What types of trees grow in the Kamchatka region. Kamchatka: nature of the region, flora and fauna, interesting facts

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Marine life

Kamchatka and the Commander Islands, the basis of the flora of commercial algae is formed by 5 species of kelp of the genus Laminaria and 1 species of the genus Arthrothamus, as well as some representatives of brown and red algae. Currently, with a sufficient state of stocks, specialized algae fishing is not carried out.

sushi flora

The vegetation of Kamchatka is determined by a number of important factors: the geographical location of the territory, the impact of a humid oceanic climate, predominantly mountainous terrain, the history of landscape development, and the strong impact of volcanism and its accompanying phenomena.

Corresponding to the latitude of the peninsula coniferous forests from Cajander larch and Ayan spruce , so common in the mainland of the Far East, in Kamchatka were largely destroyed during the glaciation, which ended about 10 thousand years ago. At present, they are distributed mainly in the Central Kamchatka depression, protected from the east and west by high mountain ranges. Here, as an admixture to coniferous forests, grow aspen and white birch .

On the east coast (the mouth of the Semyachik River) there is a small area coniferous forest educated Sakhalin fir .

The main forest-forming species in the mountain forests and on the plains of Kamchatka is Erman's birch also called stone birch . It forms over a vast extent pure sparse birch forests, the so-called "park" forests. At the seashore or on the upper border of the forest in the mountains, they are replaced stone birch crooked forest from low-growing trees with intricately curved trunks.

More diverse in terms of tree species are floodplain forests where they meet hairy alder, fragrant poplar, chosenia , several varieties willows .

In the shrub layer of forests are common mountain ash elderberry, cedar and alder elfin, blue honeysuckle and Shamisso, dogrose blunt-eared, Siberian juniper . AT river valleys, on waterlogged soils, thickets are common beautiful willow and spear-shaped, meadowsweet willow .

On the slopes of the mountains in the subalpine zone dominate pine elfin and shrub alder (alder elfin) , forming often impenetrable thickets. They are accompanied by shorter shrubs: rhododendron golden and Kamchatka, Bover's meadowsweet, arctic willow .

Even higher, the bushes are replaced mountain tundra belt, which is dominated by flattened low-growing shrubs and shrubs, alpine meadows, interspersed with extensive snowfields, stone screes and placers, rocks, where plants are found in small scattered groups or singly.

meadows to some extent widespread in all altitudinal zones.

One of the characteristic plant groups for Kamchatka are tall grass thickets often reaching 3 m in height. They are usually located along the valleys of rivers and streams, in ravines, along slopes in places where groundwater is located close to each other. Most often these are pure thickets. meadowsweet kamchatka , which is often combined woolly hogweed, Kamchatka ribwort, forest carrot, hemp-leaved ragwort, Kamchatka bodyak and others. Sometimes such tall grass develops under the canopy of a stone birch forest, but here it is usually lower.

Forb meadows widely distributed on river terraces, forest edges, clearings, swamp margins, coastal slopes both in the forest and subalpine zones. Reed meadows prevail in the clearings between the thickets of alder in the subalps. Widespread in the mountain tundra belt low-grass alpine meadows.

Bogs are found along the entire altitudinal profile, but are most common in the forest belt. The swamps are mainly located in the West Kamchatka lowland, in the valleys major rivers Central and Eastern Kamchatka.

A strip of coastal grassy meadows, turning into forb meadows and shikshevniki.

The most complete altitudinal zonality of vegetation is expressed on the volcanoes and mountains of Central Kamchatka: spruce forests found at an altitude of 300 m above sea level (occasionally higher), larch forests and white birch forests- up to 500 m, stone birch forests- from 300 to 800 m.

Higher, up to 1200 m above sea level, dominate shrubbery from alder and cedar elfin that replace mountain tundra, and then - sparse vegetation high deserts.

Zone Average Height eternal snows in the mountains of Central Kamchatka is 2400-3500 m above sea level. In other areas, this border is much lower, and the belt of spruce, larch and white birch forests is completely absent. Quite common in Kamchatka are disturbances in zonation and the placement of plant groups in unusual conditions. Sometimes within the forest belt there are vast areas shrub tundra. Sometimes along the upland terraces in places secluded from the wind, Erman's birch groves are found within the subalpine belt. In South Kamchatka, due to the cross-effect of air masses with Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the ocean, the climate is more humid and cold than in the area of ​​Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The snow melts here and the plants develop much later. The boundaries of all altitudinal zones are below.

