Data Zone
Country/territory: Kazakhstan
IBA criteria met: A1, A4i, A4iii (2006)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 2,171 hectares (21.71 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2017 | moderate | high | high |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2006 baseline)
The IBA is a steppe lake 60 km to the north-west of the town of Karkaralinsk, 15 km to the north-east of the railway station of “Novy Put” (Karkaraly district), and 11 km to the west of Karasor Lake (a neighbouring IBA). The local name of the site is Baikazan. The IBA is a shallow, salty, closed waterbody of almost regular circular configuration, about 4 km in diameter, with a depth of 3-5 m, set in a typically hilly landscape. Fish are absent. A rather narrow belt of reeds runs along the shoreline. Two riverbeds, turning in summer into dried up channels, enter the lake. The most common soils are loam and rubble-loam; the hillsides are dotted with rock outcrops. Typical steppe and semi-desert faunal communities occur on the surrounding areas giving way to wetland communities in the shoreline depressions and riverbeds. Stipa, Festuca and Artemisia sps. form the predominant vegetation. Patches of Asiagrostis splendens and Karagana, frequently 1 m tall, and, in the hills, Spirea sp. are not uncommon.
Key biodiversity
The typical assemblage of steppe and shorebird species.
Acknowledgements
Daniel Masur and Kati Sevke (Greifswald University, Germany) participated in the survey in September 2006 and provided the account data.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Saumalkol Lake (Kazakhstan). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/saumalkol-lake-iba-kazakhstan on 26/12/2024.