Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2012 number 1

Results and conclusions of the investigations carried out by the laboratory of Zoological Monitoring (Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals SB RAS) during 50 years of work in the area of factor zoogeography are reported in brief. The review deals with the distribution and number of land animals, changes in the appearance of their assemblages over the territory of West Siberian Plain, the Altay and adjacent territories, as well as faunistic regioning of Northern Eurasia.

Forest-steppe is usually characterized as a mosaic marginal complex of biota at the junction of forest and steppe. Meanwhile, in the gradient of ecological conditions from the equator to the North Pole, the forest-steppe latitudes represent a band of ecological comfort for the biota. As a result, the maximum of the species diversity occurs here in the sequence of latitudinаl zones. It is demonstrated that the fraction of insects in forest-steppe does not exceed 30 % as a total. The overwhelming majority of forest-steppe inhabitants are psychromesophiles with stress-tolerant vital strategy, able to penetrate the forest and steppe zones from the forest-steppe along the biotopes of transient positions.
Modern forest-steppe can be considered not as a faceless mix but a self-consistent biome that has, due to its universal properties, the decisive importance in maintaining the zonаl order at the West Siberian Plain.

The second communication is devoted to the main features of the spatial nonuniformity of Mesostigmata mites populations at the territory of North-Eastern Altay according to the data of August 2006 and 2007. The dependence of changes in the population appearance on environmental factors is evaluated.

Results of the perennial monitoring of the number and distribution of dragonflies at the Chany ground in the Baraba forest-steppe are presented. Estimation of the carry-out of the biomass by dragonflies from water bodies to land ecosystems is given. The data presented provide evidence of the important role of dragonflies in the migration of matter from water bodies to land.

It is demonstrated that it is important to take into account a number of factors when planning experiments on the studies of trophic indices of gipsy-moth caterpillars. These factors include first of all the population characteristics of the species - sexual and age structure changing annually. The final results of the investigation are also affected by some methodical approaches and features of experiments, in particular duration (especially in the long-run ages of caterpillars) and the amount of sampling, which must increase with an increase in the age of caterpillars. The reasonability of using individual breeding of caterpillars in the studies of nutrition of the species is considered.

Features of pre-imaginal and imaginal feeding of calliphorides of the Far Eastern region of Russia are considered, ecological complexes and trophic groupings are distinguished, their species composition is indicated. Aspects concerning synanthropism of calliphorides are discussed.

The species composition and dominating complexes of fish in catches are considered. The fraction of mass fish species in catches is shown (small rivers and the channel zone). The structural (size, age) and functional (fertility) indices of some nonmigratory and invader fish species are characterized. Over the widespread and numerous fish species, the major biological parameters are considered in the spatial-temporal aspect.

Data on 8 morphological features of Amur sleeper populations of acquired (29 populations) (50.0°-62.2°) range in the European part of Russia and their comparison with those of the natural (4 populations) (43.5°-48.2°) range is given for the first time. It seems most probable that the formation of a certain number of vertebrae in the abdominal, transitional and caudal sections of the axial skeleton in the observed population groups of Amur sleeper is due to similar temperature regimes of these waterbodies.

Information about the role of birds in dissemination of wild berry plants in the south of the Russian Far East taiga zone is presented, based on the authors' long-term ecological investigations, and reviewed references are given. The dominant and subdominant species of carpophagous birds are determined. The participation of birds in dissemination of the seeds of wild berry plants during the periods of nomad and seasonal migrations is discussed.

On the basis of the materials collected during continuous all-year-round routing censuses, the analysis of territorial non-uniformity of bird populations of the coniferous-deciduous forests in Northern Privolzhje was carried out for the first time, and the major factors defining it were revealed. The spatial-temporal classification of the bird population the surveyed territory was made, the quantitative estimation of force and the communication generality between the spatial non-uniformity of bird populations and the factors of environment is given. The spatial-temporal structure of bird populations is determined mainly by forestation and seasonal variability in heat presence, and also by the structure of forest breeds, building, and the relief.

Originаl materials on the animal world of the northern macro-slope of the Sette-Daban Mountain Ridge are presented. The characteristics of birds and mammals population in different habitats in the basin of the Allah-Yun river are presented.

The anаlyses of biotic diversity using pictographs show the difference in deviation of the diversity under long-term period of deforestation and under short-term violation of forest habitats. The biomass of small mammals was similar in all forest habitats; it was higher at the meadow and dropped in the young (9 years) forest at the former field. Though the numbers of species as well as the diversity of local communities of small mammals vary, the biomass of residents was similar in forest habitats. Nonresident population contributes to general biomass the more the greater habitat is deteriorated. The relevant sustainability of general biomass is regarded in terms of biocenotic compensation. Biocenosis is regarded as a system having an inclination to "autonomic" functioning.

The dynamics of shrew community in the mountainous taiga of the Eastern Sayan during the years 1981 to 2010 is considered. The work was carried out at the territory of Stolby reserve. The structure of the community, the duration of cyclic changes in different species, effect of succession and climatic processes on the composition and structure of the community are studied.

Original data on the diameter of bear trees and the trees in the stand were collected during the years 2002-2009 at the Upper Pechora and in the Western Sayan. The data were processed using the two-sample Stident's test and correlation analysis. For comparison, the published data on the thickness of bear trees are involved. Brown bears use the trees 2 to 89 cm in diameter for marking. As a rule, bear trees exceed the trees of the stand in the average diameter, which is the evidence of the selectivity of bears for the trees of larger diameter for marking.

Common characteristics of stoats' diet in Magadan region are presented. It consists mainly of small murine rodents, namely red-backed voles of Clethrionomys genus; in Priokhotje it is C. rufocanus, and in the basin of the Kolyma river it is C. rutilus. The content of mammals in the diet of stoat decreases by approximately 20 % in the snow period of the year. The predator compensates this by feeding with fish collected from the bottom of the dried pools. Birds, insects, plant food play a small part in the feeding of stoat in Magadan region.

Effect of climatic factors (height and density of snow cover, air temperature, precipitation), biotic factors (land and bird predators), and anthropogenic factors (agriculture, motor transport, hunting) on the dynamics of the number of Lepus europaeus in separate pockets of its habitation is evaluated.

Features of the marking activities of beavers in the channel-type settlements are considered. It is established on the basis of the statistical data that the signal hillocks can be recommended for the studies of the dynamic indices of scent marking by beavers. On the basis of quantitative methods, the role of the level mode of water streams in the appearance of olfactory marks is demonstrated; as a result, the reciprocal dependence between these parameters is revealed.