Research and assessment of the state of the territories of the Volgograd Zavolzh region, presenting a special value for the preservation of facilities of the animal and plant world of the region

This paper presents the results of monitoring the current state of natural complexes and rare species of plants and animals in the special protection natural areas (SPNA) to conserve fauna and flora, listed in the Red Book of Volgograd Oblast. Bykovo municipal district of Volgograd region - “Tazhinsky estuary” and “Prishibo-Mogutinskaya system of estuaries” were selected as the object of the study. The initial materials of the study were the data obtained during field studies carried out from May to September 2021. The main purpose of the study has two components: an analysis of the current situation (the current status and number of rare species and natural complexes in general and in the area near the protected area (not more than 1 km) according to the study results) and identification of limiting factors and threats to each species and the natural complexes as a whole. The main methods used during the expeditions were continuous records of all vertebrates on long, multi-day automobile and hiking trails. At the same time, we searched for nests and breeding territories of birds in specific habitats and interviewed local people to identify habitats of large birds of prey and other rare species of birds. All rare species encounters were positioned with a Garmin Etrex 30x GPS receiver. Traditional geobotanical methods (ecological- phytocenotic and ecological-floristic analysis of phytocenoses) and quantitative methods (analysis of the species composition of phytocenoses by pairwise conjugation and analysis of floristic and phytocenotic similarity of phytocenoses), and the main sample-area method were applied during the study to study the species diversity of plant communities. The results and digital mapping of the results of field studies have shown that the areas of special value for the conservation of fauna and flora listed in the Red Book of Volgograd region - “Tazhinsky estuary” and “Prishibo-Mogutinskaya estuary system” irreversibly degrade due to changes in the hydrological regime. These reclaimed estuaries have been very poorly filled with water in recent years, and in some years, have remained fully dry (this has been the case for the past two years). This leads to the progressive salinization of soils and the extinction of rare species for which these SPNAs were organized. Recommendations on possible changes in the regime of special protection, boundaries, and SPNA category were developed based on the analysis of the studies’ results. The additional survey of estuaries in late April-early May in a year with good moisture is required to decide on the future of SPNA.