Influence of volcanism on vegetation is expressed in a variety of manifestations. Thus, as a result of the explosion of the Ksudach volcano in 1907, vegetation was completely destroyed in tens of square kilometers to the north of it. At present, part of this area is occupied by almost lifeless pumice-slag fields, in other areas lichen tundras have developed, alder thickets and (only in river valleys) stone birch forests are being restored. Large disturbances of vegetation occur as a result of large eruptions, outpourings of lavas, mudflows, the activity of dry rivers, etc.

According to the latest data The flora of Kamchatka includes 90 families, over 300 genera and about 1300 species. The last glaciations led to the extinction of a number of heat-loving species, but they also contributed to the massive penetration of many arctic-alpine and even alpine species into Kamchatka. The modern Kamchatka flora is formed by species with different types of distribution, among which circumpolar, Far Eastern, and Asian American species predominate. There is also a small group of endemics - plants found only in Kamchatka.

The most numerous are representatives of three families: Compositae, cereals and sedge . Less rich in number of species pink, ranunculus, clove, cruciferous, rush, willow, heather, saxifrage. Other families contain up to 20 species, and many of them are represented by only one or two plant species.

Some Kamchatka plants, due to relative rarity or destruction by man, are listed in the " Red Book of the Russian Federation»: sedge - loose and lead-green, pearl bog, fimbristilis Okhotsk, large-flowered slipper, leafless chin, rough bluegrass.

A number of rather rare and interesting species grow in Kamchatka only at the thermal sites at hot springs. Here you can meet thermal and Alaskan grasshoppers, Kamchatka streak, Chinese twister, Pauzhet bent grass, Kamchatka killinga. As a rule, these are relatively nondescript plants, and therefore people, visiting hot springs, do not pay attention to them and simply trample them.

Not less rare species can be found in the Highlands, where they grow Dandelion Stepanova and Novokamchatsky (with bright pink flowers) polar astragalus, alpine poppy, spleens - Wright and slit, oxigraphy ice, Ilyin's arnica, small-leaved core, viviparous fescue, saxifrage volcanic and etc.

It should be noted that the flora of Kamchatka is not so abundant in endemic, rare, or some very beautiful plants. The originality of the flora of Kamchatka lies primarily in the fact that stone-birch forests and alder thickets prevail here, occupying insignificant areas on the mainland. Due to the mountainous relief, manifestations of volcanism, the presence of modern glaciation, and the impact of the volcanic climate, disturbances of the vegetation cover acquire a special scope, the diversity and mosaicity of plant groups, greatly enriched with northern and alpine plant species, sharply increase.

Let us dwell in more detail on several groups of Kamchatka plants, sometimes of more significant interest to tourists than any rarities. It's about wild medicinal, edible and poisonous species . These groups are purely conditional, since all poisonous plants are medicinal, but only a specialist can use them and, of course, not in the conditions of a tourist route. On the other hand, many edible plants also used as medicinal. We mention here only the most common plants, without detailed description without affecting the species recommended for protection or too few.

Most wild plants cannot compete in taste with garden and horticultural crops, but they surpass them in the content of vitamins and other substances necessary for the body. First of all, attention is drawn to the berries that Kamchatka is rich in.

One of the most popular is honeysuckle blue , which ripens in late July - early August. Its bushes are almost always found in birch forests and on their outskirts, in dry meadows and shrub tundra. Honeysuckle berries vary greatly both in shape (from almost round to spindle-shaped) and in taste (from sour-sweet to bitter).

common and abundant swamp blueberry , growing on shrub tundra, on the outskirts of swamps, shikshevniks. Its berries ripen a little later than those of honeysuckle, but do not fall off so quickly, remaining almost until the end of September.

In the highlands (up to 1400 m above sea level) it is replaced by blueberry volcanic - a lower shrub, often completely spread out along the tundra slopes, with partially preserved last year's dry leaves and greenish-blue rounded berries.

