Summary. History of extinction and possibilities of rehabilitation of Desman population in floodplain lakes of Siversky Donets Basin is considered. Review includes information about systematics, distribution and diagnostics of desman, description of its biological peculiarities, factors of risk and actions for protection, history of investigation of species in Donets basin, description of this river as well as aggregate of floodplain lakes. Results of inspection of floodplain in 2001 as well as results of questionnaire design of residents about findings and observation of desman in the region are presented and analyzed. Recommendations for the development of initiatives in restoration of desman population in the Donets Basin are presented.

Bibliography: Russian Desman (Desmana moschata) in the Siversky Donets Basin (by I. Zagorodniuk, O. Kondratenko, V. Domashlinets etc.). Kyiv, 2002. 64 p. (Proceedings of the Theriological School, volume 4). (in Ukrainian with summary in English). full pdf-version (1,06 mb) >>>

Contents   >>>

Foreword (V. Domashlinets) ... 5–6   >>>

Taxonomy, range, diagnostics (I. Zagorodniuk) ... 7–11   >>>
Taxonomic and historical summary ... 7
Past and current distribution ... 8
Diagnostics and characters of species ... 10

Survey of Desman biology (O. Bajdak) ... 12–15   >>>
Morphological and anatomical features ... 12
Ecological peculiarities of species ... 13
Reproductive peculiarities ... 15

History of protection, factors of risk (I. Zagorodniuk) ... 16–21   >>>
Desman reserves in the Donets region ... 16
State of populations in adjacent basins ... 18
Actions for species protection ... 19
Factors of risk for populations ... 21

Characteristics of the Donets basin (O. Kondratenko) ... 22–24   >>>
General characteristics of the river ... 22
Characteristics of the river floodplain ... 23
Floodplain lakes of the Donets valley ... 24

Modern state of Desman lands (I. Zagorodniuk) ... 25–33   >>>
Study of floodplain: from Oskol to Derkul ... 26
Quality of Desman habitats ... 29
Questionnaire and techniques of questioning ... 31

Review of communications from residents (I. Zagorodniuk, O. Kondratenko) ... 34–45   >>>
Upper section (Oskol to Zherebets river) ... 34
Kreminna section (Zherebets to Borova) ... 39
"Middle" section (Borova to Ajdar) ... 41
Kondrashivska section (Ajdar to Derkul) ... 43

Analysis of data and proposals to action plan (I. Zagorodniuk) ... 46–51   >>>
Tempos of population reduction ... 46
Modern state and causes of population reduction ... 48
Proposals to the Action Plan ... 50

Reference materials ... 52
Report about the Donets expedition in 1970 (L. Shaposhnikov, Yu. Djakov) ... 52–57   >>>
Bibliography on the Desman in Ukraine (I. Zagorodniuk) ... 58–62   >>>

Acknowledgements ... 63

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