Report about animals living in the forests of Tatarstan. Animals and plants of the Red Book of Tatarstan: photos of nature, description of the wild inhabitants of Tatarstan

Natural – geographical zones Tatarstan

• Skitina L.N. Geography teacher, Municipal Budgetary Educational Institution Lyceum No. 2, Bugulma, Republic of Tatarstan

Natural - geographical zones

Tatarstan is located in forest and forest-steppe zones. Transitional features are expressed in vegetation, soils and fauna, which is the reason for the diversity of nature in the republic.

Republic of Tatarstan. Soils.

• The soils are very diverse - from gray forest and podzolic soils in the north and west to various types of chernozems in the south of the republic (32% of the area). On the territory of the region there are especially fertile powerful chernozems, and gray forest and leached chernozem soils predominate.
• There are three soil regions on the territory of Tatarstan:

Northern (Predkamye)

Makhotina V.V. Naberezhnye Chelny RT

light gray forest

watershed plateaus and upper slopes

sod-podzolic

gray and dark gray forest soils

washed away soils

floodplain

swamp

turf

On the hills and hills

• In a number of areas (Baltasinsky, Kukmorsky, Mamadyshsky) erosion is strong, affecting up to 40% of the territory.

Western (Volga region)

Makhotina V.V. Naberezhnye Chelny RT

forest-steppe soils

gray and dark gray

in the northern part

light gray and sod-podzolic

high areas of the area

floodplain

swamp

• In the southwest of the region, chernozems are widespread (leached soils predominate).

South-eastern (Zakamye)

Makhotina V.V. Naberezhnye Chelny RT

• To the west of Sheshma, leached and ordinary chernozems predominate; the right bank of Maly Cheremshan is occupied by dark gray soils. To the east of Sheshma, gray forest and chernozem soils predominate, in the northern part of the region - leached chernozem soils. The elevations are occupied by forest-steppe soils, the lowlands - chernozems.

Vegetable world

• Tatarstan is located in the place where forest zone gradually turns into forest-steppe.
• Coniferous and mixed forests grow in the north of the republic.
• They mainly grow in the south deciduous trees: oak, linden, maple, elm, as well as birch and aspen.

Protection of Nature

• The nature of our republic is rich. Nature reserves have been created to protect it:
• Volzhsko-Kama State Reserve
• National Park "Nizhnyaya Kama"
• Raifa Reserve

Geography and relief of the Republic of Tatarstan

The Republic of Tatarstan is located on the eastern part of the East European Upland. The total area of ​​the republic is 67 thousand 836 square meters. km.

The relief of Tatarstan is mostly flat, slightly undulating and slightly elevated. Small hills exist only in the southern part of the republic and on the right bank of the Volga. The entire territory is cut by river valleys. Within the republic there are forest and forest-steppe zones.

In the Volga and Kama valleys there are the lowest areas (50-70 meters above sea level).

The most high point is located near southern city Bugulma and is 367 m.

The republic is surrounded on both sides by the Kama and Volga rivers, dividing the territory into three parts:

1. Predkamye (Zavolzhye) – northern territories, border of the forest zone;
2. Zakamye - southeastern regions, steppe zone;
3. Volga region - southern territories, mountainous terrain.

Climatic conditions and soils

The climate is temperate continental. On climate formation big influence atmospheric circulation, solar radiation, the nature of the underlying surface, anthropogenic activity. Characterized by snowy, moderately cold winters and warm and dry summers.

The average temperature in winter is up to -14 ºС, in summer - +20 ºС. The absolute minimum temperature can reach -48 ºС, and the maximum - +42 ºС. The growing season lasts up to 170 days. The sunniest period is from April to August.

The average annual precipitation is 460-520 mm. During the warm period of the year, up to 75% of the annual precipitation falls. The most precipitation falls in the Volga region and in the Predkamye region, the least in the western parts of the Trans-Kama region.

Greatest relative humidity air is fixed in winter. Maximum absolute humidity observed in June-August.

Note 1

Tatarstan is characterized by unstable and variable weather and climate conditions, which contributes to the development emergency situations natural character: strong squally wind, prolonged heavy rain, downpour, large hail, snowfall, severe frost, blizzard, floods, floods and congestion, landslides, landslides, talus, gully erosion, natural fires, etc.

Within Tatarstan, climatic differences are weakly expressed. Fogs, thunderstorms, and snowstorms have a significant impact on human economic activity.

