FAUNISTIC OBSERVATIONS IN BOTANICAL GARDENS OF SOFIA UNIVERSITY DURING STUDENT VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES IN 2016
LINA PAUNOVA1*, DIMITAR NENOV1, DIMITAR DIMITROV1, YANA YORDANOVA1, PLAMEN PETROV1, MARINA YORDANOVA1, DILYAN MINEV1, IVAYLO DEDOV2, ATANAS GROZDANOV1
1 – Department of Zoology and anthropology, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
2 – Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia, Bulgaria
* Corresponding author: skorecbf@gmail.com
Keywords: conservation education, fauna, flora, university club, biodiversity
Abstract: Botanical gardens of Sofia University „St. Kliment Ohridski“ play an important role of „green islands“ for many wildlife species. The great floral biodiversity provides shelter and food resources to a significant number of vertebrates and invertebrates. The present research focuses on some of the species observed in the summer of 2016 during volunteer activities of students, organized by the Balkan Ecological Centre in University Botanical Gardens Balchik and Varna. The diverse faunistic information is related to the individual interests of the involved students and aims mainly to improve their ability to collect information in the field and to analyze it in the form of scientific publications. As a result of the work, 14 species of snails, 2 species of amphibians, 4 species of reptiles and 50 species of birds were identified in the gardens and their vicinity. Some additional information on species habitat preferences and other ecological characteristics was also gathered.
The present publication reveals the positive role of volunteers for collecting of scientific information and the importance of the University botanical gardens as providers of suitable territories for such activities.