Russia occupies about 1/3 of the territory of the Eurasian continent, where about 23% of the country's area is located in eastern Europe and about 76% of the area in northern Asia. Due to its vast territories and, in some places, great distance from the sea, the climate of Russia is continental, characterized by all four seasons with pronounced summer and winter.
Flora and fauna of Russia
The nature of Russia is diverse and has its own characteristic features in different parts of the country. The territory of Russia consists of different natural zones: arctic deserts, tundra, taiga, mixed and deciduous forests, steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. Along with climatic conditions, this gives great diversity in the Russian nature for the world of plants and animals.
Flora of the natural world of Russia
The flora consists of a huge variety of plant communities growing in all types of natural zones in Russia.
The most common types of vegetation in Russia are tundra, forest, steppe, meadow, swamp and others with a characteristic climate for certain natural zones.
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Flora of Russia:
Wildlife of Russia
The fauna is represented by a diverse rich fauna, characterized by various species of representatives of the animal world living throughout Russia.
In different natural zones, the animal world of Russia is even more diverse when moving from north to south and from plains to mountains, where the number of endemic and relict species of animals predominates.
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Fauna of Russia:
Nature of Russia: regions, republics, territories
All plants and animals in the nature of Russia are in close relationships, determined by climate and geographical location throughout the country. Nevertheless, each region, being located in certain natural zones, has its own distinct flora and fauna, determining the unique diversity of nature in various regions of Russia.
The Central Federal District is located on the East European Plain. Characteristic natural zones: mixed and broad-leaved forests, forest-steppe.
The entire territory of the district (3.8% of the entire territory of Russia) is characterized by a temperate continental climate with cold winters and warm summers.
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Nature of the central region of Russia:
The Northwestern Federal District is located in the Northern and Northwestern parts of Russia. Characteristic natural zones: mixed and broad-leaved forests.
The entire territory of the district (9.87% of the entire territory of Russia) is characterized by a fairly moderate continental climate with cool winters and moderately warm summers.
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Nature of the North-Western District of Russia:
The Southern Federal District is located in the south of the European part of Russia. Characteristic natural zones: steppe (plain), mountainous and mountainous.
The entire territory of the district (2.4% of the entire territory of Russia) is characterized by a moderately warm climate with mild winters and warm, sometimes hot summers.
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Nature of the Southern District of Russia:
The Volga Federal District is located in the south of the European part of Russia. Characteristic natural zones: mixed and broad-leaved forests.
The entire territory of the district (6.06% of the entire territory of Russia) is characterized by a continental climate with distinct seasons.
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Nature of the Volga region of Russia:
North Caucasus District of Russia
The North Caucasus Federal District is located in the south of the European part of Russia, in the central and eastern part of the North Caucasus. Characteristic natural zones: flat, foothill and mountain.
The entire territory of the district (1% of the entire territory of Russia) is characterized by a moderately warm climate with mild winters, warm and hot summers.
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Nature of the North Caucasus District of Russia:
The Ural Federal District is located at the junction of the borders of the European and Asian parts of Russia. Characteristic natural zones: forest with an abundance of coniferous forests, tundra, forest-tundra and taiga.
The entire territory of the district (10.64% of the entire territory of Russia) is characterized by a sharply continental climate with harsh winters and short hot summers.
The Far Eastern Federal District occupies the largest territory of Russia and is located in the Far East, almost all subjects have access to the sea. Characterized by a wide variety of natural zones: from arctic deserts, tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, to forest-steppes with mixed and deciduous forests.
The entire territory of the district (36% of the entire territory of Russia) has a varied climate, from sharply continental with pronounced winters and summers to monsoon with little snow in winter and heavy rainfall in summer.
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Nature of the Far Eastern District of Russia:
Our conversation will be about our health. The most precious thing in our life, in our World. From birth, we think about how to prevent, how to protect, how to preserve what we have - our health. During a hike, this need increases significantly. Irresponsibility, lack of culture, negligence and, most importantly, lack of knowledge, both theoretical and practical, lead a person to health problems.
Your task is to arm yourself with knowledge and secure our presence in such a vast World as nature.
At the very beginning of the hike, you do not have questions about what to do in the current situations. They arise and very often create difficulties that must be overcome. Bruises, abrasions, calluses of all stages, cuts, inflammation of the oral cavity - this is a short list that can be eliminated without the use of medications.
