Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
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B
Figure 14-14.
Tatra Mountains of central Europe. A. Overview of Polish Tatra Mountains looking toward the
southwest from near Toporowa Cyrhla; the city of Zakopane is visible in the right background. B. Slovak Tatra
Mountains seen from Stará Lesná looking northward. Tourist hotels in the foreground; a ski jump is visible at scene
center; the highest peak to right is Lomnicky at 2634 m. Kite aerial photos by J.S. Aber and S.W. Aber.
and protection. Furthermore, ongoing technical
and i nancial assistance from international con-
servation organizations have helped these coun-
tries initiate such discussions (Ramsar 2010a).
As the largest country in the world, Russia
has vast wetlands of many different types (Fig.
14-16; see Fig. 14-1). The West Siberian lowlands
of Asian Russia comprise some of the most
extensive wetland ecosystems of the world.
These lowlands range from east of the Ural
Mountains to the Yenisei River, covering more
than two million square kilometers. Some esti-
mates suggest that approximately half of this
area is covered in wetlands (Solomeshch 2005).
Peatlands, ranging between 1 and 5 m thick in
some cases, occur across the landscape and
were probably formed during the end of the last
glacial period (Kremenetski et al. 2003). Despite
the lack of consistent data, scientists believe
these peatlands play an important role in
