ECOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE AVIFAUNA OF THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA

The results of the ecological structure analysis of the Crimean avifauna showed that limnophiles (42.6 %) and dendrophiles (34.2 %) predominate in the general spectrum, campophiles inhabiting zonal landscapes and sclerophiles inhabiting intrazonal biotopes account for 11.6 % and 11.0 %, respectively. There is a disproportion in the distribution of dendrophiles – 97.2 % of the ecological group is found in the steppe zone, while in the Mountainous Crimea – 86.2 %, including in the mountain-forest belt – 78.9 %. Sclerophyllous species are evenly distributed throughout the peninsula: in the foothills – 97.1 % of the ecological group composition, in the steppe zone – 91.4 %, while the majority of limnophiles (99.3 %) and campophiles (94.6 %) are recorded in the Plain Crimea. Among the breeding species, limnophiles predominate (38.1 % of the phenological group), accounting for 55.1 % of all hydrophilic birds in the region. The species diversity of dendrophiles is naturally greater (49.3 %) in the Mountainous Crimea, while in the steppe zone this ecological group accounts for 27.4 %. The migration complex of birds of Crimea is distinguished not only in the species diversity (252 species), but also in the different phenological status of species included in it. Most of the migrants belong to limnophiles (48.8 %) and dendrophiles (31.7 %), which are concentrated on the plain. The wintering complex of birds of the peninsula is characterized by the lowest indicators of species abundance in a number of phenological periods (167 species). The main areas of bird concentration are located in the Plain Crimea and the foothills (86.8 % of the total number of species of the phenological group). In the mountain-forest belt, the complex consists of only a third of wintering species, most of which are represented by denrophiles.

birds, fauna, ecological structure, Crimea