EFFICIENCY OF ECOSYSTEMS REHABILITATION IN THE FLOODED PEAT BOGS IN THE DUBNA FLOODPLAIN, ACCORDING TO THE ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMICS OF THE NESTING POPULATION OF THE COMMON CRANE (TALDOM URBAN DISTRICT, MOSCOW REGION)
Grinchenko O.S., Dulin A.V., Zöckler C., Tennhardt T., Mokiyevskiy N.V. Efficiency of Ecosystems Rehabilitation in the Flooded Peat Bogs in the Dubna Floodplain, According to the Analysis of the Dynamics of the Nesting Population of the Common Crane (Taldom Urban District, Moscow Region) // Ecosystems: ecology and dynamics. 2021. Vol. 5. No 2. P. 102-116. | Abstract | PDF | Reference |
Most of the bogs and peatlands of the Moscow Region have been fully transformed by agricultural activities that peaked in the 1920s-1980s. It heavily impacted the river valleys, where the river beds were regulated to ensure the discharge of surplus water from the drainage systems. Due to problems of degradation in the drained peat bogs and the adjacent territories affected by this drainage, rewetting and further ecological rehabilitation has been performed in this territory. This task is important for fire prevention in the reeds and peat bogs, preventing further release of greenhouse gases from drained peat bogs and the conservation of biodiversity especially in the protected areas and the surrounding drained peat bogs that are subjects to increased carbon release and fires.
Our studies were carried out in the Taldom Urban District of the Moscow Region from 2001-2020 in the Dubna bog massif. During this period the projects to keep water in the disturbed areas of the Dubna floodplain were implemented there. The projects were financed by the Manfred Hermsen Foundation (Germany).
The Common Crane is one of the indicator species of the state of wetland ecosystems, because it nests depends on wet habitat conditions. During 2020 in the Dubna floodplain we registered an increase in the number of its breeding population due to the climate changes that cause an increased bogging in the valley territories and the growth and stabilization of the free-flow groundwater level.
The occurrences of territorial pairs of the Common Crane during their nesting period and roosting stations during the autumn in flooded areas of the floodplain bogs, with no previous records, indicates that building of the dams to keep water in the oxbow lakes of the Dubna River was an effective measure.
By studying the distribution of Common Crane’s territorial pairs throughout the wetland landscapes, we can draw conclusions about environmental changes and predict changes in the species composition of animal population to solve management problems of wetland ecosystems for preservation of their biodiversity.
Keywords: peat bogs flooding, common crane, floodplain ecosystems, Dubna River, “Crane Land” Nature Reserve, biodiversity indicator species.
DOI: 10.24411/2542-2006-2021-10086