Amur River Ecology
The Amur River, often referred to as the "Russian Mississippi," spans approximately 1,800 miles and is notable for being one of the largest undammed rivers in the Eastern Hemisphere. Flowing southeast from its origins in Siberia to the Pacific Ocean, the river boasts a rich biodiversity, supporting a wide array of flora and fauna, including a significant population of migratory birds and numerous fish species like the Amur sturgeon. The river's ecosystem is shaped by its diverse surrounding landscapes, which include deserts, steppes, tundras, and taigas. However, the Amur faces significant ecological threats due to overfishing, deforestation, and the impacts of climate change, particularly in its heavily populated southern regions.
Culturally, the river has historically served as a vital conduit for trade and cultural exchange between Russia and China, but modern economic practices have led to environmental degradation. International NGOs are working to protect this fragile ecosystem, as the area is home to critically endangered species like the Amur leopard and Siberian tiger. While the Russian side of the Amur remains less developed, the growing pressures from human activity, particularly in China, pose ongoing challenges for the river's health and its surrounding biodiversity.
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Subject Terms
Amur River Ecology
- Category: Inland Aquatic Biomes.
- Geographic Location: Asia.
- Summary: The Amur River and its tributaries are a biologically diverse ecosystem, but economics and international clashes have threatened the environment in a variety of ways.
Known as the “Russian Mississippi” because of its size and importance within northeastern Asia, the Amur River Asia is 1,800 miles (2,897 kilometers) long. The tenth-longest river in the world, the Amur is one of the largest free-flowing (undammed) rivers in the Eastern Hemisphere. The inclusion of the Amur's headwaters stretches its length to 2,700 miles (4,345 kilometers). Generally flowing toward the southeast, the Amur River is formed by the confluence of the Shilka and Argun Rivers along Russia's Siberian border with China. Known as the Heilongjiang or Black Dragon River on the Chinese side of the river, the river has historically served China as a conduit for cultural diffusion.
From the region east of Lake Baikal in Russia, the Amur flows eastward toward the Pacific. After reaching the Chinese border, the Amur heads northeastward, where it traverses 650 miles (1,046 kilometers) to the Tartar Strait in the Pacific Ocean, connecting the Sea of Japan with the Sea of Ohotsk. The Amur has several branches that have formed into numerous floodplains, creeks, and oxbow lakes. The lands surrounding the Amur are made up of desert, steppe, tundra, and taiga.
The major tributaries in the northern portion of the Amur are the Zoya, Bureya, and Amgun Rivers. In the south, the main tributaries are the Sungari and Usssuri, which also flow along the Russia–China border. The major ports of Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk, and Niboayevsk are all located within Russia. The Heilongjian (Amur) and Kaluga sturgeon that are used in caviar live in the waters of the Amur, making the river a valuable commercial fishery asset. For much of the year, the frozen water is non-navigable, but from May to November, the entire river is open to travel. The Amur River is being threatened by overfishing and population depletion, yet much of the Russian area remains undeveloped in the 21st century.
Rich Base of Wildlife
Millions of years ago, molten lava was pushed up into the Amur River, forming large boulders throughout its waters. Those boulders, in some places served as a canvas for prehistoric rock carvings; today's human population has made its own mark on the river, not always a positive one. The waters of the Amur River are filled with a mixture of temperate and northern flora and fauna, but the ecosystems have been threatened by human greed and a lack of agreement over allotted resources. International nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been instrumental in protecting the fragile environment of the Amur.
Some experts suggest that only the Mississippi River has a greater wealth of biodiversity than the Amur River. Some 95 percent of the entire world population of the Oriental white stork live there, along with 65 percent of red-crowned cranes and half of all white-napped cranes. At least 108 fish species live in the waters of the Amur. Permanent residents include the grass carp, black carp, sky gazer, snakehead, tamien, mirror carp, Amur sturgeon, and Great Siberian sturgeon. Salmon spawn by the river and its tributaries.
Although the lands around the Amur are considered to be a horticultural paradise, much is still unknown about the plant life that is native to the area, which has a climate similar to that of the American Midwest. Known flora includes the purpleblow maple, Manchurian stripebark maple, Korean maple, Amur cork tree, willow, paper birch, Mongolian oak, and conifers such as the Korean pine. Flowers are abundant, including blue cranesbill, campion, white bog orchid, Siberian iris, ladies' bedstraw, cotton grass, bell flower, day lilies, and gooseneck loose strife.
Human Pressures
Northward and eastward of the Amur River and its tributaries is the Russian Far East, one of the largest wilderness areas in the world and home to a large variety of ecosystems. With few major human settlements to upset the balance of nature, the area is home to 15 species of cranes, almost half of the world population of wild Pacific salmon, the few critically endangered Amur leopards left in the wild, and some 400 Siberian tigers. About a fourth of the world's forest cover is found here.
To the south, the story is far different. Some 75 million people live in northeast China's Amur basin. Because of rapid deforestation since the end of the 20th century, small border towns have grown into industrial areas that prosper from a largely illegal timber trade. That timber is sold to retailers such as Walmart that buy everything from baby cribs to candleholders from the Chinese manufacturers, whose efforts have denuded the forests along this stretch of the Amur. China now ranks as the world's top exporter of wood products but is paying a stiff price for such practices. Soil erosion and deforestation are considered to be major challenges now. On the other hand, when China banned commercial logging in 17 provinces, Russia launched its own timber boom. By 2009, China was importing 5 billion pounds (2.3 billion kilograms) of wood per year from the Primorski Krai region of Russia. At least half of that wood may be produced by illegal logging practices. Indirectly, threats from climate change haunt the Amur River, as the possibilities of floods and severe weather threaten the region.
Historically in the region, the 17th-century Amur was a magnet for adventurers, vagabonds, and river pirates intent on benefiting from the wealth of beaver, Arctic foxes, and sables that were there for the taking along the shores. Furs, at one point, accounted for one-third of the treasury assets of the Russian Empire. Peasants also were attracted to the Amur River because they believed that its rich resources could bring an end to their poverty.
By 1689, Russia had been forced to cede the area around the Amur to the Chinese by the Treaty of Nerchinsk. On the Russian side of the river, the land settled into obscurity, and the Amur lay virtually forgotten, with its ecosystems virtually untouched by humans. It was “rediscovered” two centuries later and was seized on as a vital link to the Pacific Ocean despite its harsh climate, with long, bitter winters and short, mosquito-laden summers. In 1858, Russia recovered the left bank under the Treaty of Aaigun. By the 1970s, Russia and China had become entrenched political rivals, and border conflicts frequently broke out. A modern agreement over the Amur was finally reached in 2005.
Bibliography
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Federman, Adam. "Border Lands." Earth Island Journal, vol. 23, no. 4, 2009, pp. 34-40.
Ivanov, Grigorĩĩ Ivanovich. Classifications of Soils of Primorye and Amur River Region. United States Department of Agriculture, 1973.
Maxwell, Neville. "How the Sino-Russian Boundary Conflict Was Finally Settled." Critical Asian Studies, vol. 39, no. 2, 2007, pp. 229-53.
Sexton, Julie. "The Amur River: Protecting Free Flowing Biodiversity." ArcGIS Story Maps, 29 Apr. 2021, storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d97a2e39ff1e483c92fb5198d541de42. Accessed 26 Oct. 2024.
Yu, L. I., et al. "Climate Change Characteristics of Amur River." Water Science and Engineering, vol. 6, no. 2, Jan. 2013, pp. 131-44. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=wrw&AN=1167048&site=ehost-live. Accessed 26 Oct. 2024.