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| Fauna |
The fauna of the Barguzin reservation is of a taiga type as a whole but with some specific features conditioned by a rocky relief and proximity of Baikal.
Among them there are such taiga animals as squirrel, Pteromus volans L., Sorex caecutiens Lax. and Sortex minutissimus Zim., which are widely spread in the North of Europe and Asia. Therefore such east palaeoarctic species as cabarga, sable, pillars, Asian wood mouse, chipmunk, wood lemming can be found.
One of the piculiarities of the Baikal’s north-west shore is the poorness of the fauna of amphibias and reptiles, both in the number of species and in the number of individuals. Of the Rana terrestries And., Rana cruenta Pal. and Hynobius keyserlingi Dyb. et Godl. are met here. The reptiles are represented by Agkistrodon halys Pal., Elaphe dione Pal., Natrix natrix L, Vipera berus L., Lacerta agilis L.. There are 50 species of fish in the preserve. The fauna of the invertibrate is poorly studied. According to the materials of T.L. Ananina, who made the inventory of different groupes of Insectae, by 1996 on the preserve’s territory 1015 species of insects and 95 species of Carabidae were registered.
There are no big nesting gulls at the preserve’s shores. At the small islands to the south of the Valukan cape annually several colonies of common terns, about 60-70 nests, are marked.
At the vast marshy areas near the mouths of some rivers the grey cranes nest. The most of the birds of passage migrate along the Baikal’s shore. At the shore such exotic for taiga species as flamingo, bustard, demoiselle crane, yellow-legged buttonquail, are occasionally registered. The species composition of the sandpiperes, registered at migration, is rather diverse, but only few of them nest at the Baikal. They are common sandpiper, little ringed plover, green sandpiper, nothern lapwing. Among the birds of prey white-tailed sea-eagle, osprey, northern hobby are typical for the shore areas. Among the gallinaceae black-billed capercaillie è willow ptarmigan are met along the shore line. Among the passerine white wagtail, yellow-breasted bunting è brown shrike are ordinary for the lakeside area.
In spring and in the beginning of summer the shore area is especially densely inhabited. Usually in the second half of April the snow, that covers the Baikal’s ice, melts and the water soaks underneath, turning the previously monolite ice cover into an ice sponge. Through the hollows in the ice the mass of Plecoptera rises, the insects head for the lakeside rocks, where they stay until June. After they lay eggs into water, they die off. The Plecoptera are food for many passerines. In the second decade of May masses of Trychoptera larvaes of the baikalinida group, go onto the Baikal’s shore. In warm days from the end of May to the beginning of June the Trychoptera fill the air. In the shore area Trychoptera are food for many passerine, cuckoo and some birds of prey (windhover etc.). The stomachs of the Baikal fish (Thymallus arcticus baicalensis Dyb., Brachymystax lenok Pal.,, Coregonus lavaretus lavaretus L. etc.) are filled with those insects. The bears, that feed themselves with ðó÷åéíèê, gather at the Baikal’s shore.
In the end of summer and in the beginning of autumn, when there is mass bird migration, the shore comes to life again. By the end of October the shores of the Baikal become deserted and cold. The frequent storms strengthen the severity of the situation. But in winter the shores get especially unserviceable. The gigantic ice ranges of hummocks in distance combined with the severe frosts – all that reminds Arctics. The ichthyofauna of the north-east Baikal area, represented by 50 fish species, is very diverse. In the first decade of May Thymallus arcticus baicalensis Dyb. goes from the Baikal into the rivers of the preserve. In the end of May Brachymystax lenok Pal. goes up the preserve’s big rivers to spawne, and Hycho taimen Pal. goes into the Bolshaya river. However, when the spawning is over, all these species gradually return to the Baikal.
The zone of the lakeside valleys comes close to the Baikal’s shore. Among the mammals, typical for that zone, are fox, wolf, Mustella altaica Pal., forest lemming and some insectivorous. The list of birds, met in the valleys and avoiding the mounatainuous reliefs, is much larger. black-billed capercaillie, whooper swan, mallard, green-winged teal, red-breasted merganswer and common merganser, common crane, black stork , common snipes and pin-tailed snipes, eurasian woodcock, white-tailed sea-eagle, osprey are among them.
