Present Range of Tuva Mountain Vole Alticola tuvinicus Ognev, 1950 (Review of Environmental Conditions and Modeling)

Abstract

This study analyzes the present distribution of the Tuva mountain voles based on literary data, museum collections, and our own materials. A bioclimatic model of potential species distribution has been constructed using 25 localities identified as having Tuva mountain voles in Russia and Mongolia. It is shown that the species range of the Tuva voles consists of three large isolated parts: the northern one, located mainly in Khakassia; southern, located in Tuva and the adjacent territory of Mongolia; and a small area on the northern shore of the Khuvsgul Lake in Mongolia. The examination of habitats of the Tuva mountain voles in the territory of Khakassia has shown that in recent decades there has been a significant decrease in the number of inhabited sites, which indicates a significant decline in population and intensification of fragmentation of the northern part of the range of the Tuva mountain vole.