Common Shrew (Sorex araneus, Eulipotyphla) Population and the Food Supply of Its Habitats in Ecologically Contrasting Environments

Studies in the fir‒spruce forests of the Middle Urals, in habitats with varying degrees of transformation by natural disasters (windfalls and fires), have shown that the abundance and dynamics of invertebrate communities determine the food supply of shrew habitats, one of the most important microhabitat characteristics. The indicator of food supply reflects the state of the foraging base of the common shrew and is a stable biotopic characteristic, the stability of which is maintained due to the redistribution of the abundance of different taxonomic groups of soil mesofauna in the course of their long-term dynamics. The abundance of the common shrew was not related to the food supply of the habitats of the current year, but depended on the food supply of the previous year, and this dependence was most pronounced in strongly disturbed habitats.