Since ancient times, local residents of Mountain Shoria, Kuznetsk Alatau, Khakassia have used products of the surrounding nature and coniferous trees to treat their bodies. Trees growing in the mountain system are a healing source, a natural pharmacy, for both humans and the animal world. Using knowledge in the use of natural pharmacy, on a multi-day hike, we can protect ourselves from many problems.
You and I come to an intermediate or final stop, which reveals all our shortcomings in tourist preparation. This is where we need to remember our fir, namely its resin. Along the trunk, along the bark, resin flows in different colors (from light, transparent, to dark brown) or, as it is also called, resin. These resinous secretions of fir are the real natural wealth for human health.
Resin - the resin of coniferous trees - can be found in the forest on the trunks of pines, spruces, cedars, fir, larches; for medicinal purposes, it is best to use transparent resin; you can also collect frozen resin, but in this case, before using it, you need to hold it in a water bath for some time so that it becomes soft.
Our conversation will focus on the resin that we find on fir trunks, because... in the region where we lead a tourist lifestyle, mainly coniferous trees grow, fir and, in rare cases, cedar.
The healing power of fir
Fir is a coniferous tree with enormous healing potential and grows in ecologically clean areas. By absorbing the juices of the earth, this tree strives to cleanse everything around it, releasing specific essential oils. A person, being in a fir forest, inhales air saturated with the pine smell. His lungs are filled with the elixir of the coniferous forest, cleansing the body of the acquired dirt of civilization.
Fir is one of the most useful coniferous trees. In medicine, fir oil is often used - a transparent liquid, colorless or light yellow, very volatile, with a characteristic resinous odor.
In the pharmaceutical industry, fir oil is used to produce synthetic camphor. Its drugs are used for inflammatory processes, rheumatism, acute and chronic heart failure, collapse, to stimulate respiration and circulation in lobar pneumonia and other infectious diseases.
In folk medicine, pure fir oil is often used to treat rheumatism, radiculitis, myositis, neuralgia and colds. To speed up wound healing and stop bleeding, resin collected from tree bark is also used. Resin mixed with bear or wild boar bile is used for stomach diseases.
Fir oleoresin oil (pharmaceutical preparation) is used to rub joints for arthritis. For the same purpose, compresses are made from a decoction of fir needles: 10 g of raw material is boiled for 30 minutes in 1/2 cup of water, filtered and brought to the original volume.
Loggers and hunters have long noticed the ability of oleoresin to heal wounds. If there is no first aid kit at hand, then instead of a bandage or plaster, they applied clean resin to the wound. By the way, the patch we buy at the pharmacy also contains pine resin. People, observing nature, have long noticed: just as a person has blood, a tree has resin. This is probably where the personification of sap with some kind of vitality originates. Therefore, its action, according to popular beliefs, is aimed not so much at improving the body, but at maintaining a person’s vitality. Because with resin, i.e. Through the blood of a tree, a part of his soul is transferred to a person.
In Rus', it has long been customary to chew pine resin to strengthen teeth, gums, and to disinfect the oral cavity. The resin contains many vitamins and minerals. The resin restores the composition of tooth enamel, protects teeth from bacteria that cause periodontal disease and caries. Chewing resin increases the secretion of saliva, which helps clean the mouth and strengthens the gums and roots of the teeth. Resin helps relieve toothache.
Resin is taken orally in small doses for catarrh and stomach ulcers. Resin is useful for colitis, gastritis, hepatitis, cholecystitis and enterocolitis. Resin improves intestinal microflora and helps cope with dysbacteriosis.
Resin resins are very similar in composition and main action; all resins are characterized by a pronounced antiseptic, analgesic, vasodilator, and healing effect. But, nevertheless, there are some differences:
Siberian cedar resin is an excellent remedy for stimulating and restoring metabolic processes and blood circulation in the brain, improves integral brain activity, especially in atherosclerosis, injuries and other diseases with obvious impairment of cerebral circulation (impaired memory, attention, speech, dizziness). Can be used for depressive conditions, in gerontological practice, senile dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. Normalizes cardiac activity, including during myocardial infarction. It is advisable to use it for brain hypoxia caused by acute viral and microplasma infections, for example, tick-borne encephalitis virus. There is evidence of a preventive effect in tumor diseases: it increases the sensitivity of tumors to radiation and chemotherapy.