Widespread in Kamchatka cowberry : along the seaside shikshevniks, in thickets of elfin cedar and mountain tundra. It bears fruit most abundantly in the coniferous forests of Central Kamchatka. Cowberries ripen in September. If in the previous year there was a good harvest, then last year's berries are preserved on the bushes - slightly wilted, but quite edible.

Cranberry - common plant moss swamps, where it is represented by two species: small-fruited - about small berries and small leaves, and marsh - with larger berries and leaves. Cranberries ripen late, in September, but its last year's berries are preserved even better than lingonberries.

Common in coastal bushes, marshes and shrub tundras shiksha, or crowberry . This is a common shrub with black, watery, slightly sweet berries. It ripens in the second half of August, lasts a little longer than blueberries, quenches thirst well and is very rich in vitamins.

Currant sad occurs both in the north of the peninsula and in the south, but is most common in Central Kamchatka, in damp valley forests, in clearings, along scree in the subalpine zone. Its red berries ripen in early August and last almost until September.

Representatives of the rubus genus are found everywhere, but not too abundantly fruiting: raspberries, princesses and cloudberries.

Raspberry Sakhalin grows in coastal forests, near rocks, in thickets of alder. The berries ripen in August and fall off quickly.

princess - a common plant of forests, meadows, shrubs and tundra. It rarely bears fruit, but its dark red berries, with their peculiar taste and aroma, fully correspond to the name.

Cloudberry - one of the common plants of moss swamps and damp tundra. The berries ripen in August, changing color from red (in unripe) to light yellow. It bears fruit more abundantly than the previous species.

Widely used in food mountain ash elderberry - shrub up to 2 m tall with clusters of large fruits. less used mountain ash Siberian (Kamchatka) - a tree up to 5 m tall, with smaller fruits.

Berries ripen at the end of August along the sea coasts, on shikshevniks and coastal meadows, and sometimes in stone birch forests, along the edges of dwarf thickets in the subalpine zone. derain swedish . Bright red, collected in small clusters at the top of the stem, they are completely tasteless, but quite edible and quench thirst well.

Otherwise, the case with arctous alpine (alpine bearberry) . This prostrate shrub is common in the mountain tundra, attracts attention with leaves reddening at the first frost and large black berries. Information about the use of this species is contradictory: some argue that the berries can cause vomiting, others that they are quite edible. Their taste is indeed somewhat questionable.

Worth mentioning nuts cedar dwarf . They are quite small compared to Siberian or Korean pine nuts, but there are quite a lot of them in volume, and it is relatively easy to collect cones. Nuts ripen in late August - September, but they can be consumed earlier, roasted on a fire.

From various kinds of greens that can be used raw in salads, boiled as a dressing for soups, cabbage soup or as a side dish, onions are good first of all - Okhotsk onions (wild garlic), onions sticking out and skoroda; flat-leaved nettle, sorrel, Lapland sorrel, cow parsnip, dandelion, radiant chickweed, spoonwort, oxalis, sea mertensia, Japanese rank.

Cheremsha - a common plant of stone birch forests, but also found in mixed grass meadows. The leaves are harvested before the flowers bloom, in June - early July. In the second half of July, they become harsh, but even in August you can find more or less fresh leaves(in non-flowering specimens),

Onion skoroda found on the outskirts of marshes and in damp meadows.

bitter onion grows in dry meadows, on stony slopes and rocks in the mountains, usually in small quantities.

Stinging nettle - a plant of floodplain forests, banks of rivers and streams, thickets of large grasses. It is rich in vitamins, therefore it is used very widely not only as food, but also as medicinal plant. Collect young plants or upper young leaves on the shoots.

On forb meadows from the forest to the mountain-tundra belt, one can meet lapland sorrel , closely related to common sorrel, which is widely distributed in culture. Slightly different in taste and two-column sorrel - a common plant on the banks of mountain streams and damp rocky slopes in the highlands (with rounded kidney leaves).

Hogweed was named so because in Russia it was used to make borscht, or the dish itself got its name from this plant. Hogweed woolly as widely used by man as food, as his European-Siberian relatives. It must be remembered that hogweed juice that has got on the skin sharply increases its sensitivity to sunlight, which can cause severe burns, even ulcers. Some people who are prone to allergies may experience allergic reactions even to a small amount of hogweed greens present in the soup.

