Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2020 number 4

Indicator values are becoming an increasingly popular tool in basic and applied botanical research: about 55 author’s phytoindication systems are known, including about 200 optimal and range scales for various environmental factors. This paper describes seven methods for calculating the phytoindication optimum of taxonomical list: structural methods and averaging methods with weighting by indicators of taxon’s participation (cover, frequency, activity) and the degree of ecological tolerance amplitude width. Optimum and interval indices of ecological consensus are proposed for a quantitative assessment of the level of ecological homogeneity of plant communities and floras. A critical comparison and assessment of the distinguishing ability of the described methods of environmental calculation and consensus indices was carried out in the environmental analysis module of the IBIS 7.2 botanical information system using vegetation data from Bashkiria and the Southern Urals at the level of phytocoenoses assigned to 4 communities and their coenofloras. The possible directions of further use of the results of indicator value analysis in phytocoenology and floristics are described.

Molecular genetic analysis widely used in various fields of science currently. Molecular ecology for environmental assessment is the basis of the modern methodological base. Different species and populations contain a large supply of genetic variation. This which plays a major role in the adaptation of species to certain environmental conditions. A significant part of this variation does not have a clear phenotypic expression and constitutes a hidden stock of genetic variation, which greatly complicates the study of the huge genetic potential of genera, species, and populations. More convenient markers for studying these issues are seed proteins and DNA, which are characterized by significant intraspecific polymorphism and independence from the external conditions of plant growth, and electrophoresis of storage seed proteins and all methods of PCR amplification of genomic DNA. This review shows the role of molecular genetic methods in solving traditional environmental problems related to taxonomy, phylogeny, evolution, the study of genetic variability and the identification of inbreeding depression in natural and artificially created populations of endemic, rare and endangered species, as well as their certification (by stroke - coding) and the creation of DNA banks.

The use of molecular genetic methods for the species identification of fungi and myxomycetes (DNA barcoding) showed that it is necessary to reconsider the views on the ecology and habitats of many species of spore organisms. Spores of basidiomycetes and myxomycetes can spread over considerable distances with the help of water, wind, and insects, which contributes to the settlement of various distant habitats, where only microenvironment and substrate act as limiting factors. The possibility of settling various “island” habitats, for example, such as large tree debris in the steppe regions or special microclimatic conditions on the bottoms of ravines and gullies in the forest-steppe, where the humidity is much higher than on the plain areas, allows spore organisms to expand their habitats and settle in uncharacteristic for them natural areas. Own research, analysis of the literature and data in GenBank showed that for spore-forming organisms, when studying the ecology and patterns of distribution, the question of their correct species identification arises. The article discusses examples of the influence of the hypothesis “Everything is everywhere, but the environment takes away” (EiE hypothesis) on the understanding of the ecology and ranges of some species of myxomycetes and basidiomycetes. For the first time, data are presented on the distribution and ecology of the nivicolous species of myxomycetes Lamproderma pseudomaculatum on the plain territory of Western Siberia. Using the myxomycetes Arcyria imperialis and A . stipata , as well as the fungi Disciseda hyalothrix and Pleurotus pulmonarius , the possibility of using DNA barcoding to study the species diversity of spore organisms, differentiate morphologically similar species, and correctly interpret their ranges and ecology is shown. For all of these species, rDNA sequences were studied; photographs were taken on a scanning electron microscope for myxomycetes.

Plant diversity, species richness patterns, and determinants for different growth forms and range sizes on the territory of Inner Asia have been studied. Main factors determining species diversity in Inner Asia are past climate changes and parameters of precipitation. Temperature of current climate had little effect on the species richness patterns. Precipitation seasonality, mean precipitation of winter and spring, diurnal range of temperature dominated the richness patterns of woody species, while climate velocity since the Last Glacial Maximum and Mid-Holocene, precipitation seasonality and mean temperature of summer dominated the richness patterns of herbaceous species. Increasing of aridity in the studied region can influence the distribution of species with narrow range in the future.

As studies have shown, individuals from well morphologically distinct groups often represent the same species and may even belong to one population in fish and lampreys from environments with unstable abiotic factors (Arctic, mountain, and desert regions). Phenotypic plasticity ensures broad variation ranges of morphological traits in unstable conditions, which require rapid transitions from one morphogenetic variant to another. The choice of a morphogenetic pathway can be influenced by the level of individual heterozygosity, changes in the copy numbers of certain DNA sequences, heteroplasmy, and the presence of several allelic variants in the genes that strongly affect the phenotype. A cyclic character is often observed for evolutionary processes driven by these mechanisms, and speciation usually does not take place in unstable environmental conditions. However, mobilization reserve accumulate in a species with a broad reaction norm, and particular morphogenetic pathways may be genetically fixed when its population finds its way into stable environmental conditions, facilitating fast allopatric speciation.

