Bird of prey nest sediments as a source of data on the modern fauna and flora of northern taiga in the European Russia

Ponomarev D.V., Kryazheva I.V., Marchenko-Vagapova T.I., Isakov V.A., Selkova L.A.

P. 73-82

The study examined rodent bone remains, spore-pollen assemblages, and the granulometric composition of sediments found in a bird of prey nest in the northern taiga of the Middle Timan in the Komi Republic. The data obtained was compared to previous research on contemporary flora and fauna. The sediments consist of silty clays and loams formed by surface water, which removed sediments and weathered bedrock carbonate products from the slope. Sediments accumulated approximately for 30 years, as shown by the discovery of a bird ring in the top layer of the nest sediment. Among the rodent remains, 12 species typically found in the fauna of the northern taiga of Eastern Europe have been identified. The predominance of remains belonging to riparian species in the sub-fossil assemblage is due to the raptor’s hunting specialization. Compared to the data obtained through trapping small mammals using trenches, the nest materials lack only shrews. Nevertheless, there are still rare and elusive species that go undetected by traps due to their size or lifestyle present in the materials. The spore-pollen assemblages discovered in the sediments of bird nests offer a reliable depiction of the current vegetation in the surrounding area, which encompasses both the zonal vegetation category and even the existence of uncommon forest-tundra combinations within the research zone. The data obtained demonstrate the capability of using bone remains as well as spores and pollen found in nests of birds of prey to analyze recent flora and fauna.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.23.1.08