SPREADING AND BIOTOPIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE DWARF SNAKE (EIRENIS MODESTUS) IN DAGESTAN 

Mazanaeva Lyudmila Feyzulaevna, Candidate of biological sciences, associate professor, head of sub-department of zoology and physiology, Dagestan State University (43А Gadzhiyeva street, Makhachkala, Russia), E-mail: mazanaev@mail.ru
Askenderov Azim Daniyalovich, Candidate of biological sciences, senior lecturer, sub-department of zoology and
physiology, Dagestan State University (43А Gadzhiyeva street, Makhachkala, Russia); researcher, laboratory of animal ecology, Caspian Institute of Biological Resources of the Dagestan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (45 M. Gadzhiyeva street, Makhachkala, Russia), E-mail: askenderov@mail.ru
Ismailova Zul'fiya Sultanovna, Candidate of biological sciences, senior lecturer, sub-department of zoology and physiology, Dagestan State University (43А Gadzhiyeva street, Makhachkala, Russia), E-mail: ismailovazs@mail.ru 

598.115.31 

DOI

10.21685/2307-9150-2019-3-10 

Background. The habitat of Eirenis modestus (Martin, 1838) covers a vast territory from the islands of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas in the west to Eastern Turkey, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Western Iran, and Eastern Transcaucasia in the east. In the territory of the Russian Federation, it occurs in isolation from the main part of the range in the mountainous regions of Dagestan. The information on the distribution of E. modestus in the published literature of the last decades is insufficient and limited only to the listing of items of its finds in the foothill and mountainous areas without habitat characteristics. In this connection, the purpose of the work was to study the distribution and biotopic distribution of E. modestus in Dagestan, as well as to map the range.
Materials and methods. The collection of material was carried out in the springsummer period 2005–2018 in the foothills and mountainous regions of Dagestan by generally accepted methods of studying serpents in vivo. Species affiliation was determined by external morphological features. The distribution information obtained was plotted on a map using Qgis2.18. Systematization of the obtained information on the biotopic distribution was performed using the scheme of natural zones proposed by A. I. Gurlev and the maps of vegetation of Dagestan L. N. Chilikina and E. V. Schiffers.
Results. New data on the distribution of E. modestus in 26 new points in Extramountain (foothill), Intermountain and Alpine (highmountain) regions of Dagestan were obtained, its dwelling in 12 out of 15 known localities according to literature data was confirmed. The altitude distribution was studied. Area mapping was carried out and its habitat was determined. The characteristic of habitats in all points of spotting was given.
Conclusions. In Dagestan, E. modestus is distributed in the arid lower foothills of the Extramountain region and in the semiarid hollows of the Intermountain and Highmountain regions in the altitude range of 60–1900 meters above sea level. The total area of the regional range is about 163 100 hectares, which is 5,8 % of the area of mountainous Dagestan and 3,2 % of the total area of the entire territory of the republic. Its habitats are confined to arid landscapes with rocky outcrops, scree and clay slopes with arid light forests, xerophytic mountain steppes, steppe meadows and upland xerophytes, through the northern slopes it penetrates into birchpine forests. 

Key words

Eirenis modestus, distribution, mapping of habitat, habitat, mountain Dagestan 

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