Basic trends of game mammal population dynamics in the Russian Middle Amur river area: the observation and simulation results

• Main Authors: E. Ya. Frisman, O. L. Revutskaya, G. P. Neverova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch Publishing House 2015-06-01
• Series: Сибирский лесной журнал
• Subjects: game mammals; Middle Amur river area of Russia; trends of population dynamics; ecological capacity; mathematical modeling
• Online Access: http://xn--80abmehbaibgnewcmzjeef0c.xn--p1ai/upload/iblock/e00/e006787af0cc4b9f9b898f683e498b10.pdf
• ISSN: 2311-1410; 2312-2099

The detailed analysis was completed on long­term population dynamics data of different game mammals conducted in the region of the Middle Amur. The study showed that when a certain stability of the majority of the total number of game animals throughout the Jewish Autonomous Region (the coefficient of Malthus model for the entire period of observation a little more than 1, except for the lynx, kolinsky and squirrel) from the mid 90s of the last century indicates a steady downward trend in population numbers, especially in areas where hunting occurs (Malthus model coefficients less than 1). Perhaps the reason for the decline was the increase in the amount of poaching in the 90s due to the deteriorating socio­economic situation in the country. Impression of a certain stability in the JAR as a whole due to the position of animals in protected areas. For all considered commercial species in the reserve there is a clear tendency for the number. For such species as the kolinsky, squirrel and bears, the maximum possible model number lower than the maximum number of accounting was observed during the study period. For populations of other game animals it can be assumed that the status of their ecological niches, i.e. habitat resources (supply of food, the size of the range, availability and propagation of the growth of the offspring, etc.) are relatively stable. The relation between the amount of natural reproduction of «local» populations and their replenishment quantities due to external migration was studied in detail. Maintaining the number of target species is determined by migratory activity. The presence of protected areas helps to maintain and even some increase the population numbers, but it is clearly insufficient. It’s necessary to expand the territories free from the hunt and the transition to the strategies of hard periodic limitations of hunting populations experiencing depressive mode of population dynamics.