Amphibian diversity and distribution in West Siberia (Russia)

Abstract

West Siberia is a vast area in North Eurasia lying between the Ural Mountains and the Yenisei River. Its area is more than 2.4 million sq. km. West Siberia extends almost 3,000 km from north to south and has five ecological zones (biomes) following each other in the latitudinal direction: tundra, forest-tundra, forest-steppe, steppe, and the foothills and mountains of Salair, Altai, Kuznetsk Alatau, and Gornaya Shoria. The amphibian fauna of West Siberia is poor due to harsh climatic conditions and includes only 11 species. There is still no complete understanding of distribution patterns of different amphibian species in the region. The aim of this study is to partially fill this gap by summarizing all possible sources of occurrence records for amphibians in West Siberi