| Issue № 1 |
Original research |
pdf-version |
On the extinction of the intra-population group of the lizard Phrynocephalus mystaceus mystaceus (Pallas, 1776) in the overgrown semi-deserts of the Astrakhan region
| Polynova Galina Vyacheslavovna | PhD, Associate professor, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), 6 Miklukho-Maklay St., Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation, galinapolynova@mail.ru |
| Polynova Olga Evgenevna | PhD, Associate professor, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), 6 Miklukho-Maklay St., Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation, olgapolynova@yandex.ru |
|
Keywords: Phrynocephalus mystaceus mystaceus population reduction sex-age structure of the population sand overgrowth |
Summary: Five-year observations of the intra-population grouping of the toad-headed agama Phrynocephalus mystaceus mystaceus (Pallas, 1776) were carried out in semi-deserts of the Astrakhan region. It showed a reduction in its number up to complete extinction in this territory. The main reason for the degradation of the grouping was the overgrowth of weakly fixed and semi-fixed sandy areas - a typical biotope for the species. The process of overgrowth is shown on the materials of the description of geobotanical sites, the projective cover of which significantly increased during the observation period. The nucleus of the intra-population group was composed of sedentary sexually mature individuals, and its stability was determined by attachment to the site of females that repeatedly met in the study area in successive seasons. Sedentary males and females disappeared from the territory at the same time. The experience of significant changes by the species grouping in the characteristic biotope for a lot of years was due to the influx of migrants passing through the studied territory. This mechanism is well known in mammals and insufficiently studied in reptiles. The flow of migrants mainly consisted of immature individuals, an age group with increased mobility, which usually serves the purpose of resettlement. The decrease in the influx of nomadic individuals, apparently related to the general decline in the number of species in the surrounding area, led, in the end, to the disappearance of the group. © Petrozavodsk State University |
Received on: 06 March 2020 Published on: 14 February 2021 | |
References
Lotiev K. Yu. Bathiev A. M. Degradation of the Turan herpetofaunal complex in the Terek sand massif (Eastern Ciscaucasia), Izvestiya vysshih uchebnyh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Estestvennye nauki. 2019. No.2. P. 115–128. DOI: 10.21685/2307-9150-2019-2-12
Mayhew W. W. Biology of the granite spring lizard, Sceloporus orcutti, Amer. Midl. Nat. 1963. Vol. 69, No. 2. P. 310–327. DOI: 10.2307/2422913
Naumov N. P. Animal ecology. M.: Vysshaya shkola, 1963. 618 p.
Naumov N. P. Interspecific and intraspecific relations in animals (mainly vertebrates), Zoologicheskiy zhurnal. 1956. T. 41. Vyp. 1. P. 74–89.
Polynova G. V. Bazhinova A. V. Grib E. V. Materials on the spatial structure of the population of Phrynocephalus guttatus guttatus in the semi-deserts of the Astrakhan region, Nazemnye pozvonochnye aridnyh ekosistem: Materialy mezhdunarodnoy konferencii, posvyaschennoy pamyati N. A. Zarudnogo. Tashkent: CHINOR ENK, 2012. P. 260–264.
Polynova G. V. Bazhinova A. V. Taking into account the characteristics of activity in the evaluation of the Phrynocephalus guittatus guittatus population number, Zoologicheskiy zhurnal. 2012. T. 91. No. 11. P. 1411–1414.
Polynova G. V. Mishustin S. S. Polynova O. E. Reptiles' community dynamics in sandy semi-deserts of Astrakhan region, Izvestiya vysshih uchebnyh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Estestvennye nauki. 2019. No. 2. P. 150–163. DOI: 10.21685/2307-9150-2019-2-15
Polynova G. V. Mishustin S. S. Changes in the spatial structure of the population of the stepperunner Eremias arguta deserti (Gmelin, 1789) in the semi-deserts of the Astrakhan region, Principy ekologii. 2020. No. 2. P. 87–96. DOI: 10.15393/j1.art.2020.10303
Saraev F. A. Pestov M. V. On the cadastre of the reptiles in the region of the northern and north-eastern Caspian Sea, Gerpetologicheskie issledovaniya v Kazahstane i sopredel'nyh stranah: Sbornik nauchnyh statey, Pod red. T. N. Duysebaevoy. Almaty: ASBK – SOPK, 2010. P. 172–191.
Shilov I. A. Ecological and physiological bases of population relations in animals. M.: Izd-vo Moskovskogo universiteta, 1977. 263 p.
Tabachishin V. G. Zav'yalov E. V. Tabachishina E. I. Spatial distribution of Eremias arguta (Pallas, 1773) in north of its habitat in the Volga region, Sovremennaya gerpetologiya. 2006. T. 5/6. P. 117–124.
Tinkle D. W., Woodward D. W. Relative movements of lizards in natural populations as determined from receptive radii, Ecology. 1967. Vol. 48, No. 1. P. 166–168. DOI: 10.2307/1933431
Voronov A. G. Geobotanics. M.: Vysshaya shkola, 1973. 384 p.
© 2011 - 2024
Petrozavodsk State University
technical support - RCNIT
The editor-in-chief - Andrey Korosov
ecopri@petrsu.ru