Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2015 number 1

The calculation of pair correlation coefficients was made using the biological spectrum of vascular plants of the Tom River basin as well as the data on mean monthly air temperature during the winter season, snow cover thickness and snow water equivalent. It was determined that the impact of air temperature on different life forms on the plains and in the mountains not only has various character, but is also displaced in time. The studies showed that the peculiarities of the biological spectrum of the flora are largely determined by hydrothermal conditions during the winter season.

The study of genetic and phenotypic diversity of Cajanderi larch was carried out in the north-east of Asia - in the Magadanskaya Oblast and on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Genetic diversity of the larch was investigated using eight nuclear microsatellite loci (bcLK056, bcLK066, bcLK224, bcLK232, bcLK260, bcLK235, UAKLly6, UBCLXtet-1-22). Phenotypic diversity was estimated using shape characteristics of the cone-scales determined by methods of geometric morphometrics. The microsatellite analysis revealed high level of genetic diversity of L. cajanderi in the Far North of Asia. Significant genetic and phenotypic differences between L. cajanderi samples from the Magadanskaya Oblast and Kamchatka suggested early isolation of the larch on the peninsula. Deficiency of heterozygote genotypes was detected in all investigated larch populations in Kamchatka, which related to high degree of inbreeding. Excess of heterozygote genotypes was observed in the Magadan populations of L. cajanderi, which was probably due to the balancing selection in favor of heterozygotes.

The effect of spring defoliation on different aspects of growth and metabolism of 10–year Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris L.) in natural stands of the Krasnoyarsk forest-steppe region were studied. These aspects included the structure of annual xylem and phloem increments, the content of starch and photosynthetic pigments in phloem, and the activity of antioxidative enzymes in xylem and phloem. It was shown that defoliation caused reduction of shoot elongation, as well as decrease of length and mass of needles, and width of annual rings in xylem and phloem. It also stimulated late wood formation, increase in total contents of photosynthetic pigments in the needles of newly formed shoots, and reduction of starch contents in stems’ phloem. Significant increase of peroxidase activity in the xylem of defoliated trees can be a sign of oxidative stress. Defoliation had an evident negative effect on the formation of the annual rings of xylem, but didn’t have that strong impact on phloem genesis. In general, during defoliation the reserve function of the trees prevailed over the growth function.

The article presents the study of taxonomic diversity and some ecological aspects of basidial macromycetes of the Tatyshev Island (the Yenisei River, Krasnoyarsk Krai). Ninety species, for the most part belonging to the orders Agaricales, Polyporales, Russulales and Boletales, were detected. Mycorrhiza-forming fungi, xylotrophe fungi and humus saprotrophic fungi predominated in the trophic structure. A considerably high proportion of ruderal species of fungi was noted.

Geographical distribution of carpenter moths (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) in the Old World was studied. The cossid faunas of different zoogeographical zones of Earth were characterized. Zoogeographical boundaries, centers of species diversity and generic diversity, centers of endemism in the Palaearctic part of the Holarctic Kingdom, as well as in the Afro-tropical, Indo-Malayan and Australian zoogeographical regions were specified. The Papuan choron was proposed to be regarded as a subregion of the Indo-Malayan region of the Paleotropical Kingdom. The Australian and the New Zealand chorons were also suggested to be included into the Paleotropical Kingdom as the Australian region. Finally, it was proposed that the border between the Holarctic Kingdom and the Indo-Malayan region should be rectified and that the Eastern-Gobi choron should be considered as the separate zoogeographical superprovince.

Four species of shrews were found in the Nadym River basin: Sorex tundrensis Merriam, 1900, S. caecutiens Laxmann, 1788, S. minutissimus Zimmermann, 1780 and S. minutus Linnaeus, 1766. Data on reproduction, sex and age composition, diet and helminths were given. Among young S. tundrensis the number of females was two times larger than the number of males. Nadym basin was defined as the western boundary for the distribution of nematode Soboliphyme jamesoni.

The results of the study of common minnow populations in the Ungra River (conservation zone) and the Chulman River (Neryungri town) in Southern Yakutia were presented. The main biological characteristics of the fish were given. Minnows proved to be highly adaptive: their lifespan could exceed 10 years in the technogenic zone of the Chulman River in the absence of predators and competition for food. Common minnow was a host to 36 species of parasites, 11 of them were typical for this fish, and 9 species were detected for the first time in Yakutia.

The composition and distribution of cyprinid fish in the subarctic region of Siberia were analyzed. While there are 20 species of cyprinids living in the reservoirs of Siberia, only 10 species of this fish family were found in rivers and lakes of the Siberian subarctic region. The populations of these species were relatively low because of the habitat conditions: mainly due to the lack of solar energy absorbed by the reservoirs in high latitude zones.