Sometimes along the Baikal’s shore and the river valleys the traces of glutton and lynx are found. Both the beasts of prey chase cabarga on occasions. The traces of small marten-like animals (ermine, weasel) are met mostly at forests’ edge and along the reservoirs’ banks. Among the small mammals in cedar-larch forests red and grey field-voles are most frequently met. The winter ornythofauna of the lakeside forests is not very rich. At some places black-billed capercaillie can be seen. Small flocks of hazel-grouses are also met. In summer months the for cedar-larch forests orange-flanked bush-robin, Swainson`s thrush, pallas`s warrbler, alongside with the above mentioned birds. Among the mammals brown bear and chipmunk appear in those forests in spring. Almost all the reindeers migrate to the foothills, and then to the rocks areas. The quantity of bears in the cedar-larch forests is not constant and depends on the stock and seasonal change of feed. In the cedar forests in favourable years sable (up to 40 animals per 1000 hectares) and squirrel (up to 170 animals per 1000 hectares) have maximal density. In the years of cedar abundant productivity there are a lot of bears there. Chipmunk density is also high. In cedar forests the quantity of small rodents is usually high and stable. Field-voles, especially red field-vole, dominate here. The maximum density in the last few decades has reached 130 field-voles per 1 hectare. The red-gray field-vole is as widely spread as the red one, but the maximum density (100 animals per 1 hectare) falls on sphagnum marshes with thin larch-pine forests. In cedar forests there are about 40 to 60 animals per 1 hectare. In cedar forests the thick tops shade the soil and they badly let the precipitation through. In the cedar forests the quantity of hazel-grouse is always relatively high. Among the day birds of prey northern goshawk and Eurasian sparrowhawk can be met there. Among the owls ural owl and great gray owl, northern eagle owl, Boreal owl and Eurasian pygmy-owl are usually met. In the beginning of summer in the cedar taiga woodpeckers, turtle-dove, cuckoos can be heard, the numerous song-bird sing. The pine-woods of the preserve are inabited more poorly. The feed basis for many species is not enough here. The cranberry is rarely highly productive on vast territories. The quantity of sable in the pine-woods is times lower, than in the cedar forests. The number of the gallinaceae in the pine-forests of the Baikal lakeside valleys is quite low. Many animals visit these forests, but don’t live there permanently. Oftenly, especially in the period of hard snowfalls, elk can be met in the birch forests. In winter reindeers prefer mixed birch-pine-larch woods, where there are cranberry and other bushes. Sable, squirrel and other fur-bearing animals are rear in the birch forests. The banks of rivers, springs, lakes, small marshy areas in the Baikal valley have a rich fauna complex. Among the mammals otter, Ondatra zibethica L., Neomys fodiens Pen. are tightly bound with reservoirs. At the reservoirside meadows Microtus oeconomus Pal. lives, that species is widely spread from the Baikal shore to the Alpine zone.
Near forest clearings white hares permanently live. On the most of the preserve territory there are no hares, or they are of small number. And only at meadows in the river valleys and in the subalpine zone their quantity is rarely discents to the critical level. In some years the quantity of Microtus oeconomus Pal. is quite high there. The winter ornithofauna of the open habitats is rather poor. When spring comes the meadow appearance extremely changes. On the wet meadows cranes, lapwinges, ruffes, common snipes and pin-tailed snipes, wood sandpipers, green sandpipers, common sandpipers, large flocks of dark-throated thrushes and other thrushes, various buntings stay for the rest and food. In June the north deer go up to the Alpine belt from the costline. Alces alces L. come from to the upper reaches of the rivers. A significant number of bears live in the high mountain region. The sable can be found up to the upper bound of the forest vegetation, but the number of its population in such places is not high. Therefore Mustella erminea L is more typical. In the alpestrine belt a Lepus timidus L. lives.
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80 % of the 41 species of mammalians are representatives of the wood
habitants. In majority they are palaeoarctic, European, Siberian and transpalaeoarctic
species.
From
the palaeoarctic species, the representatives of the deciduous forests a red deer (Cervus
elaphrus L) and Capreolus capreolus L. can be found, from the central Asian steppe –
Mustela altaica Pal., from the central Asian mountain tundra – Ochotona alpina Pal. è
Alticola macrotis Rad. The percentage of the golarctic species is rather significant: a
wolf, fox, caress, weasel, Gulo gulo L., Lepus timidus L., lynx, brown bear, moose,
Cletrionomus rutilis Pal. and Clethronomus rufocanus Sund. è Microtus oeconomus Pal..
