Steppe rodents at the edge of their range: A case study of Spalax microphthalmus in the north of Ukraine

Abstract

Based on results obtained during 2000–2018 by field research, polls of colleagues, and OSINT analysis, features of distribution of the greater mole rat Spalax microphthalmus in the eastern forest steppe of Ukraine were considered. The studied part of the species’ range is unique and represents the northern range edge of the entire Spalacidae family and of European steppe faunal assemblages in general. In total, data on 146 record localities were amassed, including 13 localities in the fragmented and 133 in the continuous part of the range. The offshoots of the Central Russian Upland in the valley of the Psel river (east of Sumy Oblast) are the sites with the highest density of settlements, while the species’ type biotopes are steppe balka slopes. The abundance of the greater mole rat decreased from the east to the west, and its colonies are the most fragmented along the Dnipro River. The species occurs in steppe and meadow habitats of an area of at least 20–50 ha. Analysis of the current and former distribution of the greater mole rat revealed that the species range contracts from the west; earlier it was a common species in different regions of the Middle Dnipro Area (including Kyiv city), but the current range edge runs along the line connecting Buryn – Nedryhailiv – Lokhvytsia – Myrhorod – Hadiach – Zinkiv – Zaliznychne. Isolated settlements exist in adjacent territories, particularly in Ichnia Raion of Chernihiv Oblast, and Lubny, Khorol, and Kobeliaky Raions of Poltava Oblast. The study showed that the species’ range contracted by two times to 35,000 km2 for the last 100 years, which includes only 430,000 ha of suitable habitats (15% of the range), allowing the existence here of 86,000–215,000 individuals. In fact, the species remained only in habitats that have been minimally affected by arable farming and other forms of active agricultural use. Besides, the species shows a clear confinement to habitats located near human settlements such as untilled lands, pastures with moderate grazing, waste and neglected lands, which constitute a separate group of transformed and semi-natural habitats. Formally, this allows the greater mole rat to be considered as a synanthropic species, because its inhabited biotopes, beside the zone of offshoots of the Central Russian Upland, have remained only near villages and along roads. The species also has an important biocoenotic role due to its burrowing activity and as prey of predatory birds (e.g., of the long-legged buzzard and Eurasian eagle owl) and mammals. The feeding period of the offspring of these predators generally coincides with the aboveground activity of mole rats, which lasts during May–July with a peak in June. Aboveground activity is mainly related to the resettlement of mole rats to new sites and dispersal of the young, due to which they became victims of predators.

Short Communication: Proportion faunal assemblage of rodents in geoecological districts of Mordovia, Russia

“…Only in this area, the settlements of the blind mole rat S. microphthalmus are concentrated. Here its population has a vulnerable state, as in other parts of its range (Zagorodniuk et al 2018). The Eurasian harvest mouse has the highest number of locations in this district compared to other ones.…”

Multi-Locus Genetic Identification of a Newly Discovered Population Reveals a Deep Genetic Divergence in European Blind Mole Rats (Rodentia: Spalacidae: Nannospalax)

“…This model of allopatric speciation should be further studied in European blind mole rats of the genus Nannospalax as was undertaken in Israeli species of Nannospalax (Nevo 1982, Nevo et al 2001. In Spalax species, it is known that the Carpathians (Németh et al 2013b) and large rivers like Dnieper (Topachevskii 1969, Zagorodniuk et al 2018) play important role in the speciation processes. The long-awaited taxonomic revision of N. leucodon superspecies could serve as a firm base for evolutionary mechanisms to be revealed, which resulted in the extreme karyotypic variability of this group of European rodents.…”

Втрати Та Зміни Біорізноманіття В Зонах Тривалих Бойових Дій В Україні: Теріологічна Складова (2014—2022)

“…2) аналіз відкритих джерел (OSINT-аналіз), у тому числі соцмереж, публікацій в електронних мас-медіа; пошук інформації про рідкісні та індикаторні види, наприклад про сліпаків на півночі ареалу їх поширення [14];…”