Landscape-species national inventory of animal habitats as a basis for hunting resources use and protection (on the sable example)

Abstract

The purpose of our message is to characterize the principles used in national inventory development and to show possibilities of landscape-species approach for characterizing hunting resources distribution. This represents a certain scientific novelty. Quantitative data collection is based on the use of partial shooting (catching) method when mapping the results of cropping in the areas of commercial hunting areas. Cadastral developments are related to the quality of animals wildlife habitual area. On Irkutsk region territory, four regional complexes of sable habitats have been identified: Angarsk, Verkholensk and South Prebaikalsk, and Khamar-Daban. The basis for their identification was participation proportion in Siberian cedar composition for the first two and the presence of dwarf pine overgrowth for Khamar-Daban along with Verkholensk eastern part. The South CisBaikal complex of habitats, including Eastern Sayan habitats, is characterized primarily by the absence of dwarf pine overgrowth. The proposed methodological system for the inventory and assessment of game animals habitats is based on the ecological interpretation of landscape units (groups of geographic eco-elements). It makes it possible to take into account the regional characteristics of animal habitat and allows forecasting the dynamics of habitats. For the territory characterized by mapping on the principles of structural-dynamic landscape science, it is necessary to fully use the cartographic landscape basis on these principles. It is quite enough to select the best (optimal) habitats that provide animals with living conditions throughout the entire annual life cycle, and to protect them accordingly, as the basis for maintaining population homeostasis within the region; suboptimal - much worse, used mainly seasonally; and hunting areas are not peculiar to the species of animals, on which the species does not live and cannot live. The first two categories of habitats during mapping will make up the lace of the species range within the region, and all for a total, the habitats species national inventory, and at the same time strata for collecting initial data and extrapolating during counts. Thus, cadastral developments with a landscape- species approach make it possible to stratify the territory for subsequent counts of animals number of a certain species. This is especially important for economically significant species, which number state must be accurately tracked for their rational use.