UDC

595.799:591.9(470.13)

Authors

Filippov Nikolay Ilyich
Institute of Biology, Komi Science Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Syktyvkar, Russia)
е-mail: philippovni@mail.ru
Dolgin Modest Mikhailovich
Institute of Biology, Komi Science Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Syktyvkar, Russia)
е-mail: mdolgin@ib.komisc.ru

Abstract

We have studied key habitats of bumblebees: coniferous and deciduous forests, marshes, floodplain meadows and outcrops of the two largest wildlife reserves “Pizhemsky” and “Belaya Kedva”, located within the middle part of the Timan Ridge. The research into the species diversity and biotopical distribution of bumblebees showed that bumblebee fauna in protected areas is quite diverse and varies slightly. The “Pizhemsky” reserve has 15 species recorder while the “Belaya Kedva” reserve – 14. The greatest diversity was found on floodplain meadows (14 and 13 species), in deciduous forests (12 and 9) and on outcrops (10 and 7 species), respectively. The majority of the studied habitats have one to three dominant species. Having analyzed the graphs of rank distribution we found that they are similar to logarithmic and lognormal models. This can be explained by the presence of dominant and subdominant species and indicates whether the little studied ecosystems have been disturbed. Two out of the four bumblebee species listed in the Red Book of the Komi Republic and in Supplement 3 to the Red Book of the Russian Federation inhabit the reserves under study: Bombus (Th.) schrencki and Bombus (Bo. s. str.) sporadicus. This fact proves the system of protected areas to be efficient at preserving rare and endangered animal species.

Keywords

bumblebee species diversity, protected areas, middle part of the Timan Ridge

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