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Common Shrew (Sorex araneus, Eulipotyphla) Population and the Food Supply of Its Habitats in Ecologically Contrasting Environments

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Abstract

Studies in the fir‒spruce forests of the Middle Urals, in habitats with varying degrees of transformation by natural disasters (windfalls and fires), have shown that the abundance and dynamics of invertebrate communities determine the food supply of shrew habitats, one of the most important microhabitat characteristics. The indicator of food supply reflects the state of the foraging base of the common shrew and is a stable biotopic characteristic, the stability of which is maintained due to the redistribution of the abundance of different taxonomic groups of soil mesofauna in the course of their long-term dynamics. The abundance of the common shrew was not related to the food supply of the habitats of the current year, but depended on the food supply of the previous year, and this dependence was most pronounced in strongly disturbed habitats.

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Funding

This work was carried out under the government contract of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Visim State Biosphere Nature Reserve, as well as with partial support from the Comprehensive Program of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (no. 18-4-4-28).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. 8 Marta 202, 620144, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    L. E. Lukyanova & Yu. V. Gorodilova

  2. Visim State Biosphere Nature Reserve, ul. Stepana Razina 23, 624140, Kirovgrad, Sverdlovsk oblast, Russia

    N. L. Ukhova & O. V. Ukhova

Authors
  1. L. E. Lukyanova
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  2. N. L. Ukhova
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  3. O. V. Ukhova
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  4. Yu. V. Gorodilova
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Correspondence to L. E. Lukyanova.

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Translated by N. Smolina

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Lukyanova, L.E., Ukhova, N.L., Ukhova, O.V. et al. Common Shrew (Sorex araneus, Eulipotyphla) Population and the Food Supply of Its Habitats in Ecologically Contrasting Environments. Russ J Ecol 52, 316–328 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S106741362104007X

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