Siberian fir resin is a natural remedy for fighting various infections. It can perfectly replace some modern antibiotics. Indispensable for infectious and non-infectious lesions of the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, intestines, nasopharynx and vagina (gastritis, stomach and intestinal ulcers, tonsillitis, influenza, sinusitis). Cleanses the skin from acne, boils and carbuncles. It can be recommended when treating the vaginal mucosa for thrush. Has pronounced antitumor activity.
Recipes
There are small tubercles on the fir bark, these are containers with fir resin. They are carefully pierced with a thick needle, and a few drops of resin are collected from each into a dark, tightly closed jar. Fir resin hardens in air, so it makes sense to immediately add vegetable oil and close it tightly. This thing can't be compared to the pharmacy stuff. It is used for pain relief and disinfection of wounds, for a runny nose, and it is very good for pain in the gums and gumboils. Another remarkable property of oleoresin is that it penetrates the skin very easily and facilitates the penetration of other substances there. Therefore, it is indispensable for various herbal compresses.
Herpes: Usually, mild redness and itching occur on the lips before herpes sores appear. Take a cotton swab soaked in a mixture of resin and any vegetable oil in a 1:1 ratio, and apply to this area for 20-25 minutes.
Polyarthritis: After the hike, you need to go to the bathhouse to steam all the bones, and add pine decoction with oleoresin to the water (2-3 tablespoons of crushed dry buds and branches and 2 teaspoons of oleoresin, brew with a liter of boiling water, simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes). The respiratory tract is disinfected, bronchitis, runny nose, and colds go away.
Chronic boils: soak a bandage in resin, place it on the boil, cover it with compress paper and secure with a bandage for 25-30 minutes. In the early stages of furunculosis, one procedure is enough to cure.
Osteochondrosis, radiculitis: mix 50g of oleoresin, 50g of vodka and 50g of olive oil. Allow to steep for a week and rub the sore spot (it is advisable to have the suggested version of the recipe ready to go on a hike).
Peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, heartburn: 3-4 drops on a piece of bread before meals.
To prevent colds: it is enough to suck a third of a teaspoon of resin once a day after meals. The same method will help stop a sore throat in 1-2 days.
For a severe cold: oleoresin is dissolved in hot water and mixed with granulated sugar. Make pea-sized balls from this mixture and dissolve after eating.
Nature is a kind of absolute for man; without it, human life is simply impossible; this truth is not obvious to everyone, judging by the way people care about nature. Man receives everything he needs for life from the environment; nature provides conditions for the prosperity of all forms of life on earth. The role of nature in human life is fundamental. It is worth mentioning categorical facts and looking at specific examples of what nature gives to man. In nature, everything is interconnected; if one element disappears, the whole chain will fail.
What does nature give to man?
Air, earth, water, fire - the four elements, eternal manifestations of nature. There is no need to explain that without air, human life is simply impossible. Why don’t people, when clearing forests, worry about new plantings so that the trees can continue to work for the benefit of purifying the air? The land gives people so many benefits that it is difficult to count: these are minerals, the opportunity to grow various crops through agriculture, and to live on the land. We get food from nature, be it plant foods (vegetables, fruits, grains) or food of animal origin (meat, dairy products). Material goods are sourced from the benefits of nature. Clothes are made from fabrics based on natural materials. Furniture in houses is made from wood, paper is made from wood. Cosmetics and household chemicals are based on plant components. Water is embodied in oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, groundwater, and glaciers. Drinking water satisfies the needs of people all over the world; people are made of water, which is why a person cannot live even a day without water. Without water, it is impossible to imagine life in everyday life: with the help of water, people wash, wash, wash anything, water is indispensable in production. Nature gives man heat in the form of fire; wood, coal, oil and gas are also sources of energy.
Nature charges a person with energy, inspires him to new achievements, and fills him with strength. What are sunsets and sunrises worth, moments filled with great meaning, the end of the day and the beginning of a new one, when everything becomes possible, despite the day that has passed. The sun is a source of joy, happiness, remember in sunny weather, somehow everything around is especially beautiful. The sun allows all living things on earth to live and develop. There are people who have given up their usual food and feed on solar energy.
Nature is capable of restoring human strength after exhausting mental or physical work; it is not without reason that many people go on vacation to the mountains, forests, ocean, sea, river or lake. The harmony of nature brings balance to the frantic rhythm of human existence.