The main part of the foggy period occurs during the cold season. The average annual duration of one fog is 4-6 hours. Thunderstorms are most often observed in the summer. The average number of days with thunderstorms reaches 25-32 days. The highest frequency of days with thunderstorms is in July.

Snowstorms are usually confined to the first snowfalls. There are up to 35 of them per year.

The soils are diverse and vary from heavy loamy soddy-podgold to solonetzes and solods.

Soils of the republic:

• fertile - typical medium-deep and typical thick, leached and podzolized, residual carbonate chernozem;
• heavy loamy and clayey dark gray forest;
• floodplain;
• brown-gray;
• sod-carbonate.

Natural resources

Water resources. 24 thousand rivers flow through the territory of the republic. The largest rivers are the Volga and Kama, the tributaries of the Kama are the Belaya and Vyatka. Their total flow is 97.5% of the total flow of all rivers of the republic. The largest reservoirs - Nizhnekamsk and Kuibyshevsk - contain large reserves of water. There are more than 8 thousand lakes and ponds on the territory. There are significant reserves of groundwater (fresh, mineralized and slightly saline.

Mineral resources and raw materials. The main asset of the republic is oil. Natural gas is also being extracted along the way. Its reserves amount to 800 million tons. The following are being developed and used in the republic: oil fields (Romashkinskoye, Elabuga, Almetyevskoye, Bavlinskoye); carbon-hydrogen containing deposits (Agryzsky area, Tukaevsky, Menzelinsky, Mendeleevsky districts, Azeevo-Salauskoye, Ozernoe fields); deposits of sand and gravel mixture (Krasnoyarsk Zelenoostrovskoye). The Republic has reserves of dolomite, limestone, building sand, building stone, clay, gypsum, and peat. There are promising reserves of hard and brown coal, oil bitumen, oil shale, copper, zeolites, and bauxite.

Forest resources. The following forestry districts are distinguished on the territory of the republic: Pre-Volga, Predkamsky, Zakamsky and Zakamsky upland. Forest vegetation covers more than 17% of the total area of ​​the republic.

Flora and fauna

Forest areas are broad-leaved and dark coniferous trees(spruce and fir) and broad-leaved spruce forest formed by oaks, ash, maples, lindens. Green moss spruce forests with sparse undergrowth and sparse grass cover are typical.

Spruce and linden forests grow on the slopes of river terraces. In the southern part of the republic, various herbs grow in steppe areas. Meadows are divided into upland (for pastures), floodplain and lowland.

Forest plantations along river banks are represented by pine, in particular on sandy substrates. grow nearby broadleaf species, aspen and birch, which together have water protection significance.

Figure 1. Typical landscape of Tatarstan. Author24 - online exchange of student work

The Republic is different species diversity animal world. About 400 species of mammals and 270 species of birds live on the territory of Tatarstan. The main representatives of the fauna: foxes, wolves, moose, wild boars, chipmunks, hares, beavers, squirrels, martens, minks.

Small mammals include: marmots, jerboas, bank vole, yellow-throated and wood mice, common shrew, etc.

The diverse avifauna is represented by the following representatives: black grouse, hazel grouse, capercaillie, common lentil, rook, reed bunting, chaffinch, lapwing, black swift, magpie, house sparrow, jackdaw, hoodie, red vole, rock pigeon.

Among the representatives of the herpetofauna, the following are common: the sharp-faced frog and the lake frog, the green toad, the common grass snake, sand lizard. Sometimes common viper and brittle spindle are found.

Soil invertebrates are represented by the millipedes Chilopoda, earthworms, and grasshoppers. Among the hydrobionts known are cladocerans, rotifers, and copepods. Herbetorium mainly consists of arachnids, insects, mollusks, and nods.

(from sites: http://www.intat.ru/land/tatar/woods.htm; http://www.wanders-k.ru8C)

Main natural vegetation areas TATARSTAN are forest and forest-steppe.

PLOT OF MIXED FLOODLAND FOREST

Pine forests

Pine forests are located in Tatarstan in separate spots along river valleys and are confined to islands of sandy and sandy loam soils, occurring mainly on the upper terraces. The most extensive array pine forests located on the left bank Volga; in the west, this Volga strip of pine forests reaches the border with Mari El, where it merges with the massif of Mari pine forests, and in the south it descends below the town of Tetyushi. Remarkable is the Raifa forest near Kazan.

Smaller patches of pine forests are located along Kame, Vyatka and other smaller rivers.

