Place of Zoological Cadastral Reference Maps in the Biome Concept

Abstract

A comprehensive study (vegetation and animal population) of biota and ecological differentiation of biotic cover with the widespread use of the cartographic approach is one of the central areas of modern biogeography. Its tasks include identifying ecological and geographical patterns of differentiation of biotic cover and identifying territorial units of different ranks for the purposes of inventory and conservation of biological diversity. One of the levels of regional research is relatively new and insufficiently covered in the domestic literature—the biome level. The biotic part of biomes consists of two components, the vegetation and the animal population, which is currently characterized by the population of birds and mammals as the most studied zoological taxa that have reached the stage of cartographic maturity. Issues such as the definition of a regional biome, the criteria for its identification, and the characteristics of its geozoological part are in the stage of study and development. The role and place of cadastral reference zoological maps in the biome concept as the basis for collecting, storing, and analyzing information about the spatiotemporal characteristics of communities is shown. Using the example of a model territory—the Ural biomes—experience-tested methods for presenting local theriological accounting data on a cadastral reference map and in the cadastre are proposed. The shortcomings in the presentation of field research results that complicate their interpretation are noted. The role of cadastral reference maps for planning zoological research, for compiling an objective description of the zoological component of regional biomes, and for justifying the boundaries between biomes is shown.