Turian-Chay State Reserve or Turyanchay State Reserve was established on the area of 126.3 square kilometres in 195

The reserve area was expanded to 225 km² in January 2003. The Turian-Chay State Reserve was established for the protection and restoration of arid-arch light forest and other natural resources; and for the localization of centers of erosion at the foothills. The reserve is situated on the spurs of the Buz-Dag Ridge, in the southern foothills of the Major

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, on the right bank of the Turian-Chay river in the Agdash area of the country. Its territory lies at a height of 400–650 m above sea level and extends for 35 km from east to west and for 5 km from north to south. The reserve is situated in an area of semi-desert and arid light forests, which mainly consist of pistachio, juniper, oak, having an important soil protecting, water protecting and climatic significance. In the relief of the reserve lowland mountains dominate with the peaks: Pirsei-Dag (609 m), Nulbon-Dag (437 m), Archan-Dag (476 m), Olmes-Dag (544 m) and others. As a rule they have steep, in some places denudated eroded slopes, and are separated by deep narrow valleys. The northern slopes are more gentle and covered with forests; the southern slopes are steep and strongly eroded. The general process of wind erosion has developed on the territory of the reserve. On the territory of the reserve 60 species of trees and bushes grow. The main types of sparsely growing trees are:

pistacia ''Pistacia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. It contains 10 to 20 species that are native to Africa and Eurasia from the Canary Islands, all of Africa, and southern Europe, warm and semidesert areas across Asia ...

, fudian juniper (''Juniper polucarpus''), prickly juniper (''Juniperus oxicedrus''), '' Quercus iberica'',

ash-tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergr ...

, ''Celtis caucasicus'' and pomegranate. Moreover, Populus, willow, alder, ''Elaeagnus'' and other trees also grow in this area. Two dendraflora species of the reserve – ''Juniperus'' and pomegranate are included in the Red Book. There are 24 species of mammals and 112 species of birds, 20 species of reptiles and 3 species of amphibians in the reserve. Among the birds there are

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized Galliformes, galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide Indigenous (ecology), native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They ar ...

(''Alectoris kakelik''), pigeons, '' Cercheneis tinnunculus'', griffon (''Gyps fulvus''),

black vulture The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the southeastern United States to Peru, Ce ...

(''Aegypius monachus'') and others. Among mammals there 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 ...

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

, badger, stone marten, lynx, jackal, European wild cat, hare and others. Among reptiles there are amongst others '' Macrovipera lebetina''. Along the former river- beds and channels the

Caspian turtle The Caspian turtle (''Mauremys caspica''), also known as the striped-neck terrapin, is a species of turtle in the family (biology), family Geoemydidae (=Bataguridae). It is found in west Asia, in Iran and central Turkey, northward to the Republic ...

can be found, and on the slopes of the mountain the spur-thighed tortoise can be observed, which, as well as the ''Coluber caucasicus'' is included in the Red Book. The main protected objects are the model natural complexes of the Boz-Dag Ridge with the developed pistachio-arch light forests, area of semi-desert, arid and tugay vegetation. The state of arid light forest on the Boz-Dag are of great concern primary primarily because in spite of the productivity of the majority of tree species, including juniper, the regeneration of these forests in general is very slow. The establishment of the Turian-Chay reserve brought -an improvement in the situation with the regeneration of these forests. During the 40 years of the reserve's existence the pistachio-juniper light forest has extended its area and the general quality of trees has increased. The replacement of juniper by pistachio has almost stopped. Shrubbery and herbage have also developed well, considerably reducing the process of soil erosion.

References

http://www.eco.gov.az/en/b-qoruqlar-turyanchay.php

References

See also