The Barsakelmesskiy State Natural Reserve

The natural-science substantiation of the territory expansion of the Barsakelmesskiy State Natural Reserve is executed by the CRS and GIS «Terra», within the limits of the project «Working out of the natural-science and technical and economic assessment of the territory expansion of the Barsakelmesskiy State Natural Reserve » in 2004.

In 1939 on the Barsa-Kelmes Island , the natural reserve ,belonging to the Central Administration of Natural Reserves and Hunting Economy at the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR, was organized ,the main purpose of which was the protection of hoofed animals: the goitered gazelle (dzheyran), the saiga .In 1953  the Turkmen koulan were brought here ,their livestock population reached  -120 heads of cattle to 90th . Over a long period of time of the natural reserve functioning, the regular complex scientific researches and the field observations were done here by the students of  Leningrad Pedagogical Institute of Gertsen .In 80^th the scientific researches were stopped, this territory became difficult of access because of a shallowing .The livestock population of the koulan was taken out to the continent. In connection with absence of financing activity of the natural reserve in1990-2000, the activity of reserve was halted, and was reanimated in 2002, after joining of the island with a continent, and possibility of travel by the new dry land.  For lack of fresh water, the hoofed animals abandoned the Barsa-Kelmes Island, the koulan settled in saxaul tangles of the dried bottom, around the Kaskakulan Island (a former island), where the sources of drinking-water are; the goitered gazelle and the saiga widely migrate on the eastern coast and poachers shoot at them.

  The Barsakelmesskiy State Natural Reserveis located in the Aral district of the Kyzylordinskiy region. The cluster areas of territory expansion are in northern part of the east coast of the Aral Sea, including: Barsa-Kelmes Peninsula, outliers (former islands) — Kaskakulan, Uzunkair, the drained surrounding territory and a new (small) delta of the Syrdarya River. The nature reserve has an area of 172070 hectares, taking into account an expansion, and consists of three cluster areas:«Barsa-Kelmes», «Kaskakulan», «Delta».

              The climate is typical for northern deserts of the temperate zone: protracted hot summer, comparatively cold winter, insignificant cloudiness, and small amount of precipitation (126-128 mm in a year, the biggest part of which falls in cold seasons). An average air temperature is in July +25+26°С, the absolute maximum arrives at +42+44°С. An average air temperature is in January -10-13°С, the absolute minimum -34-36°, with constant strong breeze.  Frequent the outbreaks of air masses, which specify very cold winters sometimes. Winds of northeastern directions prevail, with middle speed 3,5-6 m/s, the highest speed achieves 20-24 m/s. A snow cover (80-90 days) sets in the second half of December, and goes down in the second half of March. The depth of the frozen solid of soil is 45 centimeters.

The reliefis of the plain type, of the deserted subtype, it is presented with eolian forms (hummocks, ridges, depressions, phytogenous hills) and clay — saline desert .On the primary marine plain of the dried bottom predominate: the saline plains and the deflationary depressions, which interchange with finely ridge-cellular sands. The former Barsa-Kelmes Island is a peninsula now, it rises as the outlier, and the highest point here is -108 m above sea level.

Surface waters form the residual reservoirs of the Aral Sea (Greater and Lesser).The river network is formed by: the Syr Darya River, that falls into the Lesser Aral Sea, and the system of irrigation canals,  that is located in the central part of delta in the northeast of the territory. Groundwaterisrelated to the water-bearing -middle and early-quarternary neogenic blankets, such as- sands, loamy sands, which are interstratified by the interlayers of clays, and differ from others of a variegated salinity. The water analysis is mainly: sulfate- chloride, magnesium- sodium, calcium- sodium, chloride- sodium. The feed of waters is carried out due to: a precipitation, the filtration of the river waters and of the system of irrigation canals.

               Soil. There are the grey-brown soils of a zonal type, which are situated on the outlier elevations and on Barsa-Kelmes Peninsula. The seashore salines are widespread, specially: seashore salines , marsh salines, common salines (dried bottom, delta).The crusted saline lands and the crusted-swollen saline lands are developed in the conditions of the  near occurring underground waters with a high salinity. The loose sands of the dried bottom are deprived of soil cover, on the bumpy- ridge sands of delta the desert sandy soils are formed. The following soils you can see in delta of the Syr Darya River: floodplain –meadow, meadow- marsh and marsh.

