Boyan Milchev (1)* and Valeri Georgiev (2)

1. University of Forestry, Department of Wildlife Management, 10 Kliment Ochridski Blvd.,
1797 Sofia, Bulgaria. *E-mail: boyan.m@abv.bg
2. Ministry of Environment and Water, 22 Maria Luisa Blvd., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
E-mail: valege@abv.bg

Food spectrum was based on 62,314 prey specimens belonging to 367 taxa collected between
1994 and 2013. The diet included 40.9 % new taxa for the Eagle owl food in Bulgaria.
Mammals and birds were most hunted, while reptiles, amphibians, fishes and arthropods were
negligible with total 7.8 % by number and 0.8 % by biomass. Voles (Microtus spp.) 18.2 %, true
mice (Mus spp.) 8.2 % and Northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus) 5.9 %
were the most numerous prey. The staple prey for food biomass were Northern white-breasted
hedgehogs 22.9 %, European hares (Lepus europaeus) 8.9 %, Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus)
6.5 % and Common moorhens (Gallinula chloropus) 5.5 %. The individual diets of successful
pairs were dominated most often by the same taxa. The present study reports increasing shares
of small prey in total diet and first records of dominance in individual diets by a number of passerines,
amphibians and arthropods. Hunting on predatory birds and mammals accounted for
11.4 % by biomass. Dominance by a carnivorous mammal, Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) – only young
individuals, of the biomass of three individual diets is first reported for the country. The large share
of small unusual prey and more predators in the diets were most likely the Eagle owl adaptation
to local unfavourable food supply.

Volodymyr Luk’yanets (1), Oksana Tarnopilska (1), (2), Iryna Obolonyk (1),
Serhiy Musienko (2), Vira Bondarenko (2), and Maryna Kolenkina (2)

1. Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Melioration named after G. M. Vysotsky,
86, Pushkinska Str., Kharkiv, 61024, Ukraine. *E-mail: obolonik@uriffm.org.ua
2. O. M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv, Department of Forestry and
Horticulture. 17, Marshal Bazhanov Street, Kharkiv, 61002, Ukraine. E-mail: lspg@ukr.net

The study was carried out in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests in Gorodotske and
Manevytske Forest Enterprises, which are situated in the Manevytsko-Volodymyretsky physiographic
region of the Volyn Polissya zone in Ukraine. The aim of the study was to investigate the
characteristics and health condition of Scots pine stands, infected by annosum root rot (Heterobasidion
annosum (Fr.) Bref.), in the disease centres and in the part of the stands outside the centres
(the control areas), as well as of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) stands in Volyn Polissya.
We have found that the density of planted 43–75-year-old stands of Scots pine, established on
formerly arable lands, was 32–66 % lower in the centres of the root rot disease than in the control
areas. The growing stock volume was 20–62 % lower, respectively. The health index of the stands
varied from 1.7 (weakened trees) to 3.2 (severely weakened trees) in the disease centres and
from 1.3 (healthy trees) to 1.6 (weakened trees) outside them. We revealed that birch stands established
on formerly arable lands were more resistant to annosum root rot and had better health
status compared to pine stands. A set of factors was found to cause the root rot of Scots pine
stands on abandoned agricultural lands, some of which were growing overstocked pure stands
and their untimely (late) thinning.

Svetlana Sandakova, Aleksandr Toushkin*, Olga Matveeva, Аlia Toushkina,
and Aleksandr Samchuk

Far East State Agricultural University, Amur region, 675000 Blagoveshchensk, 180 Lenin Str.,
Russia. *E-mail: toushkin@list.ru

This article is based on long-standing data (2013–2017), which takes into account the number
of birds during the winter route census (WRC) in the Amur region, where 5 hunting types of
Galliformes occur (the black-billed capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, willow ptarmigan,
and the common pheasant). The collected data about their numbers and density were visualized
using the ArcGIS 9.3.1 (2009) software with Spatial Analyst special analysis tools. The spatial
distribution of birds in biotopes in places of our research is taken into account. The main limiting
factors that cause fluctuations in the abundance of these bird species are identified. Such results
of censuses of hunting birds and their analysis should be used by specialized hunting and nature
protection organizations, which are obliged to regulate annually hunting of trade birds and
animals in the region. In addition, data on the population and hunting ceiling for the hunting birds
are the basis for the rational planning and opening of the hunting season, as well as establishing
the maximum percentage of game production with no harm to the population. The study of
ecological and biological features of bird species is of great importance for more successful and
rational organization of hunting farms: biodiversity conservation, population monitoring, organization
of reproduction, biotechnical and conservation measures, forecast of the number of hunting
resources for long-term planning of the economy. Thus, such a generalized analysis of the state
of populations of hunting’s Tetraonidae birds in the Amur region will help ornithologists and any
specialists in the field of protection and use of wild animal resources to assess the current state
and adaptive features of local populations of Tetraonidae. Such research is a prerequisite for
predicting the number of these birds and provides a solid foundation for the development of conservation
measures.

Patience Tugume (1), Mukadasi Buyinza (2), and Esezah K. Kakudidi (1)

1. Department of Plant Sciences, Microbiology and Biotechnology, Makerere University,
P.O Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. E-mails: patiebeys@gmail.com*; esezahk@gmail.com
2. College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O Box 7062,
Kampala, Uganda. E-mail: buyinzamukadasi@gmail.com

Contribution of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to rural livelihoods is vital but often ignored
when drafting resource management policies. Information on the value of NTFPs for subsistence
use and trade is often inadequate due to market failure. This potrays a wrong message that
non-marketed products lack economic value and are not worth protecting. The study estimated
the value of NTFPs from Mabira Central Forest Reserve used for subsistence and trade by adjacent
communities. Data were collected through key informant interviews, questionnaire survey of
342 resource users and spot market analysis to establish the market value of used NTFPs. Mainly
poor women and men aged below 61 years and with low education levels extracted NTFPs. The
annual value of identified NTFPs was $ 860,470 of which $ 58,688 was attributed to subsistence
use and $ 801,782 to cash income. NTFPs value varied significantly between products (F=1.67,
df 16 p=0.05) and between villages (F=0.000, df 13, p<0.05) with charcoal offering the highest
annual value ($ 327,686) and palm leaves – the lowest ($ 187). NTFPs from Mabira CFR have a
high potential to enhance livelihoods of the poor, women and youth in the study area if sustainably
harvested since availability of some plant species used for firewood and charcoal production
were reported to be declining. These results indicate the need for urgent intervention measures
for alternative sources of income and sustainable extraction of NTFPs to minimize pressure on
the forest reserve.

Іvan Khomiak, Oleksandr Harbar, Nataliia Demchuk,
Іryna Kotsiuba, and Іryna Onyshchuk

Ivan Franko Zhytomyr State University, 40 V. Berdychivska Str., 10008, Zhytomyr, Ukraine.
E-mail: ecosystem_lab@ukr.net

It was found that a regular growth in the above-ground phytomass occurs during autogenic
succession, which is approximated by logarithmic dependence with high reliability indices. External,
including anthropogenic, effects on the process of succession lead to a decrease in the rate
of phytomass growth. Besides, the rate of phytomass changes is influenced by endo-ecogenesis
caused by various plant species, entering the ecosystem at certain stages of succession. The
above-ground phytomass portioning behaviour makes it possible to use it to create a unified indicator
of dynamics. Each plant species can be only within certain indicators of the phytomass of
their plant communities. At the same time, there is a normal distribution of the projective cover value.
This allows us to work out synphytoindication methods for determining the dynamics indicator.