Staying in nature in one of the above-mentioned areas has a beneficial effect on human health, headaches go away, and the general condition and well-being of a person improves. It's not for nothing that many people strive to spend time in nature. These forms of leisure include: camping, a picnic, or just a trip out of town for a couple of hours. In places far from the bustle of the city, you can renew yourself, sort out your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and look inside yourself. Many unique herbs and tree flowers surround a person, giving fragrance and benefits, take time to enjoy and admire them.
People are inextricably linked with nature, it takes care of it throughout a person’s existence, why does a person only take and give nothing in return. People pollute the environment every day and carelessly use the gifts of nature. Perhaps it’s worth stopping and thinking, since nature gives so much to man, isn’t it worth reciprocating and taking care of her as reverently as she takes care of us.
Having visited Crimea, the Chilean poet and politician Pablo Neruda enthusiastically wrote: “Crimea is an order on the chest of planet Earth!” And indeed, if you look at it from a bird's eye view, you will see that the diamond-shaped Crimean peninsula really resembles an order attached to the European continent by a narrow chain of the Perekop Isthmus and the Arabat Spit. Historian Neil Asherson called Crimea “the big brown diamond”; The climate and nature of the peninsula was admired by all scientists, writers, poets and artists who visited Taurida. Let’s try to talk in a few words about the richness of Crimean nature and its features.
Position: between geography and geopolitics
Geographically located at the junction of Europe and Asia, Crimea took a little from each of these parts of the world: in the north of the peninsula there are Asian steppes, and in the south there are mountains and subtropics, reminiscent of the resort areas of Greece and Italy. The steppe zone, covering most of the central, western and eastern Crimea, begins in Crimea - and stretches far to the east, all the way to Mongolia and Northern China. It is not for nothing that in the Middle Ages this gigantic territory was called the Wild Field - it was from there that countless hordes of Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns, Khazars, Mongols and other nomads came to Europe. Crimea is connected to the continent only by a few narrow strips of isthmuses and sandbanks, waterways through the Sivash salt lakes in the north and east, as well as a long strip of the Arabat Spit. Neil Asherson divided Crimea into three historical zones: the steppe north, inhabited by nomads (the body zone); the south, with its cities and civilizations (zone of reason); the mountains located between them are the zone of the spirit, where mountain principalities and monasteries were located. In his opinion, the steppe zone of the body always attacked the southern coastal civilization zone of the mind, and the buffer territory between them was the mountain zone of the spirit. Since May 2018, in the east, Crimea has been connected to the continent by the famous “construction site of the 21st century” - the Kerch (or Crimean) Bridge.
The steppe zone is reflected from the warm and humid southern coast of Crimea by three ridges of the Crimean mountains: External, Internal and Main. Each of them looks typologically the same: gentle from the north, these ridges are steep from the south. The outer (northern) ridge is the lowest (up to 350 m); The inner (otherwise the second) ridge is up to 750 m high. The most picturesque is the Main (third, or southern) ridge with peaks more than a kilometer high: Chatyr-Dag (1527 m), Demerdzhi (1356 m) and Roman-kosh (1545 m). Another curious feature of the Crimean mountains is the fact that almost all of them end not with sharp peaks, but, on the contrary, with undulating plateaus, called by the Turkic term “yayla” (translated as “summer pasture for livestock”). The total area of the yayla zones is 1565 km². In Soviet times, various projects were put forward for the reclamation of these high mountain plateaus for subsequent use for agricultural purposes. For various reasons, they were not implemented, and now most of the yayls are nature reserves.
Water resources
The Crimean peninsula is washed by the waters of two seas - the Black and Azov. The length of the Crimean coastline is quite long - 2500 km, however, about half of this space falls on the Sivash region, which is practically unsuitable for recreation and swimming. In general, the water resources of Taurida are more than diverse: there are mountain rivers, lakes, estuaries, waterfalls, reservoirs, and much more. Unfortunately, all this diversity is completely insufficient to provide residents and visitors of the peninsula with fresh water. The situation became doubly tense in 2014 due to the cessation of operation of the North Crimean Canal, cut off from Crimea by order of the Ukrainian authorities. The longest river of the peninsula is the Salgir, which stretches 232 km from Mount Chatyrdag to Sivash, however, the deepest rivers are the Chernaya and Belbek. In summer, many Crimean rivers dry up almost completely. Another curious specific feature of Crimea is the abundance of salt lakes with healing mud; There are especially many of them in the north of Crimea. Despite the fact that it is possible to develop a medical and tourism industry similar to Israel's, this resource is still underutilized.