Leaves are used in salads and soups dandelions , pre-treated in various ways (for example, soaking in water) to reduce bitterness.

young shoots stellate radiata , growing in damp meadows, along the banks of rivers, in grassy swamps, just like the leaves growing along the seashores maritime maritime , ranks of the Japanese (young greens) and spoons , are used mainly as fresh herbs in salads. And the leaves common sorrel , found in the forests of Central and Southern Kamchatka, are used in the same way as sorrel.

Boiled as garnishes or in soups, spore-bearing spikelets collected in June are used. horsetail , young greens forest kupyrya (carrot), Kamchatka meadowsweet, narrow-leaved willow-herb, hemp-leaved ragwort .

Special processing (boiled in salted water, washed, and then fried in oil or boiled in soup) requires young, not yet unfolded leaves of bracken and ostrich. Orlyak found in white-birch (sometimes in stone-birch forests, in dry places). Straussoper common and abundant in floodplain forests. Collection time - June.

Wild plants are also used to make various drinks. For kissels and compotes, all the edible fruits and berries listed above are used. Vitamin drinks are made from wild rose (at the beginning of summer - from young leaves, in the middle - from flower petals, in autumn - from ripe fruits), young leaves birches (June), leaves cranberries, meadowsweet, cinquefoil, princess , tops of young shoots and flowers raspberries , flowers meadowsweet . Very beautiful and fragrant tea is obtained from a mixture of dried leaves and flowers. Ivan tea . Here's an easy way: roll the leaves between your palms and dry them by the fire, then use as tea leaves (can be mixed with flowers). As a rule, vitamin tea is made from a mixture of several components. Often medicinal are added to it: leaves nettles, watches , young greens fluffy ranks etc. Sometimes tea is acidified by adding some leaves there. sorrel, sorrel or sour - so he better quenches thirst. Roots can be used dandelion to prepare a coffee drink - roasted roots are ground and brewed.

It is useful for a tourist to navigate in medicinal properties some common plants, especially non-poisonous ones.

So, for example, for abrasions, scratches, wounds, burns, etc., you can use plants with antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic and wound healing properties - officinalis and thin-leaved burnet, viviparous mountaineer, shrub cinquefoil, marsh cinquefoil (roots), Pean tea narrow-leaved (grass and roots) nettle, umbrella hawk, common impatiens, ragwort - cannabis and false arnikovy (grass), sneezer beautiful and Kamchatka (fresh herb or its decoction), goat willow (bark decoction) cedar elfin (resin), etc.

Instead of cotton, you can use any kind sphagnum mosses , common in swamps. Dried moss is highly hygroscopic and has a wound healing and antiseptic effect. Instead of bandages, birch bark and bast are used. birches which also have antiseptic properties.

At internal bleeding, edema, diseases of the bladder and urinary tract use an infusion of herbs horsetail .

When coughing, use an infusion of petals wild rose , herbs round-leaved sundew, maritime mertensia .

For toothache and as an antipruritic agent for mosquito bites, a decoction is used. marsh cinquefoil . Fresh grass rubbed and applied to the skin also helps with mosquito bites. northern tansy and infusion of roots burnet .

For headaches, use an infusion of herbs kopeck kopeechnikovidny or a meadowsweet.

With stomatitis and sore throat, a decoction is used as a rinse burnet officinalis and mountaineer viviparous , bark hairy alder , leaves and roots Ivan-tea angustifolia , leaves raspberry Sakhalin .

In case of indigestion, a decoction of cones is used as an astringent. hairy alder , rhizomes highlander viviparous, burnet and cinquefoil , young leaves birches, cranberries .

For constipation, a decoction of the roots is used as a laxative. valerian , leaves three-leaf watch .

For pain in the abdomen, use a decoction of flowers and roots. maritime maritime .

Number of species poisonous plants in Kamchatka is small, but among them there are quite dangerous ones.

