Synopses & Reviews
From single-celled organisms in Black Sea sand to endemic cave crustaceans, from mountain glacial relict insects to the most diverse bird fauna in Europe, the fauna of Bulgaria has been a subject of study for more than a century. This is the first English language survey of all vertebrate and many key invertebrate groups of Bulgaria, their faunistics, origin, geographical and ecological distribution, and conservation issues.
About the Author
Dr. Victor Fet is a Professor of Biology at Marshall University, West Virginia, USA. He was a co-editor of Biogeography and Ecology of Turkmenistan (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994) and authored dozens of research publications on animal biogeography, systematics and evolution. He is also one of the world's leading experts on scorpions and one of the authors of the Catalog of Scorpions of the World (New York, 2000). Dr. Alexi Popov is the Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, Bulgaria. He authored and co-authored 94 research publications on insect faunistics, taxonomy, ecology, and conservation. He served as a Secretary and/or the Member of the Editorial Board of Historia naturalis bulgarica, Acta entomologica bulgarica, and Journal of Neuropterology. In the project "Fauna Europaea", Dr. Popov leads the team of 30 entomologists working on the insects of Bulgaria.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction Alexi Popov and Victor Fet. 2. Terrestrial mammals of Bulgaria: zoogeographical and ecological patterns of distribution Vasil Popov. 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Material and Methods 2.3. Results 2.4. Discussion 3. Fauna, zoogeography, and ecology of birds in Bulgaria Zlatozar Boev, Boyan Milchev and Vasil Popov 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Material and Methods 3.3. Exploration of the Bulgarian Avifauna 3.4. Historical Formation of the Bulgarian Avifauna 3.5. Composition and Changes of the Recent Avifauna 3.6. Importance of the Bulgarian Territory for the Migration and Wintering of the European Birds 3.7. Important Bird Areas 3.8. Spatial Differentiation of the Recent Avifauna: Characteristic Bird Communities of the Main Landscapes (Ordination-Correspondence Analysis) 3.9. Classification of Avian Assemblages: Two-way Indicator Species Analysis 3.10. Zoogeographical Types 4. Amphibians and reptiles of Bulgaria: fauna, vertical distribution, zoogeography, and conservation. Boyan P. Petrov 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Brief History of the Herpetological Research in Bulgaria 4.3. Species Composition and Distribution 4.4. Altitudinal Distribution 4.5. Zoogeographical Analysis of the Herpetofauna of Bulgaria 4.6. Conservation of the Bulgarian Herpetofauna 5. Fauna and distribution of fishes in Bulgaria. Tihomir Stefanov 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Material and Methods 5.3. Discussion 5.4. Conclusions 6. Fauna and zoogeography of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial mollusks (Mollusca) in Bulgaria. Zdravko Hubenov 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Material and Methods 6.3. Black Sea Mollusks 6.4. Freshwater Mollusks 6.5. Terrestrial Mollusks 6.6. Mollusks in the Bulgarian Mountains 7. Fauna, ecology, and zoogeography of dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) in Bulgaria. Venelin Beschovski and Milen Marinov 7.1. Fauna 7.2. Ecology 7.3. Zoogeography 7.4. Distribution Patterns in Bulgaria 7.5. Phenology 7.6. Habitat Classification 8. Fauna and zoogeography of the orthopterid insects (Embioptera, Dermaptera, Mantodea, Blattodea, Isoptera, and Orthoptera) in Bulgaria. Alexi Popov 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Faunistic Diversity 8.3. Distribution of Species 8.4. Zoogeography 9. Biogeography of the endemic Carabidae (Coleoptera) in the Central and Eastern Balkan Peninsula. Borislav Guéorguiev 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Area