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Yermokhin M. V., Tabachishin V. G., Ivanov G. A. STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF THE SPAWNING ANURAN TAXOCENOSES IN FLOODPLAIN LAKES OF THE MEDVEDITSA RIVER VALLEY (SARATOV REGION). Current Studies in Herpetology, 2017, vol. 17, iss. , pp. 147-?. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18500/1814-6090-2017-16-3-4-147-156


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STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF THE SPAWNING ANURAN TAXOCENOSES IN FLOODPLAIN LAKES OF THE MEDVEDITSA RIVER VALLEY (SARATOV REGION)

Abstract

The structure of the spawning anuran taxocenoses in five floodplain lakes in the Medveditsa river valley in 2009 - 2016 was analyzed. Degradation of the populations of the three most numerous species and a decreased degree of dominance of the spadefoot toad were established. This degradation strongly affects the species with a longer distance of spawning migrations - the severity of the changes sequentially decreases in the row: Pelophylax ridibundus → Pelobates fuscus → Bombina bombina. The structural parameters in the lakes of Lebyazhye and Koblovo were stable. Against the background of low water availability and unstable hydrological regime of the lakes in the central floodplain, three periods characterizing the structure of spawning taxocenoses of amphibians were established, namely: that of a stable structure, that of a sharp dominance decrease and an increased equitability, and that with an increased variability of the basic parameters of the structure.

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