To understand the island location of pine forests and their confinement to poor sandy soils, it is necessary to dwell on the biology of our pine and some of its properties. Pine is very light-loving; Of the tree species growing in Tatarstan, it is second in this regard only to birch. Pine cannot develop in shaded areas. Therefore, pine does not provide dense shady forests; in summer there is a lot of light in pine forests, straight Sun rays reach the soil, here you will not find the coolness and shade characteristic of deciduous forests.

Being very demanding on light, pine is very unpretentious in terms of soil conditions; it can grow in very different moisture conditions - both on the tops of dry sand dunes and dunes, and in swamps, where water stands on the surface for a long time throughout the year. Pine tolerates both dryness and excessive moisture better than all our other tree species. This is explained by the ability of its root system to adapt to living conditions. On sandy soils, not too deep groundwater, pine forms two types of roots - the main taproot and superficially located lateral ones. The taproot, going deep into the ground, reaches groundwater, and the surface roots, which can extend 15 meters from the tree, use the moisture of the surface layers. On swamp soils, under conditions of excessive moisture, pine creates mainly a superficial root system, since in deeper layers the roots would suffer even more from lack of air and low temperatures.

Pine is undemanding when it comes to mineral nutrition, but it is very responsive to increasing soil fertility. The richer the soil, the better and faster the pine grows, although its excessively rapid growth, for example on black soil, entails a deterioration in the quality of the wood. Best quality Pine produces trunks and wood on fairly moist (fresh) sandy soils; it grows worse on dry sand and even worse on deep sphagnum bogs.

PINE SHIP BOR ON KAME

Pure pine forests, or at least forests with a predominance of pine, develop only where it does not encounter competition from other tree species. Very high photophilia, inability to regenerate under the forest canopy make pine weak in the struggle for existence with other tree species, if they find favorable conditions for your development. Pine dominates only where other tree species develop poorly due to poverty, excessive dryness or, conversely, soil moisture, where therefore there are no stronger competitors in the struggle for existence. In such places, pure pine forests grow with their park-like appearance, with slender columns of yellow-red trunks, with air saturated with the aroma of resin, especially on hot summer days.

A common feature of all pine forests is the dominance of pine in the tree layer. Based on this feature, all pine forests, no matter in what different conditions They developed and no matter how sharply they differed in other species present in them - they are united into the formation of pine forests. Typically, forest plants place their ground parts at different heights, so there are several tiers (up to 5). If in all pine forests pine predominates in the upper tree layer, then there may be significant differences in the remaining layers. Since pine is capable of growing in a variety of places, it gives a large number of associations that differ from each other in the lower tiers and the predominance of certain species in them. On the driest and poorest sandy soils, usually on dune hills, lichen forests develop. On the same or less dry sandy soils, green moss pine trees are found. Among them, two associations stand out quite clearly. In the one that develops in drier conditions, lingonberries predominate in the herbaceous layer, which is why it is called boron lingonberry; in the other, confined to slightly lower relief elements with an aquifer layer usually no deeper than 2 meters, blueberries predominate in the herbaceous layer; this association is called boron-blueberry. Linden pine forests are found on well-turfed rich soils, often underlain at shallow depths by limestones or marls. Sphagnum forests develop on poor, excessively moist soils.

NATURAL AREAS OF TATARSTAN ARE SEPARATED BY LARGE RIVERS

Lichen burs , otherwise called white moss pine trees (since lichens are often completely incorrectly considered mosses), develop on the driest sandy soils with a very deep groundwater level, inaccessible even for pine roots. Often, lichen forests are located on the tops of dunes and dunes, while other vegetation develops in the inter-dune depressions. Pine grows relatively poorly in lichen forests and usually produces sparse and shorter-stemmed stands than in mossy forests of the same age. Of all the lichen forests, lichens are the driest; foresters often call them “dry forest.” The dryness of the soil and air leaves its mark on the vegetation cover. In the lichen forest, only the pine tree layer and the lichen layer are well developed. The herbaceous layer under the pine canopy is sparse and only in clearings, which are very common in the lichen forest, is it better developed.

