Preliminary Analysis of Changes in Structure of Small Mammal Communities under the Influence of the Industrial Pollution in the Northern Kazakhstan Region
The new data on the small mammal communities in the industrial area near Pavlodar (Northern Kazakhstan) are presented in this article for the first time. The comparative analysis of the diversity characteristics of the small mammal communities in the areas of technological environmental impact, and the reference area was performed. It is shown that the total abundance increases with the distance from the pollution sources. The community of small mammals in a territory with a significant anthropogenic pressure is characterized by depleted species composition and the monodominant structure. With a moderate intensity of anthropogenic load, species diversity increases, but the number of individual species decreases due to fragmentation of habitats.