Postcatastrophic Succession of a Rodent Population
L. E. LUKYANOVA
Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, UB RAS, 620144, Ekaterinburg, 8 Marta str., 202
Keywords: anemogenic succession, pyrogenic succession, rodents, total abundance of species, microhabitat, reserve, windfall, fire
Abstract
The succession of a rodent population was investigated in forest biocenoses of the Visim Nature Biosphere Reserve (Sverdlovsk region, Middle Ural) after a windfall and two fires. The differences in the total abundance of rodents and their ratio in the community before natural catastrophes and at different postcatastrophic regenerative succession stages were noted. Structural reorganizations in the rodent population were connected with different response of the species to the wind- and fire-induced transformation of their habitats. These reorganizations can be considered compensatory mechanisms which support the stability of small mammal communities during natural disasters.
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