Volume 6, Nº 3 (2016)

The present state of the wild ungulate populations (Mongolian gazelle, mountain sheep, Mongolian khulan, wild Bactrian camel, Mongolian saiga, and Przewalsky’s horse) in arid zones of Mongolia is considered. The dynamics of animal population sizes and the relative areas of their ranges within the nature reserves of Mongolia are presented. The nature reserve network of Mongolian arid zones is shown to be insufficient for the preservation of wild ungulates, especially for the goitered gazelle and Mongolian khulan. The major reasons for the reduction in the ranges of all ungulates include expansion of the mining industry, competition for resources with domesticated animals, and the increasing difficulty of access to watering places. Justification for the elaboration of ethical norms and ecological approaches to the reduction of poaching is given.

Data on the temperature of the underlying surface in the Gobi ecosystems (Mongolia) are presented. The role of the biotic factor in changes in the temperature of the underlying surface in the desert zone of Central Asia is shown to have grown.

This article presents some results of experimental research on the restoration of degraded pastures in the desert–steppe zone of Bayandelger soum, Sukhbaatar aimag, in Mongolia. Within this objective, several experiments on the creation of pastures, including a forest shelter belt and their fencing, were carried out. The recovery processes were assessed based on different indices. The preliminary results show that, compared with the control plot, the number of plant species increased by 3.0 times and the number of their individuals increased by 4.3 times within the fenced plot, while in the pasture with a forest shelter, these indicators increased 4.5 and 5.8 times, respectively.

Gobi bear (Ursus arctos gobiensis, Sokolov, Orlov, 1992) is endangered and occurs only in isolated populations in the Southwestern part of Mongolia. It is listed in the Red book of Mongolia (1987, 1997, 2013) and is registered in Annex I of the Convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES, 1991). Hunting for the Gobi bear is prohibited by law in 1953, nowadays it is protected in the Great Gobi reserve. The article provides generalized information about habitat, behavior, diet, and mortality of Gobi bear. The research also touched upon the peculiarities of its historical distribution in Gobi (and the subsequent loss of habitat), movement, size, and taxonomic status. Previous analysis of mitochondrial DNA (Galbreath et al., 2007; McCarthy et al., 2009) showed that Gobi bear is similar to the subspecies Ursus arctos Preliminary analysis based on nuclear microsatellite markers indicates that Gobi bear is actually can be a separate subspecies of Ursus arctos gobiensis (Tumendemberel et al., 2015а). The analysis of 2835 places of encounters of five bears using GPS for the period from 2005 to 2009 has allowed estimating that within the Great Gobi reserve for the habitat of the Gobi bear suitable territory is about 23619.18 km². The current habitat is likely reduced by 60% from historical range. Based on the telemetry data and the results of genetic analyses, the current distribution of bears in the Gobi desert was estimated. Adult females have moved around an area of about 514 km² within 1009–1532 m above sea level around Shar Khuls oasis. Adult males moved through the area about 2465–2485 km²; altitudinal limits of 1122–1492 m. International Team Project on Gobi bear, together with researchers from the Gobi bear Fund, Institute of General and Experimental biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the administration of the Great Gobi reserve in 2005 have used camera traps to estimate population size of Gobi bear. It is established that on the reserve territory at least 18 bears were including 7 males, 4 females, and 2 calves (Amgalan et al., 2005). Using genetic analyses (DNA microsatellites) from more than 1000 hair samples taken near 14 springs, it was calculated that during 2008–2009, these springs were visited by 22–31 individuals of Gobi bear, of which at least 14 males and 8 females (Tumendemberel et al., 2015).

The paper discusses gathering and fishing, which are believed to be minor but nevertheless very important sources of livelihood for the nomads that are representatives of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples of Central Asia. These sources provided food and medicinal raw materials to the nomads. The versatile usage of resources by the nomads in Central Asia is shown by examples taken mainly from historical works and contemporary works of ethnologists.