Geographic Ecological Analysis of Small Mammals of the Northern Taiga of Western Siberia

Abstract

The analysis of all data on the number and distribution of small mammals in Western Siberia over the past 120 years has established that 20 out of 28 species recorded in the northern taiga make up their communities. A similar structure of dominance is generally preserved in the small mammal communities of the northern taiga. The main dominant species, northern red-backed vole, Laxmann’s shrew, and the common shrew, predominate almost everywhere. The other six codominant species (Eurasian pygmy shrew and tundra shrew and voles: root vole, common European field vole, European bank vole, and gray red-backed vole) dominate only in certain areas. The remaining 11 species, which are both widely and narrowly distributed, make up a small part of the communities. The increase in the species richness of communities to the east (from 15 to 19 species) is determined by the increase in the number of Siberian species. In general, in the studied area of the northern taiga, the largest contribution to small mammal communities is made by representatives of the Siberian fauna type, with the exception of the western part of the subzone, where European species predominate.