Abstract
Seasonal features of the spatial distribution and the age–sex structure of the tur on the northern and southern macroslopes of the eastern Greater Caucasus Mountain Ridge are studied. Significant differences in habitat use depending on the altitude are revealed. In summer, the tur lives on the northern slope of the ridge at about 3000 m above sea level compared to about 2700 m on the southern macroslope. In winter, these altitudes are 2750 and 2250 above sea level, respectively. No differences depending on the slope steepness are revealed; most of the tur use slopes from 26° to 33° on both the macroslopes. Significant seasonal differences are revealed in the use of slopes of varying exposure on the northern macroslope; no such differences are found for the southern macroslope. Differences in the spatial distribution of the tur are shown to be determined not only by variations in the relief structure of the northern and southern macroslopes of the Greater Caucasus but also by varying levels of anthropogenic pressure. The sex ratio of adult tur females to males is approximately 1 : 1 on the northern macroslope compared to 1 : 2 on the southern one.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors express their gratitude to E. Askerov, Director of the WWF Office in Azerbaijan, for organizing surveys on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus.
Funding
This work was supported by the Program of Basic Research of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Biodiversity of Natural Systems: Biological Resources of Russia. Assessment of the State and Fundamentals of Monitoring.”
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Translated by K. Lazarev
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Babaev, E.A., Yarovenko, Y.A. Spatial Distribution and Age–Sex Structure of the Tur Population (Capra cylindricornis Blyth) in the East Caucasus. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 48, 1114–1122 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359021070049
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359021070049