Bashkirskiyi Ural

Karst processes are widespread throughout the biosphere reserve. There are 166 known caves; some of them are internationally unique: "Shulgan-Tash" (Kapova), Novomuradymovskaya cave and Sumgan cave, the greatest downwarping cave in Europe. Besides the underground forms, surface karst forms are also common such as craters, ponors, bridges, canyons and cave-in lakes.The high biodiversity is due to a weak human impact, a variety of landforms, a complex history of the vegetation formation during the pleistocene and holocene and a junction of two major forest biomes from Europe and Siberia. There are more than 1,650 plant species, of which 34 are endemic, and over 2,000 animal species. The biosphere reserve includes Bielsko- Nugush interfluve and Uryuk, two important ornithological territories of European importance.The biosphere reserve plays an especially important role in preservation of rare animals, plants and ecosystems of two forest biomes – European nemoral broad-leaved forests and hemiboreal light coniferous forests of Siberian type, which are situated at the boundary of their areas.The site contains five different protected areas, including national parks and forestry districts.