: mink, pine marten, brown hare, forest polecat, yellow-throated mouse, small and garden dormouse in the eastern part of the region. In the west - chipmunk, sable, columns, etc. (Siberian species).
A total of 5 sites are allocated in the Urals (zoogeographic zoning).
- The forest site is located in the Middle Urals (this is the largest part). 54 species of animals represent the fauna of this area. There are a lot of martens, European minks, very few roe deer, columns and reindeer, no sables. There are brown hares, field mice, common voles and hori. The animals of the Urals of this site represent most of the forest species of the entire mountainous area.
- Severouralsky (forest) region is located east of the Ob. It is also represented mainly by forest species (47 in total). Enough in these places sables, chipmunks, columns, Siberian red voles. There are few moles in these places and there are absolutely no martens, minks, badgers, hedgehogs, field mice, brown hares, field voles and even ordinary hamsters.
- The middle Trans-Urals extends from the eastern mountains to Tobol and the Irtysh. It belongs to the mid-Trans-Ural area, in which representatives of 51 species live. These are mainly hedgehogs, field mice, field voles, pine martens, European minks, etc.
- From the taiga forests to the southern steppes, the Pre-Ural site (forest-steppe) stands out, placing 58 species on its territories. The animals of the Urals of this site are very diverse, among which you can find both residents of the forests and the steppes. These are squirrels, martens, lynxes, moose, ground squirrels, woodchucks, steppe mice, jerboas, steppe pies , hamsters and so on.
- And the last section is Zauralsky (forest-steppe) located between Tobol and the foothills of the Urals. Here 50 species found their place, including squirrel, large ground squirrel, chipmunk, jerboa, Eversman's hamster, pestle, steppe mouse, mole vole, 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 regions that are located within the Urals. The first 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 the plant and animal world of the region.
Categories
The animals of the Red Book of the Urals are divided into 6 categories of the degree of danger of their extinction:
- zero, which includes animals that are almost never found in the wild nature of these places: river beaver, reindeer and tarpan;
- the first includes endangered animals: desman, saiga, red deer (they live only in reserves);
- the second category - animals with constantly decreasing numbers: mink and otter;
- the third category - animals that live in rather limited spaces: flying squirrels, big jerboas, lemmings and hamsters;
- the fourth and fifth categories include the most numerous types of animals: steppe pikes, brown ear - flaps, two-tone leathers, Natusius bat, dwarf bat, gingerbread party, gray and Dzungarian hamsters, etc.
Not only animals of the Urals tend to decrease and disappear, which are included in the Red Book of the Urals, but also 136 species of plants. This includes 40 species of endemic species that grow only in the Ural Mountains.
Conclusion
Everything created by generous nature requires a reverent and respectful attitude. Responsibility and great care for the preservation of vegetation and wildlife, wherever it is, lies entirely with man.