Studies of 35-year dynamics of the number of bird species of and 80-year observations of their arrival on the western macro-slope of the Barguzin Ridge have been carried out. A steady decrease in the total abundance of background species of birds after 1997-1998 was revealed. Shifts and cyclic changes in the time of arrival of birds were found. The 26 species (40.0 %) from the 65 species arrived statistically significantly earlier, 7 species (10.8 %) arrived later, and 32 species (49.2 %) had no statistically significant timing. Links have been established between the timing of the first registrations of migratory bird species and their local abundance and habitat distribution. Some mechanisms for forming the local bird’s population have been disclosed, including using redistribution of species breeding density between river valleys and habitats on a high profile.

A study of the long-term abundance of ground beetles of the genus Carabus over a thirty-year period made. The ratios of climatic factors that have a corrective effect on the level of their numbers are established. The level of precipitation, the duration of the frost-free period and the ground temperature on the soil surface are the most important meteorological parameters in the ground beetles life of genus Carabus. Air temperature effects through the duration of the biological summer, limited by the timing of the onset of spring and autumn indirectly. The gradation cycles of long-term series determined by intra-population and climatic processes are determined. It’s consists of short 2-4 years and long 7-10 summer periods. Within the framework of phase portraits, the mechanism of action of regulatory factors on the process of numbers long-term dynamics are considered. Stable and prodromal types of the number dynamics of long-term series were established. Fluctuations in the abundance of ground beetles of the genus Carabus did not go beyond the framework of the stationary process during the studied period.

High-detailed images acquired by means of unmanned aerial imaging allowed for description of certain type of thermokarst depression structural features. These depressions developed in yedoma deposits in southern part of typical tundra subzone in Lena Delta. Geomorphology and vegetation of the model depression were characterized by the combination of GIS-analysis and ground survey. Detailed mapping showed that the surface of the depression bottom consists of “baidjarakh” field covered by the complex vegetation of highly productive plant communities dominanted by grasses and graminoids. Comparison of satellite images and topographic maps from different years showed that depression appeared from the shallow thermokarst lake drained not later than 40 years ago. Depression terrain and vegetation are determined by its origin and the composition of surface geological substrate. Depression vegetation is quite contrast to zonal tundra by its structure and floristic composition. It contains few species which tend to be more typical for southern distribution. Such spots serve as feeding places for herbivorous animals and in the past could be an important part of the Pleistocene megafauna forage. Thermokarst events were typical for the ice-complex through the whole period of its formation, but might differ in intensity and area depending on climate conditions. Nowadays size and lifetime of thermokarst lakes depends on their position in terrain and thermoerosion intensity. In tundra landscape thermokarst plays an important role in creation of new habitats and plants and animals biodiversity support.

Based on geobotanical releve GPS coordinates of 7 altitudinal zone associations of Tuva forests and a set of rasters with climatic and topological parameter values, the potential areas of associations has been drawn using the MaxEnt software package. These technique allowed us to extrapolate fragmentary data on specific localities of plant communities to the territory that had not been studied in detail before. The data on the areas of altitudinal zonal associations of forests correspond to real distribution of forests. The analysis of potential areas of these forests has been carried out, the presence of three bioclimatic sectors in Tuva has been confirmed, and their borders have been clarified.

The assessment of the representativeness of the protected areas is necessary to optimize the national and regional protected area networks, as well as to improve the protection of rare and endemic species. In the Republic of Bashkortostan (RB), an analysis of the distribution of rare vascular plant species in need of protection was carried out on the basis of a synthesis of all sources of high-precision geo-referenced data, i. e. the data bases of herbarium specimens and geobotanical relevés. The result of these works was the creation of a graphic database - GIS-map “The rare and endangered species of vascular plants of the Republic of Bashkortostan.” This GIS-map includes three main vector layers: a point layer containing information about 4932 rare species localities, a layer “Protected areas borders” and a grid layer, with cells 6ʹ in latitude × 10ʹ in longitude (10.8 × 10.2 km). Based on these layers and standard procedures of the QGIS 3.4 program, an algorithm has been developed to analyze the patterns of distribution of rare species throughout the region, as well as to identify areas with a high diversity of these species and their covering by the existing nature protected area network. On an example of two grid map cells with a high diversity of rare species the approaches to the identification and delineation of further sites of nature protected areas were considered using space images and a digital elevation model. In order to estimate the protection level of the unique combinations of rare species, the distribution of all set of these species within the existing protected areas was assessed. This allowed to justify the creation of two new nature protected areas. The proposed approach does not exclude, but significantly reduces the volume of field investigations, and can significantly reduce the time and financial costs of creation of new protected areas to optimize the protection of rare and endangered plant species.