As a result of soil study and zoological researches conducted on solonetz soils of Transbaikalia in the cheegrass (Achnаtherum splendens (Trin.) Nevski) steppe, the structure, dominant groups and features of space-time distribution of invertebrates were defined. The peculiarities of the zoological complex were poor taxonomic diversity, small number of invertebrates, and low biomass. The factors limiting the activity of invertebrates were detected: poor botanical composition of the soil, low moisture content and soil temperature, physical and chemical properties of the soil and its salinity. The study of the spatial distribution of invertebrates showed that cheegrass was the basic edificator of the community. In Transbaikalia, depending on the seasonal precipitation, the two main types of invertebrate communities can be formed: desert-steppe and meadow-steppe. The variety and abundance of the invertebrates caught in traps positively correlated with precipitation amount and had negative correlation with the temperature. The size of cheegrass root system had the greatest impact on the distribution of the invertebrates.

Communities of ground-dwelling invertebrates of natural pine forests in and around Yekaterinburg were studied. The two main factors were taken into account while comparing different forest sites: urbanization (mainly air pollution) and recreation (frequency of visits by people). The activity density of the taxa most abundant in specimens and species (ground and rove beetles, spiders and harvestmen) increased in urban forests as compared to the suburban sites. Different taxa experienced different changes in species diversity due to urbanization. Decrease in species richness in the city was accompanied by the increased dominance among arachnids and the decreased dominance among ground beetles. The evenness of the rove beetles’ population structure in the urban sites was the same as in the suburban sites. The impact of recreation on ground-dwelling invertebrates was relatively low as compared to urbanization. The effects of recreation were significant in ground beetles (decreased abundance and species richness under severe impact of recreation) and arachnids (increased abundance).

A close correlation between the degree of aridity and biological properties of soils in southern Russia was detected. The number of microarthropoda and microorganisms, humus content, enzyme activity and the integral index of biological state (IIBS) of soils were decreasing with the increasing aridity in the following sequence: chernozem → chestnut soils → light chestnut soils → brown desert-steppe soil. IIBS value variation range for surficial units was 41 %. The difference between the soils increased when biological activity of the whole soil profile was taken into account. In this case the difference in IIBS between the soils increased to 75 %.

Building of man-made industrial complexes in natural landscapes created the necessity to study the changes of the properties of soils, which lost their natural state. The most productive way of monitoring these changes is to study natural–technogenic soil catenas. The article reflects the results of a regional research made by the authors. It provides the characteristics of a representative catena, formed in conditions of technogenesis. The estimation of morphological, physical–mechanical and chemical properties of technogenic surface formations created due to underground coal mining, natural soils and man–made chemozems was given.

The study of iron content in young soils formed on pit heaps of technogenic landscapes allowed diagnosing the soil formation processes occurring there. Monitoring of the content and distribution of various forms of iron in embriozems showed the speed and direction of the soil-forming processes in disturbed ecosystems. It was detected that the ratio of different forms of iron and their distribution in the soil profile can be used as an indicator.

The model of distribution of inorganic substances in the polluted waters of an oligotrophic bog was developed and geomigratory calculations were carried out on the example of the Vasyugan Bog. The inflow of industrial wastewater had affected the TDS level of the bog waters, and the most significant changes of TDS were detected in the top layer about 0.5–1.0 m in thickness. The use of loam as an insulating barrier in the active layer of the bog helps to reduce the negative impact on the waters, but does not provide the preservation of their baseline state on the lower layer.

The data on growth kinetics of the representatives of the genus Streptomyces under the influence of lead, zinc and copper ions was used to show the differences in the functional structure of soil streptomycete complexes in ecotopes with various degrees of heavy metal pollution. We compared streptomycetes obtained from moderately (residential zone, garden patches) and severely polluted soils (traffic zone, industrial area) with streptomycetes taken on the background site. As the result, the former showed higher radial growth rate under the influence of 3 mg/l of metal ions and lower biomass accumulation in liquid medium supplemented with 10 mg/l of Pb²⁺ than the latter.

The article summarizes 27 years of observations on the growth status of Scots pine artificial stands, established after single seed treatment with para-aminobenzoic acid (concentration range: 3.7–18.2 mM). Long–term stimulating effect of PABA on artificial stands’ height growth (up to 47 %) and diameter (up to 42 %) was discovered. By the age of 27 years, self–pruning of the artificial stands increased by 18 %. The possible mechanisms of long-term PABA physiological effect are now being discussed.