Environmental belts of Russia

Урок: “Природные зоны России”

Учитель географии
Драган Марина Михайловна

Environmental belts of Russia

Climate, soils, vegetation, and animal life are closely interrelated. Environmental belts sweep across the country’s plains and plateaus from the western border to the Lena River.

Within Russia there are six main environmental belts (some with subdivisions): Arctic desert, tundra, (forest-tundra), taiga, mixed and deciduous forest, (wooded steppe), steppe and deserts. Forests of various kinds account for more than two-fifths of Russia’s total land area.

Exercise 1. Identify environmental belts from the pictures:

А.

Which one is the northernmost?

Which environmental belt is located between taiga and steppe?

Exercise 2. Environmental belt and climate are egetation closely interrelated. Make a guess what plants and natural areas ate situated in taiga or in tundra.

Text for exercise 2.

Mosses are distributed throughout the world except in salt water and are commonly found in moist shady locations.a very small, green or yellow plant that grows especially in wet earth or on rocks, walls, and tree trunks.

Lichen, a grey, green, or yellow plant-like organism that grows on rocks, walls, and trees. Lichens are found worldwide and occur in a variety of environmental conditions. Lichens have been used by humans as food and as sources of medicine and dye. They also provide two-thirds of the food supply for the caribou and reindeer that roam the far northern ranges.

Dwarf birches  growing up to 1–1.2 metres high.  The leaves are rounded, 6–20 millimetres (0.24–0.79 in) diameter. The leaves are a darker green on their upper surface. Leaf growth occurs after snow melt and become red in autumn.  It is native to arctic and cool temperate regions of Greenland, Iceland, northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America and it will grow in a variety of conditions. Outside of far northern areas, it is usually found growing only in mountains above 300 metres

Birch is a tree with smooth, often white bark  and thin branches.

Aspen trees are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the northern hemisphere, extending south at high-altitude areas such as mountains or high plains. They are all medium-sized deciduous trees reaching 15–30 m (49–98 ft) tall. In North America, the aspen is referred to as quaking aspen or trembling aspen because the leaves "quake" or tremble in the wind. This is due to their flattened petioles which reduces aerodynamic drag on the trunk and branches.

Swamp is an area of land permanently saturated, or filled, with water. There are two main types of swamps: freshwater swamps and saltwater swamps. Swamps exist in many kinds of climates and on every continent except Antarctica. Synonym: bog, wetland, marsh

Spruce an evergreen tree (= one that neve loses its leaves) with leaves like needles, or the pale-coloured wood from this tree. Spruce is found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the Earth. Spruces are large trees, from about 20–60 m (about 60–200 ft) tall when mature, and have whorled branches and conical form. 

Spruce trees have their needles attached individually to the branches.

Pine trees are evergreen, coniferous resinous trees (or, rarely, shrubs) growing 3–80 m tall, with the majority of species reaching 15–45 m tall. Pines are long lived and typically reach ages of 100–1,000 years, some even more. The longest-lived is the Great Basin bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva. One individual of this species, dubbed "Methuselah", is one of the world's oldest living organisms at around 4,600 years old. 

On true pine trees, the needles are arranged and attached to the branches in clusters of  two,  three, or  five needles per cluster.

The term “conifer,” which describes most of the evergreen trees that are so familiar in the Iowa landscape, includes several species that can be distinguished by a variety of their characteristics, including needles, cones and bark. Like deciduous trees, conifers can be identified by their "leaves." The "leaves" of conifers are of course their needles. On true pine trees, the needles are arranged and attached to the branches in clusters of  two,  three, or  five needles per cluster. Spruce and fir trees have their needles attached individually to the branches.

Pine Spruce 

Ex. 3 When you crossing long distances you can come across a variety of environmental belts. Read the text and answer the questions.

The tourists traveled from point B to point C by car. On the way, they took photographs and diary entries. Look at the photos, read the travel posts and answer the questions.

We leave Murmansk towards St. Petersburg at 4 o'clock in the morning. It's very light outside, the sun is above the horizon. Having left the city, I pay attention to the endless treeless expanses, covered with mosses and lichens. Thickets of dwarf birches and aspens glimpse. There are many swamps around. We are moving south towards St. Petersburg.

In the south of the Kola Peninsula, thickets of coniferous forests begin to appear. Through the windows of the car, we see endless expanses of coniferous forests, consisting of pines and spruces. By the end of the day we reached the city of Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia, known for its huge number of cleanest rivers and lakes.

On the way to Petrozavodsk, we saw a large number of felling sites and timber trucks of loaded forests. In the evening we were in the capital of Karelia. The next day, at 18:00 pm, we were in the Northern capital.

What environmental belts did the route pass through?

What problems of the influence of human activities on nature were recorded by tourists in their diaries?