Structural Organization and Specificity of Territorial Links among Birds of Inner Mountain and High-Mountain Dagestan

Abstract

Abstract—The results of our bird counts carried out in 1996–2017 in inner mountain and high-mountain Dagestan are analyzed. The bird specific composition, average population abundance, and ecological structure of the avifauna in two difficult-to-reach mountain areas of the republic are described for the first time. Using cluster analysis, it is established that the avifauna patterns of most of the key areas are not only similar but are also unique because of the high heterogeneity of these habitats and, correspondingly, the faunal differences formed in the mountains under insufficient (inner mountain province) and sufficient (high-mountain province) moisture. Specific features of the avifauna in the studied areas are assumed to be created not only by residential communities of typical mountain birds, but also by adapted populations of migratory birds of plains nesting in the mountains. Analysis of our collected material gives a clear view of the species diversity and territorial distribution of the birds as well as of the avifauna resources of the inner mountain and high-mountain Dagestan.