Abstract
The data from long-term observations (from 1970 to 2012) on changes in the population structure and abundance of mammals and birds under pasture load and reserve regime conditions in the steppe zone of the southern Minusinsk basin are presented. It has been revealed that insufficient grazing or its full absence cause no less serious structural changes in animal communities than its excess. Although a decrease in pasture load leads to the recovery of the mammal and bird population in steppe ecosystems, this recovery is significantly different from native recoveries, which are based on the fallout of some stenoecic species and the introduction of eurybionts at early succession stages. An increase in the effect of pasture load on the steppe ecosystems of the basin is currently being observed again.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Abaturov, B.D., Mlekopitayushchie kak komponent ekosistem (na primere rastitel’noyadnykh mlekopitayushchikh v polupustyne) (Mammals as the Ecosystem Component by Example of Herbivorous Mammals in Semidesert), Moscow: Nauka, 1984.
Argunov, P., Agriculture in Minusinsk region and explanatory catalogue of Agricultural Department of the museum, in Opisanie Minusinskogo muzeya (Descriptions of Minusinsk Museum), Kazan: Tipogr. N.A. Il’yashenko, 1892, no. 1.
Dubynina, S.S., Bioproductive-destructive processes in steppe geosystems, in Geograficheskie issledovaniya v Sibiri (Geographical Studies in Siberia), Novosibirsk: Geo, 2007, vol. 2, pp. 157–188.
Ershova, E.A. and Lapshina, E.I., Transformation of steppe vegetation of Siberia, Sib. Ekol. Zh., 1994, no. 5, pp. 393–401.
Gorshkova, A.A., Resistance of various types of pastures to grazing, in Senokosy i pastbishcha Sibiri (The Hayfields and Pastures of Siberia), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1989, pp. 4–12.
Gorshkova, A.A., Mordkovich, V.G., and Stebaeva, S.K., Biological diagnostics of conservation and recovery of steppe pasture ecosystems of Siberia, Sib. Ekol. Zh., 1994, no. 5, pp. 403–416.
Kandalova, G.T., Stepnye pastbishcha Khakasii: transformatsiya, vosstanovlenie, perspektivy ispol’zovaniya (Steppe Pastures of Khakassia: Transformation, Recovery, and Prospective Use), Novosibirsk: Tsentr. S-kh. Biblioteka, Sib. Otd., Rossel’khozakad., 2009.
Koblik, E.A., Red’kin, Ya.A., and Arkhipov, V.Yu., Spisok ptits Rossiiskoi Federatsii (The List of Birds of Russian Federation), Moscow: KMK, 2006.
Kucheruk, V.V., The impact of herbivorous mammals on herbal productivity of steppe and their role in formation of organic matter in steppe soils, in Biologiya, biotsenologiya i sistematika mlekopitayushchikh SSSR (Biology, Biocenology, and Systematics of Mammals of Soviet Union), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1963, pp. 157–193.
Nikol’skaya, L.A., Khakasiya. Ekonomiko-geograficheskii ocherk (Khakassia: Economic and Geographic Description), Krasnoyarsk, 1968.
Pavlinov, I.Ya., Kruskop, S.V., Varshavskii, A.A., and Borisenko, A.V., Nazemnye zveri Rossii. Spravochnikopredelitel’ (Terrestrial Animals of Russia: Guide and Handbook), Moscow: KMK, 2002.
Prelovskii, V.A., Anthropogenic transformation of population structure of terrestrial vertebrates of South Minusinsk Depression, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Geogr.) Dissertation, Irkutsk: Sochava Inst. Geogr., Sib. Branch, Russ. Acad. Sci., 2015.
Prirodnye rezhimy stepei Minusinskoi kotloviny (na primere Koibal’skoi stepi) (Natural Regimes of Steppes of Minusinsk Depression by Example of Koibal’skaya Steppe), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1976.
Shchetnikov, A.I. and Zaichenko, O.A., Dynamics and resistance of steppe geosystems of Southern Siberia, Arid. Ekosist., 2000, vol. 6, no. 13, pp. 66–75.
Tishkov, A.A., Geographical regularities of ecosystem successions, in Sovremennye problemy geografii ekosistem (Modern Problems of Geography of Ecosystems), Moscow: Inst. Geogr., Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1984, pp. 58–62.
Volkova, V.G., Kochurov, B.I., and Khakimzyanova, F.I., Sovremennoe sostoyanie stepei Minusinskoi kotloviny (Modern Status of Steppes of Minusinsk Depression), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1979.
Zaichenko, O.A., Fitofagi v pastbishchnykh goesistemakh yuga Sibiri (Phytophages in Pasture Geosystems of Southern Siberia), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1996.
Zaichenko, O.A. and Khakimzyanova, F.I., Specific features and recovery rate of fallow vegetation in the steppes of Southern Minusinsk Depression, Arid. Ekosist., 1999, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 65–71.
Zlotin, R.I. and Khodashova, K.S., Rol’ zhivotnykh v biologicheskom krugovorote lesostepnykh ekosistem (Role of Animals in Biological Cycle of Forest-Steppe Ecosystems), Moscow: Nauka, 1974.
Zverev, M.D., Mass reproduction of steppe voles and European water voles, Zashch. Rast. Vred., 1928, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 104–105.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © V.A. Prelovskii, 2017, published in Aridnye Ekosistemy, 2017, Vol. 23, No. 4(73), pp. 68–77.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prelovskii, V.A. Changes in the population structure and abundance of mammals and birds in pasture ecosystems of the southern Minusinsk basin. Arid Ecosyst 7, 277–284 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079096117040084
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079096117040084
Keywords
- the southern Minusinsk basin
- steppes
- pasture load
- population dynamics
- abundance
- mammals
- birds