Basut-Chay State Reserve or Besitchay State Reserve is protected area of Azerbaijan, near the border with

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. It was established as a 107 hectare reserve in 1974 for preserving and protecting the rare Oriental plane tree. The area of the reserve was slightly reduced by 10 hectares in October 1980. The reserve covers the area around the Besitchay of the southeastern part of Minor Caucasus

History

Earlier, Oriental plane tree was widely distributed throughout the territory of the

Azerbaijan Republic Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. At the same time, not excluding the south-eastern part of the level of the

Lesser Caucasus The Lesser Caucasus or Lesser Caucasus Mountains, also called Caucasus Minor, is the second of the two main ranges of the Caucasus Mountains, of length about . The western portion of the Lesser Caucasus overlaps and converges with east Turkey an ...

. Today, plane trees can be found only in some parts of this country. In the Basutchay basin, plane groves have been protected in the reserve mode for more than 25 years. Plane forests, which were located on the areas of Zangilan forestry, since February 1961 have become a conservation area. The Main Department of Forestry of the Council of Ministers of the Republic is responsible for its protection and restoration while creating forest cultures. But since such a grove protection system was unjustified, the Basutchay Reserve was created in 117 hectares in July 1974. Since October 1980, the reserve's area is 107 hectares of land, of which 100 hectares are forest, and in the rest of the territory the rock slides and the sands of the Basutchay floodplain extend.

Geography

The reserve is located in

Zangilan district Zangilan District () is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the south-west of the country and belongs to the East Zangezur Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Qubadli, Jabrayil, the Syunik Province of Arme ...

. It is located 8 km from the town of Zangilan. The reserve was established in the valley of the Basutchay River, in the southeastern part of the

. It was created to protect the plane tree grove. Its territory is occupied mainly by the Basaltchay near-riverine sites and continues for about 15 km along the valley. It has a width of 150–200 m. It extends to the upper course of the Shikahogh River, which is located in the territory of the Armenian Republic, where it is also guarded. The reserve is located at an altitude of 630–800 m above sea level. It is located on the border zone in the west with the forests of the Armenian Republic.

Relief

Physico-geographical environment Basutchay Valley has an asymmetrical structure. So the right side of the valley is very steep, mountainous, and the left side is flatter, which is located on a hilly plate with an absolute height of 700–1000 m. Alluvial sediments cover the terraces of the valley. The tributaries of the Basutchay strongly dismembered the slopes of the valley.

Climate

The territory of the reserve is dominated by a moderately warm climate. Summer is hot and winter is mild. The average annual temperature of the atmosphere is 13.3 °. The average temperature in winter is 1 °. The average summer temperature is 25.3 °. Absolute maximum 41 °. The absolute minimum is –21 °. The sum of temperatures above 10 ° per year reaches 4200 °. For the period from November 23 to March 24, frosts fall. Annual precipitation reaches more than 600 mm. Most of them are in spring and early summer. The minimum amount of precipitation falls in December (14 mm), and the maximum in May (90 mm). Most of the precipitation falls in the warm season. For a year it can be up to 25 days with a snow cover of 10–30 cm. The level of annual evaporation is 900 mm (from 29 mm in January to 170 mm in July). relative humidity has an average of 66% (from 51% in July to 77% in November). Despite the continental climate, the forest cover normally consists of various broad-leaved species. Eastern sycamore tree is quite a hardy tree species that suffers intense heat (45–50 °), frosts (—20, —25 °), drought (200 mm annual rainfall) and high moistening (1000 mm annual rainfall).

Soil

The earth cover of the reserve and its environs is covered with two types of soil: brown mountain forest and alluvial meadow-forest. Plane is unpretentious to the soil. It grows on any soils, even on a stony substrate, on alluvial sediments and strongly skeletal, infertile soils. Nevertheless, the plane tree forms more productive forests on powerful fertile irrigated soils.

Flora and fauna

The main purpose of creating the reserve was to preserve the largest grove in the world, the eastern plane tree, which grows on 93.5% of the reserve's territory. The average age of local plane trees is 170 years. Individual giant trees, 50 meters in height and with a trunk diameter of up to 4 meters, are 1200–1500 years old. In addition to plane trees, here grows an

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, a Caucasian hornbeam, a

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

, a multiple fruit. The rare guests of the reserve are

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

, roe deer,

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

and

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

, entering the reserve from the neighboring forests. The nature of the reserve has much in common with the Shikahogh Reserve.

Plane trees

The plane trees make up 93.5% of Basut-Chay State Reserve area. In average, plane trees live for 170 years. However, one can come across the plane trees 1200–1500 years of age, 50 meters in height and 4 meters in diameter

References

State reserves of Azerbaijan Protected areas established in 1974 1974 establishments in Azerbaijan {{Azerbaijan-geo-stub