One of the most poisonous (all parts, but especially the rhizome) plants of the Far Eastern flora - milestone poisonous, or hemlock . This herbaceous plant up to 0.8 m tall, with bipinnate leaves and an umbrella of small white flowers, is often found in swamps, shores of lakes and oxbow lakes, in shallow waters of slowly flowing streams. Its most characteristic feature is a swollen rhizome, with a small cavity inside and transverse partitions. At the end of summer or autumn, the rhizome often breaks off from the stem and floats on the surface of the water, resembling a potato tuber in its appearance. Milestone poisoning often ends fatal.

Almost all types buttercup family - poisonous plants. The most poisonous - aconites and larkspur - are perennial herbs with palmately dissected leaves, blue, blue or purple flowers in a compressed or loose inflorescence.

Aconite - it's relatively rare plant alpine meadows and tundra, endemic Voroshilov's aconite with a curly stem is found in Central Kamchatka and in the north-west of the peninsula, Fisher's aconite and great aconite are common plants of stone birch forests (especially in river valleys) and tall grass meadows in the lower part of the subalpine belt. Larkspur grows along the banks of streams (mostly in the highlands) and rocky slopes. All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the roots.

The fruits of many poisonous plants turn orange or red when ripe.

Volnik Kamchatka is a very poisonous plant. This is a low shrub with erect stems, covered with sessile light yellow flowers in the second half of May - June. The berries are also sessile, green, and red when ripe.

Ripens at the end of August red-fruited raven - herbaceous plant up to 50 cm tall with a racemose inflorescence, which is common in Central Kamchatka.

Found in swampy meadows Lysichiton Kamchatka , in oxbow lakes, stagnant waters of swamps and shallow lakes - marsh calla . Both plants outwardly resemble a calla flower. At the end of summer, their juicy berries ripen, collected in a dense oblong bunch (cob).

Greenish brown berries two-leaf mine , growing in coniferous forests and meadows, turn red only in September-October, when their leaves are already withering, falling off and it can be difficult to understand which plant they belong to.

Avoiding poisoning with wild plants is quite simple: it does not follow eat (both raw and boiled) unfamiliar and unfamiliar plants, and especially their young greens, rhizomes and fruits. Under no circumstances should both poisonous and unfamiliar medicinal plants be used.

On section pages

The flora of Kamchatka has two peculiarities. And one of them catches the eye of any person far from botany. And the other, on the contrary, was revealed only as a result of the work of several generations of experienced specialists, after decades of their hard work.

The first is gigantism. Kamchatka is the only place in Russia (and there are few such places in the world) where grasses grow up to 2-2.5, or even 4 m. Namely, this is the height that Kamchatka umbrella plants reach: bear root, cow parsnip, Kamchatka ribwort and others. This feature of the Kamchatka vegetation was also noted by the first Russian scientist who visited Kamchatka, S.P. Krashenninikov: "The grasses throughout Kamchatka, without exception, are so tall and juicy that it is difficult to find the likes of them throughout Russian Empire. By rivers, lakes and in copses they are much taller than a man and grow so quickly that in one place you can put hay at least three times. For the sake of which it is impossible to find the most capable places for keeping livestock.

Numerous studies carried out in Kamchatka have shown that the appearance of giant plants on the peninsula should be associated with the numerous hot and cold springs of Kamchatka, the waters of which contain a lot of salts and microelements. Perhaps that is why on the peninsula you can meet other giant plants. For example, this place is good for landing different types cereals. "Charged" tasty water they grow much higher.

Another, hidden, feature of the Kamchatka flora is that relatively few plant species live here, just over 800 in total. But among them there are a lot of endemic ones, that is, found only here in Kamchatka. There are more than 100 of them. And this, as experts say, is "young endemism." That is, the differences between the Kamchatka forms and the "global" ones are in most cases insignificant and are revealed only to an experienced specialist. And this means that they appeared recently. Such, for example, is the Kamchatka willow Gulten - a close relative of the so-called goat willow, the thickets of which - willow - cover the floodplains of many Siberian rivers. The same applies to the graceful fir. Although it is found only in Kamchatka, it is very similar to Sakhalin fir and white fir. And both of these species are widespread on Sakhalin and in the Amur region.