Pine in a lichen forest is usually of different ages and heights, which indicates a slow and gradual afforestation of areas currently occupied by lichen forests. The entire soil is covered with lush, grayish or greenish-white cushions of lichens, which reach 40 cm in diameter and give a unique appearance to the lichen forest. Shrubs include Russian broom and gorse. The herbaceous cover in a lichen forest develops mainly in the spaces between the lichen cushions and consists of species characteristic of lingonberry forests, for example: snowdrop, heath sedge, lilies of the valley, medicinal rose, golden rod, cat's paws, but mainly from species which are not found in any other associations of pine forests and develop most abundantly in glades and small clearings, among lichen forests. Almost all of these plants have a gray-green color, due to the pubescence, which is generally characteristic of the vegetation of dry places. This group includes steppe wormwood, ruddy hawkweed, marshall cornflower, polymorphic carnation, speedwell, beetroot, blue-legged tonguing, ground reed grass, hare's cabbage. The latter plant is very interesting in its biology - it has fleshy, succulent leaves in which water reserves accumulate in a special aquiferous tissue.

The plant is extremely tenacious: if you put it in a herbarium, it remains alive for a long time and even continues to grow due to the reserve nutrients deposited in its tuberous roots.

The lichen cover is dominated by reindeer moss, and in the spaces between the lichens, two species of cuckoo flax grow on the sand. Lichens achieve their best development in the most illuminated places. They do not tolerate strong shade and are therefore absent from dense groups of pine trees. Here either only a dead cover of dead needles remains, or mosses typical of green moss hogs develop.

The lichens that cover the soil in the lichen forest are very well adapted to life in dry conditions and can tolerate prolonged drying. But water is very important for the life of lichens. They receive water exclusively from the atmosphere, absorbing moisture over their entire surface and greedily absorbing every drop that falls on it.

Lichens are often very weakly connected to the soil; Often the largest cushions of reindeer moss lie completely free on the soil, due to the death of the lower parts with which the lichen was initially attached to it. The absorption of water by lichen occurs very quickly. When immersed in water, it gets wet instantly, like a sponge; in 5 seconds the lichen already perceives half, and in 2 minutes - all the water that it can absorb into itself, and it can absorb water 3 times more than it weighs in a dry state. The release of absorbed moisture also occurs very quickly through evaporation: after 1/2 an hour, the lichen loses all the absorbed water and becomes dry and brittle. When lichens get wet, they turn green, and when they dry, they turn white.

BIG BOR IN NP NIZHNYAYA KAMA

Lichens growing on the soil in a lichen forest use water that falls not only in the form of rain, but also in the form of dew and fog. Dew is even more important for their lives than heavy rain, since it falls out much more often. Thanks to the absorption of dew, the lichens become soft every morning: you walk on the lichen cover as if on a soft carpet, which is pressed under your foot and then rises again; but as soon as the sun rises, the lichens dry out, become brittle and break under foot. Lichens obtain their meager nutrition mainly from dust settling on their surface. Lichens grow slowly, their large cushions are several decades old and are often the same age as the pine tree under whose canopy they live.

In autumn, saffron milk caps and porcini mushrooms appear in abundance in the lichen forest.

Closest to the lichen forest both in habitat and in the presence of a number of common types, is boron - lingonberry. It usually has a well-defined pine tree stand, herbaceous and moss-lichen layers. The following shrubs are found singly or scatteredly: juniper, Russian broom, mountain ash and brittle buckthorn. Herbaceous plants are dominated by lingonberry, lily of the valley, club moss, snowdrop or dream grass, drupe and golden rod. The presence of a number of evergreen plants, such as the mentioned lingonberries, and then clubmoss and 3 types of wintergreens, is also very characteristic. Herbaceous plants Lingonberry bora, unlike lichen boron, are bright green in color and usually cover about 40% of the soil. The remaining areas of the soil are covered with green shiny mosses and single pads of lichens from the genus Klyadonia.

During lightening, no matter what causes it, the grass grows, the browning and death of not only mosses, but also typical forest species like lingonberries. Instead of them, cereals grow luxuriantly, mainly reed grass - forest and ground.

Bor-blueberry, like Bor-lingonberry, can be three- or four-tiered. The herbaceous layer, which is denser and covers up to 80% of the earth's surface, is dominated by blueberries and prayer grass. The species that predominate in the lingonberry forest are found much less frequently (wood reed grass, stoneweed, golden rod, lingonberry) or are completely absent, for example, club moss, snowdrop. The moss-lichen layer is perfectly defined and consists of the same types of green mosses as in the lingonberry forest, among which are usually interspersed not lichens, but single spots of sphagnum.

