Records of fauna in Mykolaiv region during August expedition in 2023

Mikhail Rusin1, Oleksii Marushchak2, Oleksandr Haidash3, Marina Yerofeieva4, Anastasiia Vovk4

1 I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine | Kyiv Zoo, Vul. B. Khmelnytskogo, 15, 01030, Kyiv, Ukraine; 2 I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine, Vul. B. Khmelnytskogo, 15, 01030, Kyiv, Ukraine; 3 Danube Nature Reserve, , Ukraine; 4 V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, , Ukraine

Corresponding author(s): Mikhail Rusin (ellobius.talpinus@gmail.com)Oleksii Marushchak (ecopelobates@gmail.com)Oleksandr HaidashMarina YerofeievaAnastasiia Vovk

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Rusin M, Marushchak O, Haidash O, Yerofeieva M, Vovk A (2023). Records of fauna in Mykolaiv region during August expedition in 2023. Version 1.0. Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (NGO). Occurrence dataset. https://ukraine.ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=mykolaivfauna2023&v=1.0

Abstract

The dataset represents records of fauna (species, mainly included in various nature conservation lists of national and international importance) made during August 15-23 on the territory of Mykolaiv region of Ukraine. Since the territory of the region was partially occupied by enemy forces of Russia during full-scale war whcih cause heavy war actions taking place in the region, this might have caused direct or indirect impact on local fauna and distribution of rare species. Therefore this expedition was a part of actions, needed to figure out the current state of rare biodiversity (fauna) components on the territory of the region. Moreover, the expedition gave valuable information that is needed to expand the existing objects of nature reserve fund as well as fo creating the nex objects on the territory of Mykolaiv region.

Keywords: Occurrence, Mykolaiv region, steppe, nature reserve fund, Ukraine, biodiversity, fauna, herpetofauna, ornithofauna, teriofauna, entomofauna, rare species, expedition, Observation

Project details

Project title: Natural potential in community plans of the post-war Mykolaiv Oblast
Personnel: Olexiy Vasyliuk
Funding: The project was implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as part of the Transition Promotion Program.

Data published through GBIF: https://ukraine.ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=mykolaivfauna2023

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: The dataset consists of records of bats (Chiroptera), reptiles (Squamata), amphibians (Anura), mammals (Rodentia, Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Soricomorpha) and birds (Aves class).
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata, Arthropoda
Class: Mammalia, Aves, Squamata, Testudines, Amphibia, Insecta

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: The dataset shows records of animals from Mykolaiv administrative region of Ukraine.
Coordinates: 46°22'37.2''N and 48°13'55.2''N Latitude; 30°10'4.8''E and 33°8'45.6''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: August 15, 2023 - August 23, 2023

Methods

Method step description: 
- . 	Conducting of the field expedition.
- . 	Visual identification of animals during field trips, route and car counts. 
- . 	Catching of bats in the night time.

- . 	Installation of traps for catching of small mammals (and accidentally reptiles and amphibinas).
- . 	Identification of species, measuring, weighing and marking of the captured individuals with their subsequent release.
- . 	Georeferencing.
- . 	Organizing of the dataset according to the Darwin Core standards.
Study extent description: The dataset shows the result of an expedition to Mykolaiv region, organized in August 2023. The team consisted of 1 teriologist, 1 ornithologist, 2 chiropterologists and 1 herpetologist. All animals were studied alive. The records have enriched the information about rare representatives of local fauna for 3 objects of nature reserve fund of Ukraine: "Tylihulskiy" Regional Landscape Park, Nature Reserve “Yelanetsky Step” and "Pryingulskiy" Regional Landscape Park.
Sampling description: Bats (Chiroptera)
Bats were caught with nylon web nets (diameter of the "window" - 15 mm, net size - 12x5 m, 8 pockets). Telescopic poles were used as racks for the installation of the  net, which made it possible to adjust the height of the nets. The locations of the nets were chosen in such a way as to capture the places of departure or the places of active foraging. For example: the shore of a reservoir, the exit from a tunnel or a forest passage. In more forested biotopes, the lower pocket of the net was placed at the level of 0.7 - 2 m. In near-water biotopes, the lower pocket was located almost on the level of the ground or water. The activity of bats during the night is bimodal: the first peak of activity begins immediately after sunset and lasts for 2-3 hours. Then the activity decreases, until the beginning of the second short peak before dawn. Therefore, in order to catch the maximum number of bat species, web nets were set during sunset (20:00-20:30) and removed before sunrise (04:50-05:20).
Caught animals were placed in canvas bags (separately by species and no more than 10 individuals in one bag) and left on a pole near the nets. In case of falling into the net and/or in the process of untangling the animal from the net, it emits specific sound signals, so-called "distress calls". By issuing these signals, the animal attracts individuals of its own and other species, thereby increasing the probability of their falling into the net, and acting as bait.
The animals were examined during the day after capture: species, sex, age, reproductive status were determined, forearm length was measured and then they were weighed. To determine species affiliation, the identifier was used: "Illustrated identification key to the bats of Europe" by Christian Dietz & Otto von Helversen, 2004.
Animals were marked with special chiropterological aluminum rings of the Ukrainian National Ringing Center with the inscription "KIEV UKRAINE". The "AT" and "VT" series were used for small-sized species, the "ST" series was used for medium-sized species, and the "DT" series was used for large species. All manipulations of catching, keeping and processing bats were carried out in accordance with humanistic approaches accepted in the world. The next night after the catch, the animals were released shortly after sunset.
Herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians).
Animals were caught manually during the peaks of activity of amphibians or reptiles (mainly from 7:00 to 11:00 am and from 5:00 to 11:00 pm). Catching of amphibians and reptiles wa performed using a net, fishing rod, fishing traps, a hook or by hand. For visualizing the records, the points of herpetofauna registrations were collected (with the indication of latitude 00.00000 N and longitude 00.00000 E) using the field off-line orientation program Geo-Tracker (version 5.2.4.3219) and Google Earth Pro (Earth version 7.3.3). Visualization of records and creation of maps was carried out in the QGIS program (v.2.181, QGIS Development Team, 2016. QGIS Geographic Information System. Open Source Geospatial Foundation. URL http://qgis.org).The species identification was carried out using methodological materials (Bannikov and Darevsky, 1977; Nekrasova and Morozov-Leonov, 2001; Kuzmin, 2012).
Birds.
Bird species were identified visually during registrations on route coutns and from the car. Also birds on migration stops on Tyligul lyman were registered. The coordinates of each registration were recorded only in individual cases. In the vast majority, the registration of each bird encountered was linked to a settlement and other landmarks (reservoir, stream, forest). According to these records, when collecting data, the coordinates of bird meeting places were determined using a map from the Internet (https://www.google.com/; the "Google Earth" program).
Mammals.
Big mammals were identified visually. Small rodents and insectivores were captured using box (Longworth | Sherman | Schipanov) or pitfall live traps. Traps in each locality were exposed for 1-2 nights. All animals were marked and released. Recaptures were recorded as well. Some specimens were found dead. Coordinates were recorded with GPS Garmin eTrex30x using both GPS and GLONASS. Accuracy in most cases was appoximatelly 3-5 m.
Quality control description: The authors are fully responsible for the quality of data provided within the dataset.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Records of fauna in Mykolaiv region during August expedition in 2023
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ukraine.ipt.gbif.no/archive.do?r=mykolaivfauna2023
Publication date of data: 2023-09-16
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2023-09-16
Hierarchy level: Dataset