The Role of Anthropogenic and Natural Factors in Changes in Mesophilic Rodent Distribution in Steppes between the Ural and Volga Rivers

摘要

A rapid increase in the average annual temperature (mainly due to rise in temperature during the cold season) and total annual precipitation is ohserved against the background of climate warming in the Northern Hemisphere as a whole and in the steppe zone between the Ural and Volga Rivers in particular. This has resulted in a change in many natural processes. As the dynamics of climate parameters is ostensibly regional in character, it is expedient to describe these changes in the course of regional studies. We demonstrate this phenomenon using the change in the distribution of mesophilic rodents in steppes of Zavolzh'ye as an example. We also show the role of flood-lands of steppe rivers, dammed beds of hollows and of roadside, field-sheltering, and other forest belts in provision for expansion processes.