Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2004 number 4

The structure of the bird communities of the main types of ecotopes in the Polar Urals is considered on the basis of accounts at four large grounds situated in different regions from the Southern limit to the North. The most similar communities were those of typical mountainous ecotopes: rocky placers and rocky tundras. A trend was observed: the lower one comes from the highlands to river valleys, the more variable the bird communities become. For instance, the community of rocky tundra is the most uniform one along the whole length of the Polar Urals. The basis of this community is formed by the species which are characteristic of this mountainous country: the tundra ptarmigan, khrustan, wheatear, pipit. The structure of the population of grassy and mossy tundras is substantially dependent on surface topography and directly on relief. The bird communities of shrubby tundra, tall bushes and sparse trees are most variable. They are peculiar for each region, in spite of the fact that the shrubby passerine species usual for the subarctic regions are present everywhere.