Environment
The Russian Far East has a cold and harsh climate. In the fish-rich Amur River estuary in the districts of Nixhne-Amruskii and Takhtinskii, winters have high winds and heavy snows with mid winter usually averaging from -28° to -20°C (-18° to -4°F). Summers are wet and moderately warm ranging between 16° and 20°C (61° to 68°F). The area's biome is characterized as Taiga and evergreen coniferous forests consisting of larch, yew, birch, maple, lilac, honeysuckle, and extensive low-lying swamp grasses. Higher elevations have spruce, fir, ash, lime, walnut and mountain tops have cedar and lichens. Bears, foxes, sables, hares, Siberian tigers, elks, grouse, and deer typical near the Amur outlet which usually floods during the rainy season.
Northern Sakhalin is harsher ecologically with mostly Taiga. Winters are longer, with a mean temperature of -19°C (-5°F), however short summers are warmer averaging 15°C (59°F) due to warmer Pacific Ocean currents moving around the island. Heavy snows blanket the island of Sakhalin (Yh-mif in Nivkh) during winter, due to monsoon winds blowing from Siberia, drawing humidity as they pass over the Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, and the Strait of Tartary. Barren tundra dominates the north, with sparse trees such as larch, birch and various grasses, while moving southward, spruce and fir are seen. Bears, foxes, otters, lynx, and reindeer are common wildlife. The Island's major rivers are the Tym' and Poronai, rich in fish especially Salmon. Before Russian colonization, Nivkh villages could be found on these rivers approximately every 5 km.
The Strait of Tartar is currently only 20 kilometers (12 mi) wide and is shallow enough that the divide is covered by an ice bridge during the winter that can be traversed by foot or dog sled. At the glacial maximum of the Ice Age, sea levels were 100 meters (300 feet) lower than they are today. The Eurasia continent was connected to Sakhalin via the Strait of Tatar and Hokkaidō via the Soya Strait of which humans migrated. This connection explains the similarities of trees, plants, and animals including now extinct mammoths. The receding ice age warmed the area allowing greater tree cover and wildlife, thus new resources for the Nivkhs to exploit. The opening of the Soya and then the shallower Tartar Strait allowed warm pacific currents to bathe the island and the lower Amur River.
Read more about this topic: Nivkh People
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