It is interesting that in Kamchatka itself, graceful fir has survived only in one place, on the shore of the Kronotsky Bay, at the mouth of the Semyachik River, on an area of ​​​​only 8 hectares! Now this unique tract is located within the boundaries of a specially protected area. natural area- Kronotsky State biosphere reserve.
In general, in the mountains of Kamchatka, vegetation is distributed along altitudinal zones. The lower belt is forest. The main tree of the Kamchatka mountain forests is a stone birch, it is also a black birch, it is Erman's birch. Outwardly, this tree is completely unlike the white-trunked birch we are used to. This is most often a low, gnarled tree with small, hard foliage, black on the outside and light on the inside with multi-layered bark, which exfoliates by itself, so that often its “rags” are picturesquely fluttered in the wind around the trunk. Such forests, sometimes dry, "park", sometimes damp, swampy, mainly occupy the slopes of the Kamchatka mountains from the foot to heights of 400-600 m.

And only in the valley of the Kamchatka River is the so-called coniferous island of larch and spruce forests. Among this taiga, there is also an ordinary white-trunked birch. Above the coniferous belt - 200-300 m - the slopes are again covered with thickets of stone birch.
This is followed by a belt of so-called subalpine shrubs. These are thickets of the most common Siberian dwarf pine and the Kamchatka endemic - stone alder. They cover mountain slopes, ridges and plateaus up to heights of 600-800 m with a continuous cloak.
Above are short-grass multi-colored alpine meadows, even higher - mountain tundra.

Even higher than 1200-1500 m - the realm of bare stone. And above the ridges of bald mountains and high plateaus rise individual massifs and conical peaks topped with ice caps.

Yes, the terrestrial flora of the Kamchatka Peninsula is amazing, unlike anything else. But the greatest value, especially in last years acquired the underwater vegetation of its coastal zone. The so-called brown algae, varieties of sea kale: kelp, alaria, agar - grow at depths of up to 10-15 m and in some places cover the seabed with a continuous carpet. But these are the most valuable foodstuffs and medicinal raw materials.
But at great depths, up to 60-65 m, is the kingdom of red algae; in areas of the seabed near the confluence of the rivers - dense thickets of green algae - sea grass.

Kamchatka is a unique mountain region. It is distinguished by the originality of the landscape, the harsh climate, the richness of flora and fauna.

Geography of the region

Kamchatka, whose nature constantly surprises researchers, is a peninsula in the northeast of Eurasia. Washed by the Okhotsk and as well Pacific Ocean. It has an elongated shape, stretches from north to south for 1200 km, its maximum width does not exceed 440 km. The area of ​​Kamchatka is approximately 270 thousand square meters. km.

The peninsula is connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, the cross section of which is only about 90 km.

The western coast is flat and low, swampy in places. The eastern coast is a steep rocky line cut by bays and bays.

The peninsula is crossed by many rivers. Almost all of them originate in glaciers or at the foot of mountains. The water in them is very clean, suitable for drinking without purification and boiling. The most big river- Kamchatka. There are also many lakes here.

Zone of modern volcanism

What is interesting about Kamchatka? Nature generously endowed her with volcanoes. There are more than 2.5 thousand volcanic cones - about 300 extinct and more than 30 active volcanoes. They are the main attraction of the peninsula. Poets call them stone torches, they are depicted on the coat of arms and the flag of the region.

One of the most interesting active volcanoes in Kamchatka is Ichinsky, whose height is 3621 meters. It strikes the imagination with its size and shape. A very unusual and beautiful sight - periodic emissions of blue obsidian.

Kamchatka is home to the highest volcano in Eurasia - Klyuchevskaya Sopka, whose peak reaches 4750 meters. In addition to its "growth", it is distinguished by an absolutely correct classical form. There are 12 smaller volcanoes around it. The entire group has been declared a natural park.

In the south of the peninsula there is another group of volcanoes called "Home". It includes Kozelsky (2190 meters), Avachinsky (2751 meters) and Koryaksky (3456 meters) volcanoes.

Avacha, Mutnovsky and Karymsky are among the most active volcanoes. The last eruption of Avacha was recorded in 1991, and Karymsky has been demonstrating continuous activity since 1996.

From a scientific point of view, Kamchatka is a natural laboratory for the creation of volcanoes. Whole scientific world observes the unique processes of their birth, taking place literally before our eyes, as in prehistoric times.

