Pattern of bird distribution in the taiga-forest area of the northern Ussuriland (Bikin-Khor rivers watershed) at the boundary of XX-XXI centuries (1990-2001)

Recent paper is based on the data collected in the Bikin-Khor rivers watershed (the Central Sikhote-Alin’ Mountainous Region: extreme South-East Siberia = Ussuriland) during the field projects supported by Russian Academy of Sciences (1992-1993), National Geographic Society (1995-1997, 2000) and Russian Bird Union (1998). The goal of this long-term project was to get detailed knowledge about the region bird fauna and the patterns of species distribution at complex relief-landscape-habitat scale. This strongly forested region is characterized by very complicate habitat pattern with the transition (from west to east) from wet forest-steppe and insular oak hills in the flat Ussuri River valley over Ussurian taiga (complex mixed broad-leaved and Korean pine forests) in hilly and lower elevated mountainous area up to the East-Siberian taiga (dark coniferous forests of Yeddo Spruce and White-bark Fir together with secondary light birch-larch woods) in elevated mountainous country of the Sikhote-Alin. The secondary latitude mountainous ridges which separate the Khor and Bikin river basins make the entire landscape-habitat pattern twice more complicated and what is important, the galleries of riparian broad-leaved forest along the very course of the Bikin and the Khor rivers cut though the mixed and coniferous taiga forests. The check-list of birds of the region has been given in the previous articles (see the references list). In this paper we give a table which show the patterns of species distribution at relief-landscape-habitat scale and their habitat preferences. The non-forested species of the region which are partial only to mostly deforested flatlands of the Ussuri River valley is omitted from the Table. In the focus of the research are the bird species which inhabit Ussurian (Manchurian) and East Siberian old-growth and secondary forests as well as non-forested species with intrazonal distribution within the taiga area. The species of Alpine-Subalpine belts of Sikhote-Alin are also included.