Studied 9.3. Study Goals 9.4. Material and Methods 9.5. Principal Faunal Features 9.6. Descriptive Biogeography 9.7. Causal Biogeography 9.8. Regional Division Based on Taxonomic, Macrohabitat, and Biogeographical Structure of Endemic Balkan Carabidae 10. Fauna and zoogeography of jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in Bulgaria. Vladimir Sakalian and Mario Langourov 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Methods 10.3. Zoogeographical Position and Connections of the Buprestid Fauna of Bulgaria 10.4. Zoogeographical Characteristics of the Bulgarian Buprestid Fauna 10.5. Regional Faunistic and Zoogeographical Characteristics 10.6. Trends in the Recent Formation of the Bulgarian Buprestid Fauna 11. Fauna and zoogeography of Myriapoda in Bulgaria. Pavel Stoev 11.1. Introduction 11.2. History of Bulgarian Myriapod Studies 11.3. Fauna of Myriapoda 11.4. Zoogeographical Aspects 11.5. Ecological Aspects 11.6. Main Gaps in Knowledge 12. Fauna and zoogeography of scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones) in Bulgaria. Victor Fet and Michael E. Soleglad 12.1. Introduction 12.2. Material and Methods 12.3. Fauna and Zoogeography 12.4. Further Research 13. Spatial niches of Opiliones (Arachnida) from Vitosha Mountains, Bulgaria. Plamen Mitov 13.1. Introduction 13.2. Material and Methods 13.3. Results and Discussion 14. Fauna and zoogeography of spiders of the family Linyphiidae (Araneae) in Bulgaria. Christo Deltshev 14.1. Introduction 14.2. Study Area and Materials 14.3. Species Composition 14.4. Zoogeographical Analysis 14.5. Vertical Distribution 14.6. Discussion and Conclusions 15. Fauna and zoogeography of wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) in Bulgaria. Gergin Blagoev 15.1. Introduction 15.2. Material and Methods 15.3. Species Composition and Zoogeography 15.4. Discussion 16. Haplogyne spiders (Araneae) in Bulgaria: faunistic and zoogeographical analysis. Stoyan Lazarov 16.1. Introduction 16.2. Study Area and Materials 16.3. Species Composition 16.4. Zoogeographical Analysis 16.5. Vertical Distribution 17. Terrestrial cave animals in Bulgaria. Petar Beron 17.1. Introduction 17.2. Karst and Caves in Bulgaria 17.3. History of Biospeleological Studies of Bulgarian Cave Animals 17.4. Survey of Terrestrial Cave Animals in Bulgaria 17.5. Zoogeographical Analysis of the Terrestrial Cave Fauna in Bulgaria 17.6. Endemics in the Cave Fauna of Bulgaria 17.7. Relicts in the Cave Fauna of Bulgaria 18. Stygofauna of the fresh waters in Bulgaria. Ivan Pandourski 18.1. Introduction 18.2. Species Diversity and Distribution 18.3. Endemism 18.4. Origin 18.5. Conclusions 19. Biodiversity and ecology of the Bulgarian Black Sea invertebrates. Vassil Golemansky 19.1. Introduction 19.2. Bulgarian Black Sea Coast 19.3. Animal Biodiversity 20. Testate amoebas and monothalamous foraminifera (Protozoa) from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Vassil Golemansky 20.1. Introduction 20.2. The Marine Supralittoral as a Habitat 20.3. Biodiversity of the Marine Intertitial Testate Amoebas and Foraminifera 20.4. Morphological Adaptations to the Marine Interstitial Habitat 20.5. Ecology of the Marine Interstitial of the Marine Intertitial Testate Amoebas and Foraminifera 21. Florogeographical elements and evolutionary trends in the Bulgarian flora. Dimitar Peev and Malina Delcheva 21.1. Position of Bulgaria in the European Continent and the Balkan Peninsula 21.2. Taxonomic Richness and Structure of the Bulgarian Flora 21.3. Florogeographical Elements in Bulgaria 21.4. Centers of Speciation and Evolutionary Trends in the Bulgarian Flora 22. Vegetation and phytogeography: a brief characteristic. Tenyo Meshinev 22.1. Vegetation and Phytogeography 22.2. Human Influence on Vegetation in Bulgaria 23. Landscapes and climate of Bulgaria. Veliko Velikov and Milena Stoyanova 23.1. Introduction 23.2. Classification of Landscapes 23.3. Characterization of Landscapes