The peninsula is a seismically active zone. Earthquakes periodically shake it, the strength of some reaches 9-10 points.

Climate

A humid and cool climate prevails in Kamchatka. The lowlands are colder and windier than the highlands. Snowy, with frequent snowstorms, winter comes in November and actually lasts until the end of April. Only in May does a short swift spring pass, and after it the same short summer, often rainy, sometimes rather hot, but always colored with a riot of colors of flowering herbs. Autumn is mostly cloudy and warm.

Flora and fauna

The wild nature of Kamchatka is practically untouched by man. In total, Kamchatka has about 1200 species of plants - trees, shrubs and herbs. Some of which are endemic, that is, they are not found anywhere else on the planet.

Alpine-type vegetation prevails on the coast; above 1400 meters above sea level - mountain tundra, even higher - wastelands with sparse vegetation. The peninsula is characterized by tall grasses. Grasses grow up to 3-4 meters! In spring and summer, they bloom wildly, thanks to which the Kamchatka expanses, like in a kaleidoscope, are flooded with waves of color - the dominance of greenery is replaced by lilac, which is gradually diluted with white, and then replaced by deep purple, which in turn replaces rich orange, and then - bright -yellow and red. Each color lasts about a week. The pride of the peninsula is the Rider bathing orchid, the meat-red wintergreen, the top-eared rose and other plants.

The fauna of Kamchatka is also diverse: 500 species of fish, 300 species of birds, 90 species of mammals - sable, ermine, flying squirrel, hare, otter, lynx, reindeer, fox and others. Of the predators, the Kamchatka is considered the most dangerous. Brown bear. The most numerous representatives of the terrestrial fauna are insects, which make up 80% of all animal species of the peninsula taken together.

Regional economy

Unique land - Kamchatka. Her nature is harsh, colorful and magnificent. The harsh climate, low population and the undeveloped part of the territory make this area one of the most environmentally friendly places on the planet. There isn't one here railway, the main transport links are air (airplanes and helicopters), sea and road.

Administrative center and Big city- Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky with a population of 200 thousand people. Other significant settlements- Yelizovo, Paratunka, Milkovo, Esso, Anavgay, Ust-Kamchatsk, Kozerevsk and others.

Fishing, metallurgical industry and Agriculture. Highly rapidly in recent decades tourism develops. Kamchatka, whose nature is unusual, colorful and harsh, attracts thousands of extreme people who not only go skiing or dog sledding, but also conquer mountain peaks, go down into the craters of volcanoes, and visit the Valley of Geysers. A feature of the Kamchatka routes is their inaccessibility and unpredictability, so you should definitely use the services of an experienced guide.

“Oh-oh-oh, this is a strange place, Kamchatka,” said the famous Russian poet and performer Viktor Robertovich Tsoi about the marvelous Kamchatka Territory.
Few people know that Kamchatka is indeed an unusual corner of Russia, with its unique and mysterious flora, huge and unique plants and majesty of the forests.

Speaking of flora Kamchatka, I would like to emphasize two of its most important features. And if one of them is completely obvious, conspicuous, then the existence of the other became known only after more than one generation prominent people, specialists and botanists, long and fruitful research and decades of work.

The first speaks for itself in many ways. Gigantism. It is hardly found in the world, and even more so in Russia, another such place where grasses grow up to two to two and a half meters in height. It is not uncommon for this figure to reach the mark of four meters. As a rule, Kamchatka umbrella plants can boast of such a high height, including: hogweed, bear root, Kamchatka ribwort and others.

For the first time, the trend towards such tall plants was noticed by the first Russian scientist who visited Kamchatka, S.P. Krashennikov. In his notes, he very vividly and beautifully described his observations, vividly and with great admiration spoke about "tall and juicy grasses, the likes of which cannot be found in all of Russia." Many plants even exceed a person in height, he mentioned. The scientist found this place the most suitable for keeping livestock, as he himself wrote.

Such a rare feature and amazing performance of Kamchatka plants are associated by many with the local groundwater, cold and hot springs, which include great amount various salts and useful substances. Tellingly, the planting of cereals in Kamchatka promises yields of the highest quality. So, grown on this territory of Russia, having absorbed all the charms and usefulness of rich sources, they germinate in much larger sizes.

