Protection of Rodents in the Forest–Steppe of the European Part of Russia

The forest–steppe is an ecotone biome that has been greatly transformed by humans. Rodents are an important component of most forest–steppe biotopes. This group of mammals is distinguished by high species diversity and its representatives occupy many ecological niches. Rodents are also important to humans due to their impacts on agriculture, health, and other areas of life. The human impact on rodents is also multifaceted and complex, especially in the most heavily modified areas. In Russia, this includes the European part of the forest–steppe zone. The protection of rodents in the forest–steppe of European Russia, its effectiveness, and especially its current state require analysis. The protection of rodent species in this article is considered through the Red Books of the federal and regional levels, as well as through an analysis of the location of specially protected natural areas and the composition of their rodent fauna. Data on protected species and their status were extracted from the regional Red Books. The specially protected natural areas under consideration are briefly characterized. The participation of each rodent species in the fauna of these territories was analyzed. A map of the location of the areas under discussion and a table of the presence of rodent species in them have been compiled. The forest–steppe of European Russia is represented by three biomes: Dnieper–Volga, Zavolzhsky, and Crimean–Caucasian, in which 45 species of rodents were recorded, of which 35 are in the Dnieper–Volga biome, 27 in the Zavolzhsky, 27 in the Caucasian part of the Crimean–Caucasian biome, and 19 in the Crimean part of the Crimean–Caucasian biome. These biomes are located within 21 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. At the regional level, in the forest–steppe of European Russia, from 2 (Bashkortostan, Tula oblast) to 12 species of rodents (Chuvashia) are protected. There are 24 species that are protected in at least one region. One species is protected at the federal level, the speckled ground squirrel. In the forest–steppe of the European part of Russia there are 14 specially protected natural areas federal level: 7 nature reserves, 4 federal reserves, and 3 national parks, of which 9 have data on the species composition of rodents. A total of 33 species of rodents have been recorded in federal reserves. On each specially protected area from 11 (Voroninsky Reserve) to 26 (Belogorye) species were noted.