This area is named after the Russia's famous Lake Baikal. It extends east and southeast from Potomsk and the Northbaikalian Plateaus, and then includes the northern part of the Prebaikal area, a large part of Transbaikalia and part of northeast Mongolia.

In the Gremjachaya Valley area Transbaikalian Taiga can be broadly divided into dark taiga and light taiga. The former is a closed forest dominated by the Siberian endemic fir Abies sibirica (Pinaceae). Other conifers include Picea obovata and the Siberian endemic Pinus sibirica (Pinaceae). These stands can reach heights of over 25 m. Smaller trees are Betula divaricata, Populus tremela and the Siberian endemic Sorbus sibirica (Rosaceae). The same species also form the shrub layer but enriched with Duschekia fruticosa, Ribes nigra, various Salix species and the Siberian endemic Sambucus sibirica (Adoxaceae). The herb layer is relatively rich with various shade tolerant species like Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Saxifraga aestivalis and a variety Equisetum species including E. hyemale, E. pratense, E. sylvaticum and the rare E. scirpoides. Among the flowering plants there are a number of boreal elements including Goodyera repens, Linnaea borealis, Listera cordata and Maianthemum bifolium. Light taiga is a more open forest covering mesic habitats. On slopes between 600-1000 m in the Barguzinskij Range, for example, the main conifer is the Siberian endemic Larix sibirica (Pinaceae), but Betula pendula, Pinus sibirica and P. sylvestris are also common. Characteristic species include the clubmoss Diphasiastrum complanatum and the Siberian endemic Atragene sibirica (Ranunculaceae). On the Lake Baikal islands of Ushkanii, larch forest is common, but here the main species is the endemic hybrid Larix x czekanowskii. It lays midway between the primary ranges of the two parent species Larix gmelinii and L. sibirica, although it has been proposed as an island endemic (L. ushkanensis). The ground layer composition of these forests varies, but in places, particularly in shoreline forest, the dominant species is Vaccinium vitus-idaea. Other common species include Bromopsis pumpelliana, Dendrothema zawadskii, Vicia multicaulis and the Siberian endemic Empetrum sibiricum (Empetraceae). On small islands the grass Brachypodium pinnatum often becomes the most common groundlayer species, while other associated species include Lathyrus humilis, the Siberian endemic Poa sibirica (Poaceae) and the Baikalian endemic Geranium pseudosibirica (Geraniaceae).

References

Chytry, M., Brno, Oleg A. Anenchonov, Ulan-Ude & Jiri Danihelka, Mikulov. 1995. Plant communities of the Bol’soj Civyrkuj River Valley, Barguzinskij Range, East Siberia. Phytcoenologia, 23: 399-434.

Knystautas, A. 1987. The Natural History of the USSR. Century Hutchinson Ltd.

Liebermann, R. J. 1998. Phytogeography of the Ushkanii Islands, Lake Baikal, Russia and the Caribou Islands, Lake Superior, Canada. Degree of Master of Arts, Department of Geography, Michigan University.

Malyshev, L. I. 2000. Floristic division on the quantitative basis: Baikalian Siberia, Tuva and Outer Mongolia. Flora, 195: 330-338.

Malyshev, L. I., Balkov, K. S. & Doronkin, V. M. 1999. Spatial diversity of the Siberian flora. Flora, 194: 357-368.

Valachovic, M., Anenkhonov, O. A. & Hodalova, I. 2002. Vegetation along an altitudinal gradient in the Gremjachaya Valley, Barguzinskij Range, Eastern Siberia. Biologia, Bratislava, 57: 83-97.