RU2088
Wetlands of Karasuk town


Country/territory: Russia (Central Asian)

IBA criteria met: A1, A4i, A4iii (2011)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 42,800 hectares (428.00 km2)

IBA conservation status
Year of assessment (most recent) State (condition) Pressure (threat) Response (action)
2010 very poor high very low
For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here


Site description (2010 baseline)
The region represents a vast system of constant, partially and fully dried up lakes that are fed from Karasuk river. The lakes are primarily brackish but there are some fresh ones. Many lakes have large reedbeds. There are also substantial areas of steppes and salines. A large area is taken by the man-made landscapes, including the Karasuk town. Of highest conservation value are the lakes in the Karasuk town (nesting place of the White-headed duck in the 2000s) and the steppe areas around Troitskoe, where the sociable lapwing nested in the 1990s and there are still suitable habitats for it. Many wetlands of the system have favorouble conditions for rest and feeding of the birds of passage.

Key biodiversity
White-headed Duck, Sociable Lapwing, >30,000 non-breeding waterbirds. The following semi-aquatic birds were noticed on nesting and movements in June-August: Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Great Bittern, Great Egret, Whooper Swan, Mute Swan, Mallard, Gadwall, Garganey, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Common Shelduck, Common Coot, Little Ringed Plover, Red-necked Phalarope, Northern Lapwing, Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint, Temminck’s Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ruff, Cur-lew, Black-tailed Godwit, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Common Snipe, White-winged Tern, Black Tern, Common Tern, Caspian Gull, Mew Gull, Pallas's Gull, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, Bearded Parrotbill etc.

Acknowledgements
The map polygon is provided courtesy of the Spatial Database on Important Bird Areas of Russia 2014 (© Russian Bird Conservation Union, © Transparent World).


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Wetlands of Karasuk town (Russia (Central Asian)). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wetlands-of-karasuk-town-iba-russia-(central-asian) on 24/12/2024.