Berkut. Vol. 8.
Is. 2. 1999. P. 198-202.
Using of the rare
birds cadaster for monitoring
of ecosystems in North Belarus
V.V. Ivanovsky,
V.V. Kuzmenko, V.Ya. Kuzmenko
Использование кадастра редких
птиц для мониторинга экосистем Северной Беларуси. - В.В. Ивановский, В.В.
Кузьменко, В.Я. Кузьменко. - Беркут. 8 (2). 1999. - На основе кадастровой оценки 57 регионально
редких видов птиц Белорусского Поозерья, занесенных в Красную книгу Республики
Беларусь, предлагаются виды-индикаторы для осуществления мониторинга
водно-болотных и лесных экосистем.
Abstract. On the base of cadaster estimation of 57
regional rare bird species of the Belarussian Lake Area (northern part of the
country) the indicator species for monitoring wetland and forest ecosystems are
proposed.
Key words: the Belarussian Lake Area, cadaster, rare
species, monitoring, bioindicator.
Address: Vitebsk State University, 210036 Vitebsk, Belarus.
One of the most important
problems in modern nature conservation strategy is the preservation of rare and
endangered species, which usually are connected with less transformed habitats
and being peculiar indicators of habitat status. Rare bird species have high
sensitivity to the environmental changes, they are selective to different kinds
of changes.
Materials and methods
Studies of
landscape distribution and population dynamics of rare and endangered bird
species in Northern Belarus (The Belarussian Lake Area) were initiated in
1976. Data are collected mainly by means of field expeditions in breeding
season. Conventional principles and approaches to cadaster estimate of bird fauna
and populations were used.
The most
perspective habitats for rare species, e. g. raised bogs, large forest tracts,
swamped flood-lands, lake groups, were inspected in the first instance; aerial
surveys were used regularly. Data on observations and nest inspections were
inputted into unified cards and stored in the specialised database. Questionnaires
among local game and forest managers were used widely.
Results and discussion
At the moment (up
to September 1999) database contains
967 records on 57 rare bird species (Table). Observations, conducted at the
recorded localities, include registration of breeding phenology, estimates of
changes in numbers and productivity, studies of feeding habits and new
behavioural aspects in relation to different 1evel of human activities, general
monitoring.
Estimation of numbers and status of rare bird species in the Belarussian
Lake Area
Оценка численности и
статус редких видов птиц в Белорусском Поозерье
Category in Category Total Part of population of
Species the Red Book of IUCN numbers, the Lake region from
of
Belarus pairs population of Belarus
(Nikiforov
et al., 1997)
Gavia arctica I V 20-30 95,0
Podiceps grisegena III R 15-30 30,0
P. auritus IV K 5-10 75,0
Tachybaptus ruficollis II R 50-100 4,2
Botaurus stellaris II R 300-400 33,6
Ixobrychus minutus II V 30-50 8,3
Ciconia nigra III R 250-300 23,0
Cygnus olor IV NT 120-130 14,4
Anas penelope IV I 0-20 100,0
Anas acuta II V 10-20 13,3
Bucephala clangula III R 400-600 42,8
Mergus merganser II V 30-40 80,0
Haliaeetus albicilla I V 30-35 38.9
Circaetus gallicus I R 80-100 16,4
Otus scops IV K 4-5 15,0
Aquila pomarina III NT 1300-1600 44,6
A. clanga I I 5-10 40,0
A. chrysaetos I V 20-25 50,0
Pandion haliaetus I V 100-120 73,3
Falco tinnunculus II R 400-600 29,4
F. vespertinus II E 5-10 20,0
F. columbarius III V 250-300 84,6
F. subbuteo III R 800-900 29,3
F. peregrinus I E 0-2? 100,0?
Lagopus lagopus I E 200-250 90,6
Porzana parva IV NT 330-500 16,6
Grus grus II R 180-230 15,4
Haematopus ostralegus III R 25-30 10,0
Pluvialis apricaria III R 200-250 95,0
Calidris alpina III I 0-10 100,0
Lymnocryptes minimus IV K 150-180 100,0
Numenius phaeopus III R 200-250 100,0
N. arquata II R 300-350 29,2
Xenus cinereus III R 0-5 6,3
Tringa nebularia III R 150-200 80,0
Larus minutus II R 900-1000 50,0
Larus argentatus III R 60-70 35,0
Sterna albifrons II R 5-20 2,0
Bubo bubo I V 40-60 15,0
Glaucidium passerinum IV K 300-400 20,0
Athene noctua IV V 100-120 12,0
Strix uralensis III R 700-1000 55,6
S. nebulosa I V 40-50 50,0
Asio flammeus II V 100-300 20,0
Aegolius funereus III R 700-800 16,0
Alcedo atthis III R 250-400 6,7
Merops apiaster I V 0-5 8,3
Coracias garrulus II E 60-80 8,9
Picus viridis III R 100-120 2,4
Picoides tridactylus III NT 250-300 6,0
Cinclus cinclus IV R 0-10? 100,0?
Luscinia svecica III R 600-800 8,0
Locustella luscinioides IV NT 150-800 8,0
Remiz pendulinus III R 100-120 4,0
Lanius excubitor III R 250-300 25,0
Fringilla montifringilla III K 40-50 90,0
Emberiza hortulana III R 150-300 7,5
Integrated scheme
(Fig.) of rare breeding bird species distribution in the Belarussian Lake Area
reveals that the main habitats, where their concentration occurs, are large
raised bog tracts and barely transformed forest-lake complexes (I – VIII).
