| Abstract |
Background. Testudo graeca is common in North Africa, Southern Europe, South-West Asia and the Caucasus. As a species with steadily decreasing numbers and range, it is included in the Red Books of the Russian Federation, the Chechen Republic, Krasnodar region, and the Republic of Dagestan. In the middle of the 20th century it was widespread on the Primorsky lowland and in the foothills of Dagestan. Due to the development of the Primorsky lowland has disappeared in a large part of its territory. In recent years there has been an increasing development of the lower foothills, where the main habitats are located in the republic. The aim of the work is to study the distribution of T. graeca in the foothills, to determine the relative density of populations, the approximate area of preserved and degraded habitats, to make recommendations for the territorial protection of the species in this part of the range.
Materials and methods. Studies were conducted in 2010–2018 in the foothills of Dagestan. They studied the distribution and landscape association of biotopes, calculated the approximate area of habitats using the QGIS2.18 program, and determined their numbers. The habitats studied the terrain, determined the exposure of the slopes and described the type of vegetation.
Results. The turtle is common in the lower foothills at altitudes from 150 to 700 m above sea level. The total area of its turtle range here is more than 100 000 hectares, of which 71 910 hectares of preserved and partially degraded habitats, anthropogenically transformed – 27 580 hectares. The average density in the foothills is 0,2 samples per hectare, which is significantly lower than previously reported in the literature. The most optimal habitats have been preserved in the territory of the “Shurdere” locality, in the vicinity of the village of Shalasi and the Sarykum dune.
Conclusions. To preserve its populations T. graeca, it is necessary to create new protected areas, incorporating preserved habitats in the “Shurdere” area and in the Kayakentsky district, expanding the borders of the existing federal specially protected natural areas – the “Dagestan reserve” and the “Samursky”.
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