EFFECT OF FOREST COVERAGE ON THE DYNAMICS OF ELK POPULATION IN SOME AREAS OF KUZBASS

Forests are a unique environmental phenomenon, since their space serves as the fundamental basis for the life of an innumerable number of biological species. Significant integral limited territories of forests are important ecosystems of our planet and have a significant impact on climate and biological processes. Mixed or single-breed, mountain or plain, dense or well-groomed, the forest as a self-regulating system with its life cycle is directly related to the natural balance. Currently, fragmentation, degradation and loss of natural habitats of animals are recognized as serious threats to the conservation of wildlife around the world. First of all, these changes are anthropogenic in nature and directly affect forests as a sphere of existence of the animal world. This issue is updated in the works of modern domestic and foreign scientists. Fragmentation, deterioration, and destruction of natural animal habitats are major threats to global wildlife conservation. The article introduces some results of monitoring the existing data on the layout chart, exportation, and protection of hunting grounds on the territory of the Kemerovo region (Kuzbass). The data were provided by the Kemerovo Regional Department of Wildlife Protection. The article focuses on the population of large game species, e.g. elks. The research covered two municipalities, namely Krapivinsky and Topkinsky municipal districts. The study proved that monitoring data analysis can provide reliable initial assessment of the changes that happen to the hunting grounds and the local biodiversity as a result of natural and man-induced processes. A comparative analysis of game population in several economic zones of the Kemerovo region revealed a strong connection between the uneven growth and / or decrease in the animal population on the hunting grounds and the level of forest coverage. Based on the study of monitoring data, analysis of comparative material on the number of hunting species in different economic zones of the Kemerovo region revealed the existence of natural connections between uneven growth and/or reducing the number of animals on the hunting grounds, and’s forest coverage rate. The study confirms and complements the research of Russian and foreign researchers on the complex influence of anthropogenic and biological factors on changes in the parameters of the population of hunting species (elk). The obtained results contribute to modern research on the mechanisms of population regulation. To improve the efficiency of hunting resources use, it is necessary to conduct on-farm management with the introduction of new methods of land quality assessment based on forest management materials in geoinformation systems. These points fit into the prospects of our further research.