Distribution of
rare bird species in the Belarussian Lake Area.
Распространение редких видов птиц в Белорусском
Поозерье.
I22 –
number of plot with number of rare bird species
номер участка с числом редких видов.
Plot I includes
high productive Osveyskoe Lake (53 km2), large forest tracts and
different forest types. Cores of the plots II and III represented by large
raised bog tracts Obol (49 km2) and Elnya (145 km2) respectively.
Fourth area of the concentration of rare and endangered bird species is the
Braslav Lake Group together with neighbouring forests, it
nearly coincides with recently established National Park.
These
concentration centres revealed during the cadaster estimate as well as existed
protected areas would serve as model objects for long term monitoring, as
comparative richness of rare species indicates relative ecological stability of
these areas. If such monitoring will reveal clear changes in the species
richness, it will indicate serious environmental transformation of the areas
because in the case of condition stability only small changes in the bird fauna
may occur even for a long period of time.
More precise
forecasting needs the choice of the species, which respond to the changes in
particular habitat most finely. Rare and vulnerable species are traditionally
considered as good objects for the habitat monitoring, especially stenobiont
species and representatives of the highest trophic levels, e. g. raptors.
Long-term studies
of the raised bog birds in the Belarussian Lake Area make us sure that the most
perspective indicator species for this habitat are characteristic stenobiont
bog species. They breed in Belarus only in raised bogs and their presence,
absence and population changes may be used as good estimators of the bog
habitat status. Six species may be mentioned as indicator species for raised
bogs, namely Golden Eagle (Aquila
chrysaetos), Peregrine (Falco peregrinus),
Willow Grouse (Lagopus lagopus),
Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria),
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) and
Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor).
All of them are included into national Red Data Book, their density varies
between 0,003 (Peregrine) to 55 (Whimbrel, Golden Plover) pair/km2.
Moreover, every
mentioned species, being indicator species in general, reacts on some specific
factors reflecting bog status. Numbers of Whimbre1 and Golden Plover reflect
mainly the degree of water supply, they prefer to breed in areas with complex
microrelief and numerous pools. Long-term dynamics of their number shows that
they are usually much more abundant during wet springs than during dry ones.
So, data on Whimbrel and Golden Plover density may indicate water regime of
the bog.
Density of Willow
Grouse (mean is 0,1 pairs/km2) is very stable in the intact bog
tracts, but it decreased significantly after the initiation of drainage work
and in the bogs actively visited by humans. Radical alternation of the bog and
disturbance are the key factors for this species.
The level of
disturbance is the key factor for Golden Eagle too. However, as main its prey
consists of different wetland birds affected mainly by other factors, status
of Golden Eagle population depends on different factors affected raised bogs.
Bird species
which prefer raised bogs, but do not breed at the bogs exclusively, e. g. Black
throated Diver (Gavia arctica),
Common Crane (Grus grus), Curlew (Numenius arquata), Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Merlin (Falco columbarius), Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gal1icus), have high indicator
value too. Their reactions to the changes of bog habitats are less definite
than in previous species group. For example, regular breeding of Black-throated
Diver and Common Crane, establishment and growth or raised bog breeding
populations of Goldeneye (Bucephala
clangula), some gull and wader species may reflect poor breeding conditions
in neighbouring habitats (i. e. lowland mires, flood-land meadows) rather than
“purity” of raised bogs. Appearance of these species in raised bogs may be used
for monitoring of bird populations in other habitats. At the same time,
numerous bog species, e. g. pipits, ducks, are less dependent on specific
habitat conditions, do not determine peculiarities of the bog avian communities
and cannot be used as useful indicators.
Rare and
stenobiont species may be used as bioindicators in other habitats too.
Following species may be mentioned as useful potential indicators for forest
communities – Black Stork (Ciconia nigra),
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla),
Spotted Eagles (Aquila pomarina and A. clanga), Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) and other rare owls, rare
woodpecker species, etc. For waterbodies – Black-throated Diver, Bittern (Botaurus stellaris), Goosanger (Mergus merganser), Dipper (Cinclus cinclus), etc. Of course, this
selection does not exclude the use of more common species as bioindicators,
especially for monitoring of human transformed habitats.
These approaches
were used in the studies of changes in avian communities of raised bog during last two decades (Ivanovsky, Kuzmenko,
1989) and in raptor monitoring (Tishechkin, Ivanovsky, 1992; Ivanovsky, Tishechkin,
1993).
Acknowledgements
We are thankful to V.P. Biryurov, V.P. Kozlov, A.M. Dorofeev
and A.V. Naumchik for providing their own data and friendly advice.
References
Ivanovsky V.V., Kuzmenko V.Y. (1989): Changes of the composition of the
bird fauna in the bogs of the Pooserye region in Belorusian SSR over the 1ast
10 -15 years. - Commun. Baltic Comission Study Bird Migr. 20: 31-35. (in
Russian).
Ivanovsky V.V., Tishechkin
A.K. (1993): Monitoring of Lesser-Spotted Eagle (Aqulia pomarina) in Belorussia. - The Ring. 15: 267-273.
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V., Gritschik V. V., Tishechkin A.K. (1997): Birds of Belarus on the edge of
XXI century: status, numbers, distribution. Minsk: N. A. Koroliov. 1-188. (in
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