2009 Issue №7

The article presents generalised data on internationally important staging sites of Greylag Goose (Anser anser), Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons), Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus), Bean Goose (Anser fabalis), Whooper Swans (Cygnus Cygnus) and Bewick’s Swans (Cygnus bewickii) in the Neman River delta shared by Russia and Lithuania.The authors indicate the decrease in the population of Bean Geese alongside with the increase in the population of Greylag Geese, Whooper Swans, Bewick’s Swans and particularly Greater White-fronted Geese. This phenomenon is brought about by the global climate change, changes of the migratory flyways of certain species (particularly Greater White-fronted Goose) and by human impact.
In order to preserve the wetland complex of utmost importance for migrating birds, it is necessary to develop the cross border Ramsar territory and to grant the corresponding status to the Russian part of the Neman delta.

The article considers some biotic reactions to climatic transformation on the basis of the research conducted in 1980—2006 in the primary ecosystems of southern Taiga on the Central Russian Plain. The change of structure, diversity and productivity of small mammal communities are connected to climatic trends, extreme and catastrophic climatic phenomena.