Teberda Preserve

a nature preserve located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus. The Teberda Preserve includes two areas. One is situated near the upper Teberda River, and the other, the Arkhyz area, is situated near the Bol’shoi Zelenchuk River and consists of the Kizgich River valley, which extends north to south along the Glavnyi Range. The total area (1975) is 83,120 hectares.

The preserve was created in 1936 for the preservation and study of mountain-forest and mountain-meadow natural regions. The high mountain relief features peaks rising to a maximum elevation of 4,042 m, at Dombai-Ul’gen. The preserve has glaciers and glacial lakes, the largest being Lakes Goluboe Murudzhin-skoe and Chernoe Murudzhinskoe.

The river valleys and mountain slopes of the Teberda Preserve have coniferous and deciduous forests of hamate Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris hamata), Nordmann fir, oriental spruce, English yew, redbud maple (Acer trautvetteri), Norway maple, Persian velvet maple (Acer velutinum glabresceus), Caucasian hornbeam, and oriental beech. At the upper boundary of the forest there are thickets of Caucasian rhododendron. At elevations of 2,200–2,500 m there are subalpine meadows. Higher up are low-grass alpine meadows, which give way to the nival belt, a region characterized by red snow; this phenomenon is caused by the microscopic alga Chlamidomonas nivalis, which forms a brick-red coating on the snow.

Animals commonly found in the preserve include the Caucasian ibex, Caucasian red deer, roe deer, chamois, wild boar, European marten, stone marten, and wildcat. Birds include the snow pheasant, chukar partridge, and Caucasian black grouse. The squirrel has been introduced from the Altai and is successfully reproducing.

The Taberda Preserve publishes results of scientific research in its scholarly transactions.