Page 10 - Microsoft Word - geo class task.docx

of gobies. The omul salmon is heavily fished;
also important are the grayling, lake
whitefish, and sturgeon. Unique to the lake is
a fish called the golomyanka, of the family

Comephoridae, which gives birth to live
young.
• There are more than 320 bird species in the
Baikal area.

Biophysical interactions: Climate, Temperatures and Water clarity

• Baikal’s climate is much milder than that of the
surrounding territory. Winter air temperatures
average −21 °C, and August temperatures
average 11 °C. The lake surface freezes in
January and thaws in May or June.
• The water temperature at the surface in August
is between 10 and 12 °C and reaches 20 °C in the

offshore shallows. Waves can be as high as 4.6
metres.
• The water is very clear; from the surface one can
see to 130 feet (40 metres). Its salinity is low,
and it contains few minerals.

Explain why this ecosystem needs protection (refer to linkages, biodiversity, location and/or
extent).

The Committee inscribed Lake Baikal as the most
outstanding example of a freshwater ecosystem on the
basis of natural criteria (vii), (viii), (ix) and (x). It is the
oldest and deepest of the world´s lakes containing nearly
20% of the world´s unfrozen freshwater reserve. The lake
contains an outstanding variety of endemic flora and

fauna, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary
science. It is also surrounded by a system of protected
areas that have high scenic and other natural values.

The world’s oldest and deepest body of freshwater, Lake
Baikal, is turning into a swamp, Russian ecologists warn.
They say that tons of liquid waste from tourist camps and water transport vehicles is being
dumped into the UNESCO-protected lake. A recent scientific expedition discovered that 160

tons of liquid waste are produced every season in Baikal’s Chivyrkui Bay, said the head of