Occurrence of the amphibians in the Volga, Don River basins and adjacent territories (Russia): research in 1996-2020

Abstract

Knowledge about the distribution of living organisms on Earth is very important for many areas of biological science and understanding of the surrounding world. However, much of the existing distributional data are scattered throughout a multitude of sources, such as taxonomic publications, checklists and natural history collections and often, bringing them together is difficult. A very successful attempt to solve this problem is the GBIF project, which allows a huge number of researchers to publish data in one place in a single standard. Our dataset represents a significant addition to the occurrences of amphibians in the Volga, Don riverine basins and adjacent territories. The dataset contains up-to-date information on amphibian occurrences in the Volga river basin and adjacent territories, located for the most part on the Russian plain of European Russia. The dataset is based on our own studies that were conducted in the years 1996-2020. The dataset consists of 5,030 incident records, all linked to geographical coordinates. A total of 13 amphibian species belonging to nine genera and six families have been registered within the studied territory, although the distribution of amphibian species in this region of Russia has not yet been fully studied. This is especially relevant with the spread of cryptic species that can only be identified using molecular genetic research methods. The main purpose of publishing a database is to make our data available in the global biodiversity system to a wide range of users. The data can be used by researchers, as well as helping the authorities to manage their territory more efficiently. All occurrences are published in GBIF for the first time. Most of the data are stored in field diaries and we would like to make it available to everyone by adding it in the global biodiversity database (GBIF).

An Overview of the Helminths of Moor Frog Rana arvalis Nilsson, 1842 (Amphibia: Anura) in the Volga Basin

“…(2) feeding on terrestrial invertebrates (oligochaetes, mollusks, insects, millipedes, arachnids); (3) visiting ponds and lakes during spawning; (4) "mating fasting". The range of R. arvalis in the Volga basin is extensive and the habitats are extremely diverse [126].…”

An abnormally early hibernation ending of the Red-bellied toad (Bombina bombina) (Discoglossidae, Anura) in the populations of the Medveditsa river valley (Saratov region)

“…B. bombina -широко распространенный вид бесхвостых амфибий на юговостоке европейской части России, в том числе в Саратовской области (Кузьмин, 2012;Ермохин, Табачишин, 2018 б;Кайбелева и др., 2019;Ruchin et al, 2020). Во многих локальных таксоценозах озер долины р. Медведица на фоне сокращения численности популяций всех бесхвостых амфибий наблюдается уменьшение роли лимнофильных видов, в том числе B. bombina .…”

Occurrence of the insectivores and rodents in the Samarskaya Luka (European Russia)

“…In recent years, interest in the inventory of the fauna of Russia has increased ( Khlyap et al 2017 , Andreychev 2020 , Andreychev and Kuznetsov 2020 , Artaev et al 2020 , Bakiev et al 2020 , Egorov et al 2020 , Konakova et al 2020 , Ruchin et al 2020 , Tovpinets et al 2020 ).…”