UDC 598.241; 574.91

Ilyashenko E.I., Kondrakova K.D., Mudrik E.A., Wikelski M., Cao Lei, Ilyashenko V.Yu. FEATURES OF THE DEMOISELLE CRANES’ USING THE EUROPEAN PART OF THEIR RANGE IN SPRING-SUMMER AND THE PRE-MIGRATORY PERIOD // Arid Ecosystems. 2024. Vol. 30. № 2 (99). P. 81-90. | PDF

Remote tracking revealed that the Yeruslan and Maly Uzen Interfluve and the Manych Basin, located 600-800 km from each other, serve as the most important spring-summer staying and key trophic areas for the Caspian, Volga-Ural and Cis-Ural subpopulations of the demoiselle cranes (Anthropoides virgo, Linneaus 1758) which breed from the Central Ciscaucasia to Cis-Urals. During both spring-summer and trophic stage of their migration, cranes of the Caspian subpopulation stay only in the Manych Basin. Crane families from the Trans-Volga Region of the Volga-Ural subpopulation use both key territories during the trophic stage, while families from Western Kazakhstan spend most of it in the interfluve of Yeruslan and Maly Uzen rivers, moving out to the Manych Basin before the start of the transit stage of their autumn migration. The total area of the territory used by demoiselle cranes in the Yeruslan and Maly Uzen Interfluve and the Manych Basin is 6948.6 km2 and 29457.2 km2, respectively. In the Manych Basin, cranes of the Volga-Ural subpopulation use a larger territory unlike the Caspian subpopulation which mostly adheres to the Manych coastal zone. Cranes nesting in the Manych Basin are the first to begin the transit stage of migration, their departure being the most extended one, while cranes of the Volga-Ural subpopulation leave much later, but faster.

Keywords: Demoiselle Crane, trophic stage of migration, key trophic areas, remote tracking.

Funding. This work was funded by the project No. 17-04-01287 of the Russian Foundation for
Basic Research “Population-Genetic Structure of the Demoiselle Cranes and White-Naped Cranes: Geographic Distribution of Their Variability and Differentiation Levels by Nuclear and
Mitochondrial Markers” as part of the Joint CAS-MPG Research Project, grant No. HZXM20225001MI, as well as the “Remote Monitoring of South Russian Populations of the Demoiselle Cranes, a Flag Species for the Conservation of Biodiversity of the Russian Steppes” project of the Russian Geographical Society, and as part of the topic (state registry No. АААА-А18-118042490055-7) of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Fundamental Problems of Wildlife Protection and Rational Use of Bioresources”.

DOI: 10.24412/1993-3916-2024-2-81-90
EDN: FKNWLH