DYNAMICS OF THE NUMBER OF THE STEPPER SNAKE VIPERA RENARDI IN THE SOUTH OF THE LEFT BANK OF UKRAINE

Z. V. Selyunina, О. Е. Markautsan, S. V. Dubov

Abstract

The steppe viper (Vipera renardi (= ursinii) Christoph, 1861) is a background species of snakes in the steppe zone of southern left-bank Ukraine. This species is a figurant in the Red Book of Ukraine and is protected in accordance with the Bern Convention. According to the IUCN Red List, Vipera renardi has a Vulnerable species (VU) status, which is assigned to species that are under threat of becoming endangered. Anthropogenic transformation, namely, plowing, afforestation, irrigated agriculture, fires, synanthropization, etc., lead to the fact that in the Black Sea steppe, in the Lower Dnieper arenas of steppe, the viper disappears. This species has been preserved in the protected areas of the region and in the less transformed areas of the coastal and sandy steppe. The study area includes the forest-steppe areas of the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve (BSBR) and the territory of the “Svyatoslav’s Biloberezhzhya” National Nature Park (NNP BS) on the Kinburn Peninsula, the Black Sea areas and the islands of Tendrivska and Yahorlytska Bays, which are part of the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve.
The dynamics of the number of steppe vipers also depends on abiotic factors too. In wetter years and the next 1-2 years, the number of vipers in the region decreases. In dry years, the number of steppe vipers increases. In the last 20 years, according to the results of long-term monitoring, the dynamics of the steppe viper population has a negative trend both in the Black Sea steppe and in the arenas of the Lower Dnieper.The cyclic dynamics of the steppe viper in our region is 3-5 years, the highest amplitude is 1.4 units, the maximum values of the relative abundance over the past 20 years have decreased from 1.5 to 0.4 ind./km, the minimum - from 0.3 to 0,1 ind./km. To preserve the population of this species in the south of the left-bank Ukraine, it is necessary to increase the areas with limited use of natural resources, namely, with the prohibition of plowing, prevention of excessive grazing and exploitation of sand deposits. In
addition, it is required to strengthen environmental education and propaganda among the local population about the need to preserve the steppe viper in natural conditions and change the hypertrophied thought about the danger of this snake. The extensive network of protected areas in the region: reserves, national nature parks, regional landscape parks, protected tracts, etc., contributes to the conservation of this species.