Landscape features of the distribution of blood-sucking mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Komi Republic

The article deals with the study of natural complexes with uniform conditions affecting the development and settlement of mosquitoes, which are called hydro-landscapes. The scheme of hydro-landscape zoning of the territory of the Komi Republic is presented on the basis of the concept of hydro-landscapes developed earlier for the Novgorod region (Medvedev, Panyukova, 2005). The principles for the allocation of hydro-landscapes combine climatic, landscape-hydrological and biological characteristics of natural-territorial complexes. As a result of long-term (2005-2021) route and stationary studies of the fauna and ecology of blood-sucking mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and the peculiarities of their habitat factors in landscape conditions, we identified six types of hydro-landscapes for the territory of the Komi Republic. Three of them characterize the mountainous and elevated territories of the Ural mountain country: mountain-watershed, piedmont-lake-river and ridge-watershed-river. Three hydro-landscapes are assigned to the flat territories of the Eastern European Platform: lowland-swamp-watershed; lowland-swamp-interstream and lowland-swamp-lake. The addition to the hydro landscape method is the selection of types of edifiers and indicators. For each type of hydro-landscape, mass species of blood-sucking mosquitoes and plant species are indicated as edifying species that determine the nature of the biocenosis with the most favorable environmental conditions for them. Blood-sucking mosquitoes and plants are also identified as indicator species of the hydro-landscape. These include rare or vulnerable plant species and blood-sucking mosquitoes, for which environmental factors limit their development or settlement in these conditions. The results of hydro-landscape studies can be used in calculating environmental and epidemiological risks; forecasting the species composition of blood-sucking mosquitoes in hard-to-reach areas. The hydro landscape method can be used to identify the degree of stability of ecosystems under changes caused by various anthropogenic factors.