SPECIES COMPOSITION AND TERRITORIAL DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN PIEDMONT DAGESTAN

Aim. The paper summarizes the data on bird counts carried out in 1995–2018 in Piedmont Dagestan. Information on the following points was obtained for the first time: composition of bird species, their average abundance, residence status, faunal‐genetic structure, ecological pattern of the avifauna, as well as the features of territorial distribution of birds in Piedmont Dagestan.Methods. Bird counts were carried out on routes without limiting the transect width, with further separate recalculation per area according to the average detection ranges for groups. The faunal‐genetic structure was determined using a standard procedure. The ecological classification is based on the original differentiation of birds according to their occurrence in preferred habitats. The obtained data were processed using cluster, factor and correlation analyses.Results. Of 127 bird species recorded in Piedmont Dagestan, widespread representatives of European, European‐Chinese, Mediterranean, as well as Mongolian fauna predominate, which is associated with the availability of suitable habitats. In the course of cluster analysis, we identified three groups of key areas, reflecting the abundance‐based similarities between bird populations in the studied area. The constructed structural graph illustrates the spatial‐typological organization of the bird population in Piedmont Dagestan. It is established that the development of bird communities in the compared key areas has not only a similar but also distinctive ecological pattern, formed under the influence of such environmental factors as high‐altitude gradient, availability of warmth and water, forest area, rocky outcrops, as well as open areas and man‐made landscapes.Conclusion. The specific ecological pattern of the avifauna in Piedmont Dagestan was developed due to the contribution of both adapted populations of migratory birds of the plains, nesting in the foothills, and to that of the resident communities of typically mountain birds, whose qualitative and quantitative composition changes under the integrated influence of environmental regulatory factors