All chapters:

Introduction

Climate

Waters and water management

Ecosystems and ecoregions

Species diversity and use of biological resources

Nature conservation: econet and protected areas

Countries & cultures

Economy

Land use

International policy

The main stem of the Amur-Heilong River proper that flows to the east from Great Hinggan Mountains is often referred to as a river of three reaches, Upper, Middle, and Lower. The Upper and Middle Amur are shared by Russia and China. The Lower Amur lies completely within Russia and stretches 947 km from the mouth of the Ussuri River to the estuary of the Amur-Heilong River emptying into Tartar Straits.

The Amur River average annual discharge into the Pacific is 364 km3 and this enormous flow (equal to 77% of the Mekong River and 7 times greater than the Yellow River) carries 15-24 million tons of sediments, for an average of 55 g of sediment per m3 of water. To a great extent these waters contribute to high biological productivity of the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan.

The Lower Amur Mountain Valley Ecoregion was delineated by WWF as a representative ecoregion in the boreal zone due to its importance as breeding and stopover habitat for migratory waterfowl on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.  The Amgun River is the richest salmon river in the entire Russian Far East. 
The Lower Amur is the most important habitat for all species of salmon and sturgeon in the Amur-Heilong basin, and still holds the richest freshwater fishery in the basin.  The Lower Amur is the most critical habitat for the surviving population of kaluga sturgeon.

Sturgeon carcass in the Schastyia Bay near Amur River Mouth (Photo by A.Antonov)