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Effect of Ecological Factors on the Abundance of the Tarbagan (Marmota sibirica, Rodentia, Sciuridae) in Southwestern Transbaikalia

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Abstract—

The tarbagan, or Mongolian marmot (Marmota sibirica Radde 1862), is one of the typical members of steppe ecosystems in southwestern Transbaikalia. The study of regularities reflecting the effect of ecological factors on tarbagan abundance will allow us to develop a model of the ecological niche of this species and to carry out efficient environmental measures for its preservation. The effect of ecological factors (topographic, edaphic, vegetation, anthropogenic disturbance, and cohabitation with the Daurian pika and long-tailed ground squirrel) on tarbagan abundance was studied in the Kyakhtinsk, Dzhidinsk, and Selenginsk administrative districts of Buryatia (southwestern Transbaikalia). In May–August 2015–2018, using the method of linear transects (1000 m long) with the establishment of four test plots (50 × 50 m in size), a total of 95 transects with 380 plots was set in each of them. The differences in the abundance of plots were significant depending on the height of their surface above sea level (Pearson criterion χ2 = 23.422, p < 0.001, df = 2) and stony conditions (χ2 = 15.219, p < 0.001, df = 1). The association of the abundance with other habitat parameters (edaphic, heterogeneity or homogeneity of vegetation, and disturbance) was not significant. The presence of inhabited burrows and colonies of the Daurian pika in most places inhabited by the tarbagan (χ2 = 21.772, p < 0.001, df=1) indicates similar requirements of these species to certain habitat parameters (for example, stony conditions of locations). No inhabited burrows and settlements of long-tailed ground squirrel were found on the plots inhabited by tarbagan (χ2 = 0.443, p = 0.506, df = 1); most likely, seed-eating ground squirrels and marmots have different feed preferences.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is grateful to N.G. Borisova for assistance in planning the parameters of the test plot. The author is especially grateful to the anonymous reviewer, whose comments improved the manuscript of this article.

Funding

This work was supported by a State Assignment, project no. AAAA-A17-117011810035-6.

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  1. Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 670047, Ulan-Ude, Russia

    B. B. Badmaev

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  1. B. B. Badmaev
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Correspondence to B. B. Badmaev.

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Translated by A. Barkhash

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Badmaev, B.B. Effect of Ecological Factors on the Abundance of the Tarbagan (Marmota sibirica, Rodentia, Sciuridae) in Southwestern Transbaikalia. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 48, 1123–1130 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359021070050

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