Transactions
of the Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station

Branta Cover Language of the article: Russian Cite: Tsvelykh, A. N. (2015). Avifauna of the oldest artificial Shatilov's wood in the Steppe Crimea and its historical changes. Branta: Transactions of the Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station, 18, 31-39 Keywords: avifauna, planted forest, 19th -20th centuries, distribution, steppe zone, Crimea Views: 887 Branta copyright Branta license

Branta Issues > Issue №18 (2015)

Branta: Transactions of the Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station, 31-39

Avifauna of the oldest artificial Shatilov's wood in the Steppe Crimea and its historical changes

A. N. Tsvelykh

These ornithological studies were carried out in 2008-2010 in Shatilov's wood, an artificial insular forest planted in the middle of the 19th century in a very arid north-eastern part of the Crimea. Using the data of the 19th and 20th centuries, the avifauna changes were analysed for the whole period of the wood existence. In the 19th century the Shatilov's wood fauna was subjected to change at the expense of birds from neighbouring steppes, intrazonal habitats, and some forest species from the Mountain Crimea. During the 20th century the Shatilov's wood fauna was transformed mainly because of the invasion of bird species from forest areas of the Mountain Crimea. The Parus major and Sylvia atricapilla appeared there in the early 20th century, while Fringilla coelebs, Chloris chloris, Acanthis cannabina, Parus caeruleus, Luscinia megarhynchos, Caprimulgus europaeus, Cuculus canorus  had inhabited the wood only by the mid 20th century. In the second half of the 20th century the Shatilov's wood fauna continued to change due to the forest species invaded from the Mountain Crimea and the adventive species which gradually expanded their range in the steppe zone by occupying areas of tree plantations, namely Asio otus, Columba palumbus, Streptopelia decaocto, Dendrocopos syriacus, Hippolais icterina, Coccothraustes coccothraustes.

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