Changes in the rodent fauna (Mammalia, Glires) of the region of the Ukrainian Carpathians during the XIX–XXI centuries

• Published in: Geo&Bio
• Main Author: Z. Barkaszi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Ukrainian
• Published: National Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine 2018
• Subjects: fauna dynamics; expansion; introduction; invasive species; rodents; carpathians; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Geology; QE1-996.5; Lepus timidus; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15407/gb.2018.16.048; https://doaj.org/article/746a53af7323407480e22bada7d57438

The paper is devoted to the analysis of historical changes in the rodent fauna (super-order Glires) of the region of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The period from the 19th to the early 21st century is considered. Data on natural and artificial species dynamics due to extinction, introduc-tion, re-introduction, invasion, and expansion are generalized. Brief characteristics of species in-volved into these events are given. It was clarified that new species appeared in the region in the result of expansion (Castor fiber, Mus spicilecus) and introduction (Ondatra zibethicus), while re-introduction of glacial relicts (Lepus timidus, Marmota marmota), which disappeared during the 19th century, as well as introduction of Oryctolagus cuniculus and Myocastor coypus were unsuc-cessful. In addition, two species vanished from the composition of the local fauna: the rare Eliomys quercinus and the ancient commensal Rattus rattus. A reconstructed checklist of the rodent fauna as of the early 20th century is presented and used in calculations of indices of fauna changes, check-lists’ ambiguousness, and of fauna rotation for a century. It was shown that quantitative changes of the local fauna for the last century are nonessential (the index of fauna rotation is 10.9 %) because the number of lost species was compensated by expansion and introduction.