Scientists study flora and fauna of remote areas of Tatarstan

The researchers spent the whole August in expeditions in Bavly, Bugulma, Leninogorsk, Cheremshan and Mamadysh municipal districts together with colleagues from the State Committee for Biological Resources.

According to Vadim Prokhorov, Chair of the Department of General Ecology, the expeditions were held as part of the of work on the Red List of the Republic of Tatarstan. The Department of General Ecology is an annual participant of these field studies.

The expeditions included specialists in different groups of living organisms – plants, animals and fungi: botanists, biologists, mycologists, ornithologists, and entomologists. KFU students and employees of the Volga-Kama State Natural Biosphere Reserve and the Lower Kama National Park took part in the expeditions.

Prokhorov admitted that it is too early to talk about the results of the expeditions – the collected material must first be processed. But we can already say that many locations of rare wildlife species have been confirmed and new ones have been discovered in the vicinity of Bavly.

“For example, the second location of bitter sossyurea was found in Tatarstan. Last year we found it in the Nurlat District. This plant was considered to have disappeared from the region,” said the Chair.

He also noted that to preserve the identified rare species sites will be proposed for the organization of protected natural areas.

And in Leninogorsk District, as told by Nikolai Shulaev, Associate Professor of the Department of Zoology and General Biology, two representatives of the steppe dybka were found – the largest grasshoppers of Eurasia, listed not only in the Red List of Tatarstan and Russia, but also in the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“In the Bavly Dstrict we also found interesting insects. We managed to find a ratchet – a straight-winged insect from the locust family, and a green bronze beetle,” Shulaev added.

Based on the data obtained by the scientists, preliminary lists of rare species will be compiled, which will be proposed for inclusion in the new edition of the Red List of Tatarstan in 2025. In addition, the research will help identify new habitats of populations of rare species of plants, animals, birds, and fungi.