Nature Park “Lena Pillars”
Region of the Russian Federation: Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Status of Territories composing the Property: "Lena Pillars" Regional National Nature Park
Area: 485 000 ha
Status: inscribed in the Tentative List of the Russian Federation in 2006
National Nature Park "Lenskiye Stolby" (Lena Pillars) is located in the Central Yakutia, in the basin of the middle flow of the Lena River. The main landscape- and environment creating factors here are the geological structure and relief, geocryological conditions and climate that are characterized with the significant heterogeneity.
The Park territory is located in the South-West skirt of the Central Yakut lowland that gradually turns to the dismembered Lena Plateau. The smooth character of the plateau relief is brake off on the places of outcrop of the basement rocks of the river valley sides.
The considerable influence upon the landscapes forming was rendered by the active thermokarst processes stipulated by the wide development of the permafrost. The formation of alases, the saucer-shaped depressions occupied mostly by lakes, is connected with those processes. The floodplain lakes of former riverbed type are timed to the main channels of the large rivers. All rivers including Lena have the considerable decline and the high speed of flow. The shallows composed by pebbles and exits of the basement rocks are frequently met in their riverbeds.
Climate here is sharply continental with low temperatures in winter and high temperatures in summer.
The slopes with the south exposition are occupied usually by larch-pine ore by pine-subshrub forests in combination with the steppe plots. Larch forests with spruce presence are located on the slopes with the north exposition.
"Lena Pillars" represents the complex of different by morphology and genesis natural-territorial complexes: combinations of bared ancient and continuing to destroy at present the outlier karstic forms as well as modern colluvium sediments. The blowing up sands (so cold Tukulany) is a natural-territorial complex with eolian genesis that is genetically connected with the landscape complex of the middle-altitude terraces located on its surface. Samys-Kumaga is the largest among them. It represents the keeping apart and independently developing sand ridge with slopes that are practically not fixed by the vegetation. That is indicative of activity of the eolian processes at present time.
The base of rather rich and diverse fauna in the Park is made up by representatives of the Siberian faunistic complex with elements of South-taiga and Arctic fauna. The fish fauna in the basin of the middle flow of the Lena numbers 31 species. 101 species of birds nest on the park territory. They include common raven, osprey and different species of ducks, gulls and oystercatchers. In the right bank part of the Lena valley the habitation of the 35 mammal species was registered. Fauna here as a whole is typical for middle taiga subzone of the Palearctic with the distribution of such animals as sable, brown bear, squirrel, elk, chipmunk etc. Musk deer, northern pika, mountain-forest form of the wild reindeer are among the inhabitants of the mountain taiga complex. Several species like Manchurian deer, field vole, some representatives of the cheiroptera and insectivore are characteristic for the south taiga fauna. The northern border of their natural habitat is here. Roebuck and long-tailed ground squirrel could be met on the stepped parts of the territory. Such water-meadow species as muscrat, European water vole and tundra vole are usual for lakes and strongly irrigated areas.