The moss cover of the soil, growing luxuriantly in pine forests - lingonberries and blueberries, is composed of two parts: from a living layer of mosses, usually 3.5-4 cm high, and from an underlying layer of lower dead parts of moss stems. An almost continuous moss cover has a significant impact on the soil: first of all, gas exchange with the atmosphere is hampered, soil aeration conditions worsen, and water evaporation from the soil surface slows down. Mosses, like lichens, receive water and mineral nutrition from. atmosphere, absorbing water with salts dissolved in it over its entire surface. By absorbing the water falling on their surface, mosses, on the one hand, somewhat reduce the amount of precipitation falling into the soil, and on the other, reduce the evaporation of water from the soil and create a moist carpet in which favorable conditions arise for the germination of pine and spruce seeds.

Mosses of the ground cover of pine forests - lingonberry and blueberry - unlike lichens, do not tolerate full daylight in open places; they quickly turn brown and die in clearings; but mosses can tolerate much stronger shading under the forest canopy than lichens.

Mosses are very sensitive to trampling. Where cattle are grazed in the forest, they thin out, and the soil is covered only with a dead cover.

Linden pine grows on the richest sandy, well-drained soils, which either have clay layers or are underlain at a relatively shallow depth by rocks saturated with lime. The great richness of the soil leaves its mark on the structure of the association. In a linden pine forest, all tiers are usually well defined. The upper tier of the tree stand is formed by pine, which grows very well here and can reach a height of 35 meters, producing beautiful columnar trunks. The second tier of the tree stand is usually well developed and formed by spruce, which in some places extends even into the upper tier. The undergrowth is also well developed and consists mainly of linden growing as a bush. Less common are euonymus and rowan. The herbaceous layer consists of a mixture of species found in green moss forests and deciduous forests. The predominant species of the first group are: forest reed grass, lily of the valley, two-leaf lily, boneberry, blueberry, lingonberry; Of the second group, the most abundant are sedge and palmate sedge. The moss cover is less developed and consists of the same types of green mosses.

From a comparison of the four pine forest associations considered, it can be seen that the better the soil, the richer the habitat, the more large quantity tiers are well developed, therefore, the more plants fit per unit area. In the lichen forest, which develops in the poorest habitats, only 2 layers are well defined - woody and lichen; in the pine forests - lingonberry and blueberry - there are already 3, and in the linden pine forest there are all 5, and here a well-defined layer of spruce usually appears under the pine canopy.

The settlement of spruce under a pine canopy is possible due to the fact that spruce is much more shade-tolerant than pine; unlike the latter, spruce can perfectly regenerate under the forest canopy. The question inevitably arises: why did pine forests survive to this day and were not replaced by spruce forests, at least on better soils? A. Ya. Gordyagin explains this by the different attitude of pine and spruce to forest fires. Pine can withstand ground fires without any visible harm, which are destructive for spruce with its superficial root system. In pre-revolutionary Russia, fires in dry years covered vast expanses of coniferous forests; and now in forests it is possible to detect traces of fires on the stumps of old pine trees, as well as in the form of embers in upper layers soil.

Forest fires covered all areas of coniferous forests in 100-120 years; During this time, of course, the replacement of pine by spruce could not have occurred. After continuous fires that destroyed pine, renewal occurred either directly with pine or with temporary species - birch and aspen; then the spruce settled again under the forest canopy, it grew until it was destroyed by a new fire in a dry summer.

Nowadays, when much attention is paid to protecting forests from fires, conditions have emerged that make it possible to find out whether fires are really the reason why pine has not been replaced by spruce. However, this period of time is still too short to answer this question.

Pine forests have a large economic importance. Pine produces very valuable industrial wood, used for making masts, telegraph poles, in the aircraft industry, and for building houses. Pine resin obtained by tapping is also used to prepare valuable products, for example: turpentine, rosin. Pine forests are the main place where lingonberries and blueberries are collected, as well as many edible mushrooms: porcini mushrooms, saffron milk caps, boletus mushrooms, greenfinch, gray rower, boletus morel or string, different kinds Russula.

Raifa

Among many cities in the Volga region, Kazan stands out for its surroundings, which have preserved significant areas of pine forests with accompanying coniferous-deciduous forests, which, along with spruce and fir, include oak, linden, maple and elm.

The best preserved forests are on the left bank Volga from Art. Yudino to Zeleny Dol. They stretch in a strip along the edge of the sandy terrace along railway, going many kilometers deep into the watershed.

Among this strip, the best areas of untouched, virgin taiga have been preserved on Raifa, where there used to be an ancient monastery, founded on the shores of a large lake, surrounded by a ring of centuries-old trees to the very water level.

