Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2023 number 6

In the current article, the authors study small mammal species composition and population structure of the northern taiga landscape of the Nadym Hills (Yamal Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia). Special attention is given to catenae regularities of the intralandscape differentiation. Five micromammal species (Cl. rutilus, S. caecutiens, S. araneus, A. oeconomus, E. sibiricus), typical for the Western Siberia northern taiga subzone, were caught in different north-western parts of the catena (at the flat interfluve (placor), saddle, slope, flood plain). Red-backed mice Cl. rutilus outnumbered other species in all catena locations and in the landscape on the whole. Other species codominate in certain locations with an exception of S. araneus being common only at the placor. On the whole, over the area under study and in the higher locations of the catena, Cl. rutilus and S. caecutiens make up the core of small mammal communities. Along the hill slope - from the placor to the flood plain - the overall micromammal abundance and dominating species abundance decline gradually. A settled breeding small mammal population is present in all catena locations. The micromammal community composition, structure, and characteristics change along the slope in accordance with the changes in the territory afforestation, moistening, plant species richness, vegetation structure, microtopography. Due to harsh climate, the small mammal communities of all catena locations and whole area under scrutiny show low indices of diversity, evenness, and sustainability, high dominance index, but on the whole their structure is undisturbed and characteristic of natural subarctic communities, being indicative of the communities’ stability.