Also there are the representatives of the áåðèíãèéñêîé fauna, Marmota
camchatica Pal. and northern deer. In Baikal a nerpa lives. Its ancestors lived in the
North seas.
The list
of birds in the reservation enumerates 265 species. Among the nesting species with the
geographic ranges of a Siberian type of the fauna an immovable wood grouse , hazel grouse,
dead cuckoo, Ural and great gray owl, boreal owl and srarrow horned owls, hawks owl,
æåëíà, Siberian jay, spotted nutcracker, bullfinch, pine rosefinch, dace,
white-winged grossbill, Sibereian and taiga fly-trap, yellow-browed bunting and pine
bunting, bohemian waxwing, mugimaki flycatcher and Siberian flycatcher , Eurasian
nuthatch, arctic warbler, yellow-browed warbler è pallas`swarbler, lanceolated warbler,
fieldfare and eye-browed thrush, Sibereian rubythroat, oringe-flanked bush-robin,
Sibereian accentor dominate. 
An
important role in the preserve’s ornythofauna is played by the species of the chinese
type: black-faced bunting, Siberian jay, greenish warbler, daurian redstart, pacific swift
and white-throated needletail, olive-backed pipit, greater spotted eagle, hoopoe, Alcedo
atthis L., gray-headed dreen woodpecker, eurasian jay, great tit. The species of a
Mongolian type are also numerous: Richard`s pipit, isabelline wheatear, brown accentor,
scaly thrush nest there. The Tibet type of fauna is represented in the preserve by
solitary snipe, water pipit, guldenstadt`s redstart, alpine accentor and Himalayan
accentor. Of the birds of the European type there is only one species – it is nortern
starling. The list of the Arctic species is also small: only willow ptarmigan and rock
ptarmigan nest here. The group of the Bering species is represented by nesting falcated
teal, harlequin duck, white-winged scooter, arctic rosy-finch, pallas`s reed bunting.
The
altitude distribution of the vertebrate is distinct in the preserve. In the narrow shore
area quite a specific natural complex was formed. The by-water birds are usually met
there. Among ducks the most numerous common goldeneye è red-breasted merganser, common
merganser is met les frequently. In summer large flocks of ducks, mostly common goldeneye
è common merganser, that gather for the shedding , keep in the lakeside areas. In the
lower Baikal mallard, green-winged teal, falcated duck are less frequent. Some common
goldeneyes and merganseres nest in a distance from the lake, and then bring their brood to
the shore and rear their young there.
In the
Baikal’s off-shore areas and on the small islands the Baikal nerpa can be seen.
Among
the mamals fox is typical for the Baikal shore in all seasons. Mustella altaica Pal., very
rare in the preserve, was registered in the shore area only. In winter in the lakeside
forests all species of the ungulae are concentrated, they escape from the deep snow, and
some, especially the reindeer and cabarga, oftenly go right to the side of the lake.
By the
summer’s middle the animation at the Baikal’s shore reduces. Most of the bears go up
the river valleys.
In the
Baikal shore aquatoria Coregonus autumnalis Pal., Coregonus lavaretus lavaretus L.,
Thymallus arcticus baicalensis Dyb. and Thymallus arcticus baicalensis infrasubspecius
brevipinnis Sv., Brachymystax lenok Pal., Hycho taimen Pal. and very seldom the Baikal
sturgeon are met. The unique Baikal golomyanca live at a great depth only and don’t go
to shallow waters.
In winter nourishment of cabarga (Moschus moschiferus L.) epiphytic lichens
and silver fir’s sprouts, which explains the the cabarga’s inclination to the dark
conifer woods.
In the
river valleys hazel-grouses are numerous. The nesting of the waterfowls and most of the
snipes is always bound with the reservoir banks. At the lakes and rivers rich in fish
osprey and white-tailed sea-eagle live.
For the high mountain
are more typical such Tetraonidae as rock ptarmigan è willow ptarmigan.In winter willow
ptarmigan moves up to the Baikal cost, lower reaches of the rivers. Northern haselhen can
be found up to the upper bound of the coniferous forests. In summer on the high mountain
lakes White-winged Scoter make nests. Dark-throated thrush, Pallas`s rosefinch è Spinus
spinusnest in the light fir forests. A number of small birds are widely spread along the
whole territory especially on the numerous upper mountain belt. They are olive-backed
pipit, willow tit, yellow-browed warbler, scarlet rosefinch, red-throated flycatcher,
Eurasian siskin, white wagtail, Eurasian dipper and some other species.