In the post-October period, the territory of Raifa became a training and experimental forestry area of ​​the Kazan Agricultural Institute. Production and educational practice students of the forestry faculty.

Now the territory of Raifa has become part of an experienced forestry enterprise, but, of course, the best areas of the old forest require the organization of a reserve here.

Botanically, Raifa is the most deeply exposed corner of the Siberian coniferous taiga to the west with all its inherent features. But at the same time, on Raifa we also encounter significant areas of forests with oak, which, together with linden and maple, reaches only the western slopes of the Urals.

Thus, Raifa represents a corner Siberian taiga, pushed into a strip of deciduous forests with oak, characteristic of Europe. This last circumstance makes Raifa's flora exceptionally rich. Prof. A. Ya. Gordyagin, who studied the flora of the Raifa dacha for many years, established the presence of 560 species of vascular plants in it.

For Kazan botanists and nature lovers, Raifa forests have long been best place for excursions, recreation and walks. In autumn, large mushroom pickings can be done here. In early spring, as soon as the snow melts and the ground begins to dry out, purple snowdrops begin to bloom in the clearings in the highest parts of the forest. In summer, the cool shade of the forest seems especially attractive.

Having reached the station by train. Vasiliev, you can easily walk from the station 6 kilometers of a picturesque road to the beginning of the Raifa forest, where it is so nice to relax under the shade of old pine trees. From here you can walk to the lake. The path to it leads along a large clearing crossing a series of sandy hills. You observe with interest the gray crisp reindeer moss on the tops of the sandy hills, giving way in the wetter depressions to a soft carpet of green mosses, along the surface of which long shoots of club mosses spread. Here, along with blueberries and lingonberries, you can find an elegant plant named “linnea” in honor of the famous naturalist Carl Linnaeus.

For botanists, it is of great interest to find wild orchids on Raifa, of which there are about a dozen species. The orchid called the lady's slipper is especially beautiful. Its flowers reach a diameter of four centimeters.

The very picture of the forest with mighty pine trunks leaves an indelible impression. Dark spruce-fir forests with an admixture of deciduous trees are also good.

Until late autumn, until frost, many areas of the Raifa forest abound in mushrooms. White mushrooms, boletus, boletus, milk mushrooms and saffron milk caps are especially good here. The presence of a large arboretum in the Raifa experimental forestry makes excursions to Raifa especially interesting. Here you can study not only the local nature, but also get acquainted with a number of trees and shrubs that grow in other countries with similar climatic conditions, and therefore easily acclimatize in Tatarstan. Many of them come from forests Far East, which have taken root quite well on Raifa. Manchurian is especially decorative Walnut, Maak bird cherry, Ginnala maple and Amur velvet.

Lake Raifa is also wonderful, in the upper part of which, thanks to sediments from the spring flows of the Belaya-Bezvodnaya River, a large sandy beach was formed. Large trees, pine and birch, come almost close to the shore of the lake, and already on the outskirts of the water mirror, in the thickets of reeds and sedges, groups of alders with their dark greenery appear, framing the light surface of the water.

Not far from the large lake, at the border of the arboretum, there is a small kettle-shaped lake called “Karasikha”. Here you can observe a plant rare for Tatarstan - a small aquatic fern called salvinia. On the surface of the water it has a pair of green leaves, which, when immersed in water, become covered with silvery bubbles in places where the stomatal pits are not wetted by water.

For a change, the return journey from Raifa can be done along a different road, past the Novopolsky farms to the Observatory station. This road is almost entirely forested, very picturesque, but somewhat longer - about 12 km.

Group walks to Raifa work especially well in the second half of summer, when strawberries and blueberries ripen in the forest and colorful bouquets of forest flowers can be collected in the clearings.

The Republic of Tatarstan is located on the territory of the East European Plain and is part of Russia. The entire topography of the republic is predominantly flat. There is a forest and forest-steppe zone here, and the Volga and Kama rivers flow here. The climate of Tatarstan is temperate continental. Winter here is moderate, average temperature is -14 degrees Celsius, but the minimum drops to -48 degrees. Summer in the republic is hot, the average temperature is +20, but highest temperature is +42 degrees. The annual precipitation rate is 460-520 mm. When the territory is dominated by the Atlantic air masses, the climate becomes mild, and when northern, the weather becomes much colder.