The flora of Crimea is amazing and diverse: in total, about 2,500 species of wild higher plants grow here, many of which are listed in the Red Book. What makes Crimean vegetation so special and different? Firstly, about 250 species of so-called endemics grow in Crimea - i.e. plants that are found only in Crimea and nowhere else. Secondly, there are also many relics in Crimea, i.e. types of vegetation that have not changed for many millions of years and have been preserved in their original form. Thirdly, the Crimean vegetation has analogues among plants of other Black Sea and Mediterranean regions - due to a similar climate, and also because about 1000 plant species were brought to Crimea by colonists from their place of residence. It is for this reason that the flora of Crimea has its current, diverse and amazing character. Among the most notable plants of Crimea, it is worth highlighting Steven's maple, Stankevich pine, yew berry, juniper, pyramidal cypress, Crimean thyme, Poyarkova's hawthorn, wormwood, feather grass and many others. [C-BLOCK]
The Crimean flora, as well as the fauna, can also be divided into steppe, mountain and south-coast. In northern Crimea and the Kerch Peninsula, steppe vegetation and stunted shrubs predominate. Further, in the foothills, the steppe is replaced by forest-steppe: not only shrubs, but also trees such as oak, juniper, hornbeam and pear appear here. Even further south, in the zone of the Inner Ridge, tree diversity becomes richer, oak and beech forests, hawthorn, mackerel, dogwood, ash and linden appear. At an altitude of 1000 m, already in the area of the Main Ridge, the trees disappear: the majestic expanses of the yayla are practically treeless and resemble high-mountain steppe expanses. It is there that about 25% of Crimean endemics grow. On the southern coast of Crimea you can find a belt of pine forests, which, in general, is not very typical for the peninsula. In addition to natural forests, a significant part of Crimea is also occupied by artificial plantings, parks and botanical gardens. The most famous of them are the Alupka and Massandra parks, as well as the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, founded by H. H. Steven back in the 19th century.
The animal world of Crimea is no less unique. Since the peninsula is virtually isolated from the mainland, a unique complex of animal species has formed on it, different from the species composition of nearby Ukraine and mainland Russia. A specific feature of the Crimean fauna is a high level of endemism, i.e. the presence of species unique to Crimea. On the other hand, it is extremely curious that in Crimea there are not many animals living in neighboring territories. In general, more than 60 species of mammals live in Crimea. The largest of them are the Crimean red deer, fallow deer and wild boar. For a long time there were no wolves in Crimea at all, however, in recent years there has been a movement of gray predators to Crimea from the territory of southern Ukraine. As a politically illiterate animal, the wolf does not pay attention to the state border drawn between Crimea and Ukraine in 2014. In the Black and Azov Seas there are three species of dolphins and - extremely rarely - a monk seal. There are more than 300 species of birds in Crimea. The largest are the crane, bustard, swans, geese and large predators: the steppe eagle, black vulture, golden eagle, peregrine falcon and eagle owl. The best place for bird watching in Crimea is the Swan Islands Nature Reserve in the north-west of the peninsula.
Insects
The entomofauna (insects) of Crimea numbers, according to various estimates, from 10 to 15 thousand species. There are about 2000 species of butterflies alone in Crimea! It is not for nothing that the lover of lepidoptera, Vladimir Nabokov, felt so good in Crimea - whose first article in English was dedicated to Crimean butterflies. Of the most notable endemic insect species, it is worth highlighting the Crimean ground beetle, the Black Sea marigold butterfly, the brilliant beauty dragonfly and the Smirnov horsefly. It is especially pleasant that among the animals and insects of Crimea there are practically no poisonous ones, and those that live there (for example, scolopendra, scorpion, tarantula, salpuga, steppe viper) are so rare that cases of attacks on people are rare.
This is a brief summary of the natural beauty of the Crimean Peninsula. There is everything for the most demanding traveler: mountains, sea, bays, waterfalls, steppes, salt and fresh lakes, natural and artificial caves, nature reserves and parks, unique endemic plants, trees, animals and insects. To make sure of this, pack your luggage, put your errands aside, buy tickets - and explore our treasure peninsula on your own. Crimea is waiting for you!
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