Unfortunately, less and less you can see places untouched by man, even in the Middle Urals. But today we still have a unique opportunity to do this in the Basegi reserve, which is located in the Perm Territory. It was created to preserve a huge array of Central Ural spruce and fir forests, which are located in the foothills of the Basegi ridge. The forest zone of the reserve is the only valuable taiga massif in the west of the Middle Urals that has not undergone deforestation. The Basegi nature reserve is a reference object of taiga ecosystems.
Location
To understand where this protected territory is located, you will need a map of the Perm Territory. It clearly shows that the reserve is located on the territory of this region in the Gornozavodsky and Gremyachsky districts. The nearest point of the reserve is from the city of Gremyachinsk, 43 km; from the city of Gornozavodsk, 50 km.
Nature reserve
The reserve has a continental climate, which is characterized by warm summers and rather cold and long winters with strong winds and heavy snowfalls. In summer, rains with thunderstorms are not uncommon in these places.
The Basegi ridge is three massifs that are separated by hollows. The relief formed after the last glaciation and weathering has bizarre shapes. Nowadays, its formation is affected by the movement of weathering products and flowing water.
The Basegi Nature Reserve is crossed by 11 relatively small rivers. Their sizes vary from 3 to 10 km. These are mountain rivers, characterized by a fast current and crystal clear water.
High water in the spring lasts a little over a month. During heavy summer rains, the water level in the rivers rises significantly. The largest in the reserve are Vilva and Ulva. The maximum width of Ulva is 92 m, and its depth in some areas exceeds 2 m. The ice cover lasts about 200 days. Vilva has the largest width of 84 m, depth - 2 m.
Animal world
The Basegi Nature Reserve (Perm Territory) is distinguished by its rich fauna. There are 3 species of amphibians, 150 species of birds, 51 species of mammals, 2 species of reptiles.
In the reserve there live animals belonging to the European fauna. For example, red- backed vole, common vole, marten, wood mouse, European mink.
Representatives of the Siberian fauna include sable, columns, red vole, subspecies of Siberian roe deer.
The species that are found only in the Urals include the common shrew, mole, red vole, dark vole, and housekeeper vole.
The most common animals of the reserve are the middle and common shrews. Interesting is a tiny shrew. It is no larger than a beetle in size, and its weight hardly reaches 2.5 g. It feeds on insects, which are pests of the forest.
Water bodies live near water bodies. They are somewhat larger than shrews. They have a black back and a white abdomen. The Basegi Nature Reserve is a habitat for six species of bats. Their number is quite small. During the day you will not meet them - they hide in the hollows of trees.
A variety of rodents live in the reserve - squirrels, mice, field and forest mice, baby mice. With them in the neighborhood live hamsters, of which there are 9 species. Southern voles settled in the meadows. In broadleaf and mixed forests, red voles prefer to settle. Muskrat is rare.
The reserve "Basegi" lived and ungulates. These include roe deer, elk, reindeer. In winter, moose leave these places. Since 1985, wild boars have settled here.
In the dark coniferous forests pine marten is found. Its population is quite large. In addition, in the protected area you can find affection and ermine.
The number of minks, otters and muskrats is quite high. Badger is rare. Most often, it can be found in the winter in the meadows and crooked forests. Forest reserve sheltered and huge brown bears.
Flora
This area is characterized by a combination of some elements of Siberian and European vegetation. On the territory of the reserve more than 480 species of plants are registered. 40 of them are quite rare and valuable, and Podolsk shiverekia is listed in the Red Book of Russia.
In the intermontane depressions and at the foot of the mountains spread dark coniferous taiga. On the slopes, the forest is rarer, the trees are lower, there is a crooked forest with dwarf birches, as well as subalpine meadows.
The peaks of the Baseg massif are covered with mosses and lichens with small sections of the mountain tundra. Here grows blueberries, blueberries, Siberian juniper.
In ancient times, a glacier for several tens of kilometers did not reach here, and in this part of the Urals a “region of experience” was formed for many animals and some forms of plants.
Birds
In large quantities, the Basegi nature reserve is inhabited by corvidae and passerines. On the banks of the current rivers, a dipper has taken root, which is not afraid of the cold. It leaves the nesting place and flies to warm countries only after the water bodies completely freeze.
In the forests in large numbers there are black grouse, capercaillie, hazel grouse, 3 species of woodpeckers - three-fingered, yellow and large motley. Representatives of feathered birds are typical for these places: oatmeal (remez, reed and common), yurok, common cuckoo, scallops (shade and spring), garden warbler, songbird , mountain ash, meadow chasing, forest swirl, waxwing, bullfinch, nuthatch, and others. On rivers and swamps there are teal, mallard, waders.
The reserve has preserved the birds listed in the Red Book of Russia - the peregrine falcon and the white-tailed eagle.
Security activity
The map of the Perm Territory, which we posted in this article, shows how vast this reserve occupies. Over the years of its existence, it has become a reserve for increasing the number and preserving populations of many species of wild animals - mink and marten, fox and moose, squirrel and bear. Impressive biodiversity of flora. The Basegi Nature Reserve protects a huge number of plants and animals. Many of them are listed in the Red Books of different ranks. The reserve carries out scientific and research activities aimed at preserving the nature of the Urals.