Flora

The flora of the reserve is typical for Kamchatka.  Photo by Rassokhina

The flora of the reserve is typical for Kamchatka. Larch, birch, and cedar and alder elfin wood account for most of the landscape here. There is unique vegetation in those areas where it is always warm – near hot springs, geysers and in volcano calderas. There are 766 species of plants in the reserve, 11 of which are listed in the Red Book of Rare and Endangered Species of the Russian Federation, and 29 of which are very rare on Kamchatka and in the Russian Far East. A few of these species are found only in Kronotsky Zapovednik, and do not grow in other areas of Kamchatka.

Kronotsky Zapovednik is home to 11 unique natural phenomena, including such places as the world-famous Valley of the Geysers, Uzon Caldera – the so-called geothermal wonderland – picturesque Kronotskoye Lake and others. Two of these unique natural places received their status due to their rare and striking flora.

The Sakhalin fir grove was discovered over 250 years ago, and has long been protected by native residents as a special natural place. The beautiful trees here have an interesting history. Scientists have determined that before the last Ice Age, firs grew throughout Kamchatka and were one of the main trees on the peninsula. Glaciers then displaced Kamchatka’s coniferous forests, leaving behind only small islands of tree groves. In 1910 the famous botanist V.L. Komarov, who was the first scientist to study the flora of Kamchatka, identified an isolated form of fir, which he named the graceful fir . Today the classification of the species has been reviewed, and the graceful fir has received a second name – Sakhalin fir.

The Sakhalin fir grove is located at the mouth of the Semyachik River. When the zapovednik was established, the grove was distinguished as a separate protected territory, isolated from the rest of the reserve, and received protection as a place inhabited by Sakhalin fir at the very extreme of its distribution.

Today the area of the grove is no more than 22 hectares. The trees here are long-lived: the average age is 130 years, and some trees are as old as 225 years. Fir trees are reproductively mature only after about 70 years, and can continue to reproduce up until about 160 years. The growth period is very short – from July until September.

Sakhalin fir is listed in the Kamchatka Region’s list of rare and endangered plant species. The fir grove in Kronotsky Zapovednik remains one of Kamchatka’s main natural attractions.

Scientists and botanists also consider the larch forest in the Kronotskoye Lake basin a unique example of diversity. There is no other place on Kamchatka where one can find such a large and varied number of plants. Here the flora of the coniferous taiga, birch forests, elfin wood and poplar meadows all come together in an area of several dozen hectares. Succession is an active process here, and study of the changes in plant species diversity allows scientists to understand and monitor the dynamics of Kamchatka’s forest ecosystems.

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