An overview of the mammal fauna of the Vovcha River basin (Dnipro region, Ukraine

Information about the mammal fauna of the middle reaches of the Vovcha River (left tributary of the Samara River, Dnipro Basin) is summarised, with a focus on protected areas and settlements, primarily in Pokrovskyi Raion of the south-east of Dnipro Oblast. The territory is heavily transformed due to agricultural development, but the branched river networkwith distinctly dissected riparian areas creates unique habitat conditions for the wildlife. The paper describes a seriesof observations of different groups of mammals that the authors have been monitoring since 2000. For each of the orders and species, annotations on the status of presence and reliability of the data are provided, as well as important factualdata on records and references to publications related to the study area or adjacent territories. Three status designationsare used for the species lists: 30 species recorded on the basis of actual findings; 13 species known from adjacent territories, their distribution ranges fully cover the study area, although no unequivocal evidence of their presence is available; and 9 phantom species that occur here at the boundaries of their ranges and whose presence in the study area is not proven or which are most likely extinct. The species assemblage corresponds to the forest-steppe one, with no signs of steppe communities, despite the territory belonging to the steppe zone. These features are largely determined by the distribution of communities close to the floodplain, and partly by the synanthropic fauna and inhabitantsof agrocoenoses. An annotated list of species is considered as an example of a description of the local fauna withinthe concept of ‘visible fauna’. The prospects for the development of the annotated fauna list and its composition by such components as steppe, forest, and riparian communities, game and synanthropic fauna, and alien species are discussed.