Flora of Tatarstan

About 20% of the territory of Tatarstan is covered with forests. Forest-forming coniferous trees are pine, fir, and spruce, and deciduous trees are oak, aspen, birch, maple, and linden.

Populations of hazel, bamboo, wild rose, various shrubs, and ferns and mosses grow here.

The forest-steppe is rich in fescue, tonkonog, and feather grass. Dandelion and nettle, sweet clover and horse sorrel, thistle and yarrow, chamomile and clover also grow here.

Examples of plants from the Red Book

• blueberry;

Fauna of Tatarstan

The territory of Tatarstan is inhabited by brown hares and dormouse, squirrels and moose, bears and otters, martens and steppe hori, marmots and chipmunks, weasels and lynxes, ermines and minks, jerboas and muskrats, foxes and hedgehogs.

Kites, golden eagles, hawks, woodpeckers, gulls, larks, eagle owls, wood grouse, long-eared owls, black grouse, buzzards, black vultures, peregrine falcons and many other species fly over the forests and forest-steppe of the republic. There are a huge number of fish in the reservoirs. These are perch and pike, pike perch and bream, catfish and carp, carp and crucian carp.

Gull

To preserve the flora and fauna of Tatarstan, natural parks and nature reserves. These are the Nizhnyaya Kama Park and the Volzhsko-Kama Nature Reserve. In addition to them, there are other sites where conservation measures are carried out to increase animal populations and protect plants from destruction.

Surprisingly varied. And it is this diversity that our article will be devoted to. Rivers and springs, lakes and ponds, picturesque ravines, pastel-colored hills and colorful meadows - this region is beautiful at any time of the year.

The main theme of our story will be the lakes of Tatarstan. You will find a list and descriptions of the largest reservoirs in the region in this article.

Brief geography of Tatarstan

Tatarstan is a republic consisting of Russian Federation, eighth in population and 44th in area. It is located in the northern part of the Volga region, in the place where two waters connect largest rivers Europe - Volga and Kama. Tatarstan neighbors Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, the Republic of Mari El, Samara, Orenburg, Kirov and Ulyanovsk regions. The main cities of the republic are Kazan (the capital), Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhnekamsk, Zelenodolsk.

The northernmost point of Tatarstan is located on the 56th parallel, and the southernmost point is on the 53rd. The distance between these two points is almost 300 kilometers. From west to east the region stretches for 450 km.

The territory of the republic is located within the Volga-Ural anteclise of a rather large tectonic structure - the Russian Platform. A number of combustible and non-metallic minerals (gas, oil, coal, bitumen, sand, building stone) are mined in the region.

In general, Tatarstan is a well-developed and important economic region of the country with developed industry and agriculture. Its development was facilitated by its favorable economic and geographical position (at the junction of Europe and Asia), the proximity of the raw material bases of Siberia and the powerful industrial centers of the Urals.

Diversity of nature in Tatarstan

The region is located far from seas, oceans and mountain systems. Nevertheless, its nature is distinguished by its beauty and great diversity.

The climate of the region is temperate continental. It's warm here in summer, not very cold in winter. In short, the climate is ideal for human life and development Agriculture. Interesting fact: with a relatively small area climatic conditions V different parts republics differ significantly. Thus, against the background of its “cool” regions (Pre-Kama and Eastern Trans-Kama), Western Trans-Kama stands out noticeably for its warmth and frequent droughts.

Forests once covered almost half of Tatarstan. But the man is active economic activity greatly changed the nature of the region. The untouched steppes were plowed, and forested areas- cut down. Today, forests occupy no more than 20% of the territory of the republic. However, in absolute terms, the area of ​​the “green carpet” of Tatarstan is about one million hectares. An impressive figure that retains Tatarstan’s title as the most forested region in the entire Volga region.

Another natural wealth- these are the lakes of Tatarstan. They are widely used for water supply settlements, as well as for recreational purposes. Many of them are also suitable for fishing, such as Lake Archereyskoe. Tatarstan is often called the “country of four rivers,” meaning the Volga, Kama, Vyatka and Belaya. In total, there are about 3 thousand rivers and streams within this region. But few people know that there are even more lakes here!

Lakes of the Republic: general characteristics and list

Lakes of Tatarstan - how many are there in total? Hydrologists have counted at least 8 thousand natural reservoirs within the region. In addition, in Tatarstan in the second half of the twentieth century, four large reservoirs and 550 artificial ponds were created.

