Abstract
Beaver impact on water coverage of forest-steppe territories (Penza Region, European Russia)
Highlights
One of the global problems of humankind is the conservation of freshwater ecosystems, which are rapidly degrading and losing their biodiversity (Vaughn, 2010)
We found that beaver ponds, even of small size, are clearly recognisable on modern public satellite images, as well as their zoogenic elements, i.e. dams, canals and tracks (Fig. 2)
In a number of cases, beaver ponds were not visible on the images, because of the dense canopy of Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn., the thickets of which are widespread along the floodplains of some rivers
Summary
One of the global problems of humankind is the conservation of freshwater ecosystems, which are rapidly degrading and losing their biodiversity (Vaughn, 2010). The combination of climatic and anthropogenic factors considerably affects the water resources. This is clearly seen by the example of the forest-steppe natural zone and blacksoil regions that have been substantially cultivated by humans. Along the existing lakes shortage of the territory (Izmailova & Korneenkova, 2020), the annual river runoff decreases by 5–15%, and by 10–20% in the spring (Shiklomanov et al, 2011), due to climate changes. For this reason, the level of spring floods decreased. Floodplain lakes are not filled by a river (Buchik & Dmitrieva, 2019) and regression of valley landscapes is observed (Zhigulina & Mikhno, 2019)
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