LANDSCAPE AND ECOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BIODIVERSITY ON BAIKAL SIBERIA SPECIALLY PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS

In article a landscape and ecological analysis of 45 protected areas of various levels was carried out for Baikal Siberia. Most of them (68.8%) are located in the Russian part of the Baikal Lake basin, 11.1% are a Nature Reserves (Zapovedniks), 6.7% - National Parks and 51.1% - Wildlife Reserves (Zakazniks). The Mongolian part accounts for 8.9% of specially protected natural territories, of which 15.5% are National Parks, and 6.7% - Natural Reserves according to the international classification - areas of strict protection, similar to Russian Zakazniks. The distribution of specially protected natural areas is very uneven. Most of the protected areas provide a protective regime mainly of the Baikal natural complexes, where mountain-taiga and forest-steppe landscapes predominate, to a lesser extent - steppe, mountain-tundra, alpine type, mountain-desert. In Transbaikalia, forest-steppe complexes are not affected by protection, especially in the Selenga and Khilok rivers valleys. The high-altitude belt is preserved only around Baikal Lake and on the periphery - in the Mongolian part and in the Tunka Valley. The landscapes of all protected areas, especially those confined to mountain ranges, are characterized by a developed mosaic and the presence of landscape ecotones due to a pronounced altitude belts. Thus, there is a need to expand the network of protected areas in the very center of Baikal Siberia, including steppes, forest-steppes and mountain taiga, which form the basis of its ecosystem diversity. At the same time, heterogeneous landscapes should be included in transition (ecotonic) zones. Such an approach is mandatory when designing the “Selenginskaya Dauria” Steppe Reserve on the basis of the Borgoisky State Biological Reserve (Dzhidinsky District, Buryat Republic), the creation of which was planned in accordance with the ”Concept for the development of a system of specially protected natural areas of federal significance for the period up to 2020” and the "Action Plan for its implementation" approved by the decree The Government of the Russian Federation (No. 2322-r December 22, 2011), back in 2016.