The Barsakelmesskiy Reserve- is  unique in Eurasia, where ecosystems  of the northern (steppe) and the middle (genuine) of the subzonal types of deserts” Turana” -type are  guarded, because it is geographically located in the transitional area between them. A protracted isolation of the Barsa-Kelmes Island area, helped to keep in primeval condition the native ecosystems, these ecosystems differ from the man-induced ecosystems of stable structure, balance of nature and complete floristic composition of the plant associations.

                The Barsakelmesskiy Reserve — is unique in Kazakhstan, with the extreme ecological environmental conditions, and unique in the world, located in the zone of ecological catastrophe of global importance. It is the unique «natural laboratory» for the study of the processes of: climate aridization, desertification of complexes, alterations of composition and structure of ecosystems, as a field for speciation, the formation of relief, landscapes, biodiversity. It has great significance for understanding of the processes of evolution and adaptation of a biota to the catastrophically changing factors of natural environment. In connection with this, the expansion of the territory of reserve helps to cover with supervision the variety of types of ecosystems, a soil-vegetable cover, the types of flora and fauna, including areas of the dried bottom with the different periods of continental development.

On the territory of expansion of reserve, the rare types of animals dwell, which are added to the Red Book . They are- the representatives of an avifauna: a dalmatian pelican, a white-eyed pochard, a marbled teal, a little heron, a whooper swan, a Bewick's swan, a stifftail, a serpent eagle, a steppe eagle, an imperial eagle, a golden eagle, a houbara, a sociable plover, a pin-tailed sand grouse, a Pallas sand grouse, a brown  pigeon, an eagle-owl. From the rare and endangered species of the mammals you can see here: a goitered gazelle, a Turkmen koulan saiga, a marbled polecat, a tiny jerboa, a long-eared desert hedgehog. Presently, on the area of Kaskakulan the basic population of the goitered gazelle and the koulan is situated, due to the sources of drinking-water.

              Before, here, one of the largest migration routes of migratory birds lay, from the north to the South-Caspian and Indo- Pakistani hibernating areas. The annual abundance of the nested waders attained tens of thousands of individuals, and in period of migration, especially the autumnal migrations, it was run into millions of individuals. Last years, because of increasing the volume of river flow, the water- marsh grounds are formed in the mouth of the Syr Darya River; also the amplification and variety of the waterfowl and the near-water birds is marked, including rare types: a flamingo, an European white pelican, a whooper swan and other. The realization of a project “on building of a bridge and the getting up of level of the Lesser Aral Sea” will be conducive for the expansion of area of the lands of water- marsh grounds, in the mouth of the Syr darya River; for the saving of these territories, in the project was suggested -the creation here of the clustered area with the protected centre and guard area.

             Flora and vegetation reflect a regional botanical variety and include: both the zonal and deserted types, that are the standards of vegetable cover of the middle real deserts of “Turana”- type; and the intrazonal type , that is presented by the tugai, meadow and marsh complexes, the combination of which provides the large landscape variety of plant associations. Flora includes 325 types of higher plants, they relate to151 genera and 35 families, 74% (240 species) you can see on the dried bottom of sea, notwithstanding that only 25% of its area is covered with natural overgrowing. It is potential genetic resources for phytomelioration .There are 71 (17%) of the endemic species of plants, on the coastal area of the Aral Sea, of them there are: 4 endemics – of the shore of the AralSea, 11 endemics – of Kazakhstan, 39 endemics – of the Central Asia. To the Red Book of USSR a short-leaved asparagus is added, also to the new edition of the Red Book will be added a Kazakhstan club-rush and a Pratov’s saltbush.There are some rare species on the east coast of the Aral Sea: a cone-bearing ephedra, a mavzolea- they are elements of the south deserts . To the Red Book of Uzbekistan, a Buze’s tulip is added, it’s wide spread in Kazakhstan .The natural saxaul tangles on the areas of Barsa-Kelmes and Kaskakulan are of a great value, as banks of a preservation for the renewal of forests on the dried bottom of the Aral Sea.

           The landscape of reorganized reserve is of large interest ,from the point of view, that it is the reconstructed  and poorly changed by man's impact territories, a study of which has a global significance for understanding of the processes : of desertification,  of the development of new ecosystems and biota in continental conditions, detection of the mechanisms of forming and development of the eolian processes, of the salinization –unsalinization of soils, of forming of structure of the desert landscapes. For the territory of reserve an important factor is that – the basic natural connections between the components of landscape are not broken .The annexation of the water- marsh grounds, to the reserve territory, resolves the problems of the Ramsar Convention.