Another feature of the Kamchatka Territory is considered to be its relatively small variety of plant species - only about eight hundred pieces. But do not pay attention to the figure, which may seem a little small at first glance, because a huge part of them are representatives of endemic species found only in Kamchatka. As many as one hundred species, exotic in their essence, give full right to consider the Kamchatka flora factor as “young endemism”.

So in the language of specialists they call a phenomenon in any environment of plants where there is a place for young unique species. One of these young species is the Gulten willow, a close relative of the goat willow, which occupies large areas on the banks of Siberian rivers. Another species is graceful fir. It is found only in Kamchatka, but outwardly similar to Sakhalin fir, widespread in Sakhalin, and white fir, which is in the Amur region.

Quite an interesting fact: on the territory of the Kamchatka Territory, places of growth of graceful fir have been preserved, but they are so small and rare that it was customary to place them under special control and protection.
The predominant locations of vegetation are altitudinal belts.

Forests are located in the lower zone. The main tree of the forests of the Kamchatka Territory is the stone birch or Erman's birch. Outwardly, completely different from the usual, white-trunked birch, Erman's birch is a gnarled tree with hard, small foliage. The bark is black on the outside and light on the inside. Multi-layered, it looks more like rags fluttering in the wind.

From the foot to the heights of six hundred meters, such trees predominate.

In the valley of the Kamchatka River there is an island of larch and spruce forests. There also grows the well-known white-bark birch. Starting from a height of two hundred - three hundred meters, thickets of stone birch appear again.
The previous one is followed by a belt of subalpine shrubs - as it is commonly called. In it you can find thickets of elfin cedar and Kamchatka endemic, which is common for Siberian people and the edges, or in other words, stone alder.

As a first approximation, one can imagine the change as follows vegetation zones in Kamchatka with increasing severity and humidity climatic conditions: 1) forest zone, 2) shrub zone (analogous to the forest-tundra), 3) tundra zone.

A similar change in vegetation is observed when the plains move into the mountains (vertical zoning), from the sea coasts into the depths of the peninsula (seaside zoning), from the bottoms of closed narrow intermountain basins to the slopes (climatic inversion of zones). In the last two cases, the change of zones occurs in the opposite sequence: tundra - elfin forests - forests, and is associated with the phenomena of coastal and intermountain zoning. Latitudinal zonality is least clearly expressed.

A significant part of Kamchatka is located within the forest zone. Forests occupy about 26% of the entire territory of the Kamchatka region. The most common type of vegetation is stone birch forests with lush grassy ground cover. Sparse park-type white birch forests and birch groves interspersed with lush tall grass meadows are confined to modern continental deltas (alluvial fans). These peculiar forest-meadow landscapes were often considered the main zonal type of Kamchatka vegetation. In the central part of the Kamchatka depression there is a "coniferous island". coniferous forests, mainly larch, make up about 15% of all forest areas.

On the east coast, in the lower reaches of the Stary Semyachik River, there is the only graceful fir grove in the world. It is characteristic that the coniferous vegetation in Kamchatka is generally confined to the most seismically and volcanically active regions with the maximum thickness of aerial volcanoclastic deposits, that is, to such regions where the possibility of preserving relic species is minimal, and the possibility of the appearance of new aliens is maximum.

Large areas in the northern part of the peninsula on the sea coasts and in the mountains are occupied by thickets of elfin forests - cedar and alder. The elfin zone in Kamchatka, as in many other regions of Siberia and Far East, replaces the forest-tundra, located between the forest (taiga) and tundra zones. Thickets of cedar and alder elfin grow in exceptionally close environmental conditions, but almost never form mixed stands. There are no clear patterns in their distribution, but the dwarf pine, as a rule, rises higher into the mountains and gravitates towards more stony substrates. Tundras form the upper belt of vegetation in the mountains, dominate the plains in the northernmost part of the peninsula, occupy narrow coastal strips of coastal lowlands and often appear along the bottoms of intermountain basins below the forest belt. The most widespread are lichen, lichen-shrub and moss-shrub.