Kamchatka Research Paper

Tiffany Humble GEOG 101-001 Research Paper #2 Kamchatka Peninsula Section 1 - Chapter 11: Terrestrial Flora and Fauna The Kamchatka Peninsula is located on the eastern most portion of Russia and is classified as a boreal forest. Boreal forests are also called taiga which is Russian for forest. Most of northern North America is also part of a boreal forest. Kamchatka’s flora and fauna is typical of boreal forests, but there are some species of both animals and plants that are specific to Kamchatka. Perhaps one thing Kamchatka is most famous for is salmon. Kamchatka Peninsula is 1,000 miles long and it produces 25% of all wild Pacific salmon. Every year in July starts the great salmon run; the salmon swim upstream to spawn and produce thousands of eggs. But the salmon have been dropping in numbers over the last several years due to poaching. Several hatcheries have been opened along the banks of Bystraya River, one such hatchery is known as the Malki hatchery and it produces over 1.2 million salmon eggs a year (Quammen). The Kamchatka Peninsula is also home to one of the largest crabs on earth, known as the Red King Crab (Travel Kamchatka). Several other animal species include the brown bear, known as the “Master of Kamchatka”, Steller’s Sea Eagle, and numerous other species of foxes, falcons, seals, wolverines, and sables (Travel Kamchatka). The forests of Kamchatka are largely made up of Birch trees. The people of Russian have developed several uses for the Birch trees such as woodworks and furniture manufacturing. They also make a tonic from Birch sap. One type of Birch tree in particular, Erman’s Birch, is famous for growing roots into stone cliffs where not much else can grow. This has earned the Erman’s Birch the nickname of Stone Birch (Travel Kamchatka). Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula is also known for its vast meadows of daises (Travel Kamchatka). However it does also have flowers on the preservation list, one such flower is the

Cited: "Crater of Ancient Super-Volcano Discovered at Kamchatka." _The Vladivostok _TImes [Vladivostok, Russia] 4 Apr. 2007. Print. "Fauna." Web "Flora and Fauna." Travel Kamchatka. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. "Four Erupting Kamchatka Volcanoes." Earth Observatory Quammen, David. "Krontosky Nature Preserve: Fragile Russian Wilderness." National Geographic Jan. 2009. Nationalgeographic.com. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. http://www.nationalgeographic.com. Quammen, David "Russia: Kamchatka." Russia Discovery. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. . Stricherz, Vince