Most of the lakes in this region, by type of genesis, are floodplain and karst. More than 40 species are found in the reservoirs of Tatarstan bony fish: pike perch, bream, catfish, carp, pike and others. There are only 30 large lakes in the republic. Sredny Kaban is the largest lake in Tatarstan. The area of ​​its water surface is 112 hectares.

The lakes of Tatarstan are mostly shallow. Most of them have a depth not exceeding three meters. The deepest bodies of water in Tatarstan are Lake Tarlashinskoye and Aktashsky Proval.

Of course, it is simply impossible to describe and list all the reservoirs of the republic in one article. Below are the largest lakes in Tatarstan (the list includes the ten largest reservoirs, see table).

We will tell you about the most interesting and famous lakes of Tatarstan below.

Blue Lakes

Tatarstan is a forest, river and, of course, lake region. Moreover, many natural reservoirs of the republic are popular places of rest and recreation for local residents. A striking example of this is the Blue Lakes, located on the outskirts of Kazan.

This is a hydrological system of three small lakes with a total area of ​​0.3 hectares - Protochnoye, Big and Small Blue Lakes. All of them are oxbow lakes of the Kazanka River, which two hundred years ago were complicated by suddenly formed karst sinkholes.

Blue lakes are proudly called natural miracle Tatarstan. Depending on the time of year, the water in them changes its color from black to azure. Unique salt mud is extracted from the bottom of lakes, which is used to treat many skin diseases. These reservoirs are also very popular with divers and walruses, who traditionally make New Year’s dives here.

Local historian Karl Fuchs began studying the nature of lakes back in 1829. In 1994, a company of the same name was established here. nature reserve- "Blue Lakes".

Tatarstan has many more stories to tell interesting stories about their reservoirs. Let's continue our virtual trip along the lakes of this beautiful region!

Bishop's Lake

Bishop's (or Tarlashinskoe) lake is a closed karst reservoir near the village of Tarlashi, Laishevsky district. It is more than two kilometers long with a maximum width of 500 meters. Greatest depth lakes - 18 meters.

Bishop's Lake has been declared a natural monument, because it is unique in its origin. In addition, the reservoir is fed primarily by groundwater. Unfortunately, the shores of the lake today are actively overgrown with spontaneous and unauthorized beaches.

Near the surface of Lake Bishop, a beautiful stone temple has been preserved, dating back to the 19th century by historians. From the opposite bank of the reservoir there is a fabulous view of the ancient church.

Lake Raifskoye

Lake Raifa is located 20 kilometers west of Kazan. On its banks is the Bogoroditsky complex monastery- a valuable architectural monument of the 17th century. The tall white bell tower of the monastery, combined with the smooth surface of Lake Raifa, is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque landscapes in all of Tatarstan.

Today the area of ​​the lake is about 32 hectares. The reservoir has an oval shape, its total length is 1.3 kilometers. Maximum depth Lake Raifa - 19 meters. In recent decades, it has been decreasing due to active processes of siltation of the reservoir.

Karst abyss of the republic

Lake Aktashsky Proval in the Almetyevsky district is the deepest in Tatarstan. Its depth reaches 28 meters! This body of water is nothing more than a karst sinkhole filled with water. It was formed relatively recently - in the 1930s. According to one version, the ground in this place collapsed due to voids, which, in turn, remained from old oil wells.

Initially, the failure was very tiny: only 2 by 3 meters. But over time it increased in size. The lake at the bottom of the karst sinkhole was formed in the early 50s.

A funny legend regarding the Aktash failure is popular among local residents. Rumor has it that in Soviet times A barrel was thrown into this lake, which after a certain time floated out in the Caspian Sea.

Monster of Lake Kara-Kul

It turns out that Tatarstan has its own Loch Ness monster! It lives in the Vysokogorsky region of the republic, in the tiny Kara-Kul lake. At least, that’s what a fairly popular legend among the local population says.

The name of the reservoir is translated from the Tatar language as “black lake”. The water in it is indeed very dark in color due to the active dissolution of karst rocks. Many eyewitnesses say that they were able to see the mysterious lake monster or hear its wild roar. True, everyone describes it differently.

Does anyone live mythical creature in Lake Kara-Kul is actually unknown. But perch, carp and silver carp feel great in its waters.

Finally…

The diversity of Tatarstan’s nature surprises and amazes everyone who travels through the local expanses. It’s simply impossible not to fall in love with her beauty! The lakes of Tatarstan are one of the main natural treasures of this region, which has enormous recreational and tourism potential and is of great environmental importance.