Long-Term Changes in the Small Mammal Population of the Forest-Steppe Zone of the Southern Urals Caused by Extreme Drought

The long-term dynamics of the composition and abundance of small mammal communities before (2002–2009) and after (2010–2023) the extreme drought of 2010 against the background of climate warming in the forest-steppe zone of the Southern Urals are analyzed. Drought triggered rapid qualitative and quantitative long-term changes in community structure. The simplification of the species composition of the local fauna is due to the loss of rare species and the disappearance of the tundra vole, which was numerous before the drought, the reaction of which to the extreme impact exceeded the population’s capacity for recovery. The drought affected all trophic groups represented in the ecosystem (phytophages, zoophages). The effects of extreme stress vary among species. The climate catastrophe led to a collapse in the population of common shrews for 9 years. The pygmy wood mouse turned out to be a drought-resistant species, as evidenced by the peak in numbers in the year of the weather anomaly and cyclical dynamics in the subsequent period. For the first time in the research area in the spring of 2024, a new species was noted, the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus).