1
Common cranes. Photo by V. Ermakova
2
Moose calves swim across the Dubna River. Photo by M. Ivanov
4
Melchevsky peat pits. Foto by V.Kontorshchikov
5
Ilyinka river. Foto by V.Kontorshchikov
6
Flooded peatlands. Foto by V.Kontorshchikov
7
Ramensky peat pits. Foto V.Kontorshchikov
8
Canal Kazënnaya. Kupalʹnitsa (Trollius europaeus). Foto by V.Kontorshchikov
9
Ranunculus aquatilis. Foto by V.Kontorshchikov
10
Chlidonias niger. Photo by M. Ivanov
11
Swans. Photo by V. Ermakova
12
Black kite chicks. Photo by M. Ivanov

ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE THAT FOREST COVER OF THE VOLGA RIVER BASIN PLAYS IN THE REGULATION OF CARBON CYCLE AND MITIGATION OF GLOBAL WARMING (PREDICTIVE EMPIRICAL-STATISTICAL MODELING)

Ecology and dynamics Опубликовано автором

Kolomyts E.G. Assessment of the Role that Forest Cover of the Volga River Basin Plays in the Regulation of Carbon Cycle and Mitigation of Global Warming (Predictive Empirical-Statistical Modeling) // Ecosystems: ecology and dynamics. No 3. 2024. P. 5-35. | Abstract | PDF | Reference

 

 

Using the forest ecosystems of the Volga Basin as an example, the discrete empirical-statistical models were developed to predict future biotic regulation of the carbon cycle in the “forest–atmosphere” system under two climate scenarios, moderate (according to the E GISS model) and extreme (according to the HadCM3 model). Based on the specific and total values of the carbon balance of forest formations, we carried out a quantitative assessment of their environmental resources that ensure positive cycle regulation. Based on the models, certain local rows and zonal-regional types of atmospheric CO2 regulation by forest cover during the development of climate thermal aridization were identified for each ecological region. The structure of carbon balance for forest biogeocoenoses of different ecological regions is described. A comparative analysis of carbon parameters was carried out for two conventional types of forest ecosystems: the restored indigenous forests and the actual forest cover (indigenous + derived forests). It was revealed that the replacement of indigenous forests (coniferous, mixed, broad-leaved) with derivatives forests (small-leaved) leads to a general, very significant reduction in the ecological resources of the forest cover. Verification of the carbon balance models was carried out for the boreal forests of Central Canada.

Results of benchmark calculations of annual and average ecosystem carbon flow in Canadian forests for 1990-2001 turned out to be close to the forecasted values of the carbon balance of the Volga Basin forests for the period up to 2050, but only according to the HadCM3 model, the climate scenarios of which are adequate to the current rate of global warming, but do not correspond to the norm set by the Paris Agreement (2015). Based on virtual forecasting ecological maps of the Oka Basin, the partial contribution of forest formations to the biotic regulation of the carbon cycle was assessed, which can be used in the strategy of afforestation in currently deforested areas. These results signify another step towards transformation of the Gorshkov–Utkin concepts on the ecological forests resources in the carbon cycle regulation into a full-fledged scientific and methodological concept.

Conflict of Interest. This article was not written from scratch as it is a result of the author’s long-term scientific research in geographical ecology, and, thus, is based on the materials of his publications, some of which are listed in the References. Therefore, the author admits there may be a conflict of interest with a reader/reviewer who is not familiar with the author’s scientific and methodological researches.

Keywords: forest ecosystems, boreal belt, primary and derived forests, biological cycle, carbon pools, climate change, carbon balance, ecological resources of forest cover, regulation of the carbon cycle.

DOI: 10.24412/2542-2006-2024-3-5-35

EDN: APBQTP

METHODS FOR STUDY, MAINTENANCE AND PRESERVATION OF ECOSYSTEMS AND THEIR COMPONENTS

Ecology and dynamics Опубликовано автором

ChemirskayaD.S., Podolsky S.A. Camera Traps as a Way to Study Small Mammals Using the Example of the Zeya Nature Reserve (Amur Region) // Ecosystems: ecology and dynamics. No 3. 2024. P. 36-51. | Abstract | PDF | Reference

 

 

The first experience of using camera traps to determine population density and behavioral patterns of small mammals on the territory of the Zeya State Nature Reserve is described. We used an original method of recording large and medium mammals with camera traps: the load of a certain species on the area of the camera coverage per unit of time (e.g. month, decade, total exposure time). This value is expressed in the number of individuals per unit area (Podolsky et al., 2020).

A Browning Recon Force Advantage camera trap was used, the high response speed of which (0.4 sec) made it possible to apply this technique to small mammals as well. The main object of our study was a colony of northern pika (Ochotona hyperborean Pallas, 1811) located on a stone run within the forest belt. We analyzed all registrations of all species that were spotted near the colony during two summer-autumn seasons of 2022 and 2023. For large and medium mammals, the obtained population density indicators were compared with those obtained via standard methods. Based on this comparison, we assessed the possibility of using this method to simultaneously count various species of both small and large animals. Additionally, we described the influence of the camera traps on the results of counting the number of pikas and the effectiveness of studying their behavior.

Funding. This work was carried out for the Zeya State Nature Reserve, theme No. 1-22-37-1 “Dynamics of Phenomena and Processes in the Ecosystems of the Zeya State Nature Reserve and Tokinsko-Stanovoy National Park”, as well as for the state task of Water Problems Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, theme No. FMWZ-2022-0001 “Studies of the Processes of Land Hydrological Cycle and Water Resources Formation, Geophysical Processes in Water Bodies and Their Basins, Formation of Extreme Hydrological Phenomena and Dynamics of Hydrological Systems under the Changing Climate and Anthropogenic Factors”.

Keywords: camera traps, census methods, small mammals, population density, behavioral patterns.

DOI: 10.24412/2542-2006-2024-3-36-51

EDN: DBCAVG

CALCAREOUS SOILS: THEIR PROPERTIES AND DEFINITION OF DIFFERENT SOIL CLASSIFICATIONS

Ecology and dynamics Опубликовано автором

Gorokhova I.N., Pankova E.I. Calcareous Soils: Their Properties and Definition of Different Soil Classifications // Ecosystems: ecology and dynamics. No 3. 2024. P. 67-80. | Abstract | PDF | Reference

А – morphological profile of fallow light chestnut soil in dry steppe (Volgograd Oblast, Volga Upland, “Oroshayemaya” experimental station, 2022), B – morphological profile of modern irrigated soil (Volgograd Oblast, Khvalynsk clay plain, Svetloyarsky irrigated massif, 2016)

In this article we describe the main mechanisms of carbonate penetration into soils, processes of calcareous soils formation (including those caused by anthropogenic impact), and their positive and negative properties. We have noted that the carbonate occurrence in soils depends on their initial occurrence in the soil-forming rocks, zonal and regional nature of soil-forming processes, anthropogenic impacts, and even crops. Therefore, it is crucial to take into account the features of each territory when studying calcareous soils.

We explored various approaches to calcareous soils in different Russian classifications, as well as their peculiarities and general features. “Classification and Diagnostics of Soils of the USSR” (1977) uses the concept of “soil type”, i.e. a group of soils that have similar soil-forming conditions and regimes, similar profile structure, and a key soil-forming process. “Classification and Diagnostics of Soils of Russia” (2004) (and its expansion, “Field Identifier of Soils of Russia” (2008)) identifies soil types using the system of diagnostic horizons that form a soil profile. Those horizons are defined by a set of morphological and analytical indices, reflecting the genesis of said horizons. Natural and anthropogenically transformed diagnostic horizons allow to take into account natural and anthropogenically transformed soils in a unified soil classification. However, unlike the multi-leveled Russian ones, the international classification system “World Reference Base for Soil Resources” (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2022) has a 2-level non-hierarchical approach.

Each classification separates calcareous soils that were formed on calcareous rocks and those created in the soil-forming process. However, they all have a different opinion on how to divide calcareous soils by the amount of carbonates and the depth of calcareous horizon. Therefore, to achieve a complete description of calcareous soils it is recommended to use all three classifications together.

Funding. This work was carried out as part of the state task No. 0591-2019-0023 “To study Transformation, Evolution and Degradation of Soil Cover of Agrolandscapes at Different Organization Levels, Including Intra-field Heterogeneity and Using a Combination of Ground Surveys and Digital Technologies”, and No. FGUR-2022-0009 (122022800220-5).

Keywords: semi-arid soils, arid soils, diagnostic soil horizon, factor and genetic classification, substantive classification.

DOI: 10.24412/2542-2006-2024-3-67-80

EDN: LNNNJH

SPECIES STRUCTURE OF MICROMAMMALS COMMUNITIES (SORICIDAE, RODENTIA) IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE KOLA PENINSULA

Ecology and dynamics Опубликовано автором

Emelyanova L.G., Oboturov A.S. Species Structure of Micromammals Communities (Soricidae, Rodentia) in the Southern Part of the Kola Peninsula // Ecosystems: ecology and dynamics. No 3. 2024. P. 92-102. | Abstract | PDF | Reference

 

In this article, we have summarized the data of the long-term research (2008-2018) of micromammals (Soricidae, Rodentia) in the southern part of the Kola Peninsula in the 2 key areas, the Luvenga cluster of the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve, and Ryashkov Island with adjacent part of the Karelian coast. We used the trap-line method that helped us to identify 7 species in the Luvenga cluster: Microtus (Alexandromys) oeconomus, Microtus agrestis, Clethrionomys (Myodes) glareolus, Clethrionomys (Myodes) rufocanus, Sorex araneus, Sorex caecutiens, and Sorex minutus. On Ryashkov Island, there were 4 species: Microtus (Alexandromys) oeconomus, Microtus agrestis, Clethrionomys (Myodes) glareolus, and Sorex araneus; and 5 more species on the Karelian coast: Microtus (Alexandromys) oeconomus, Microtus agrestis, Clethrionomys (Myodes) glareolus, Clethrionomys (Myodes) rufocanus, and Sorex araneus. During the 11 years of research, we registered population peaks of micromammals in 2011, 2015 and 2018, and depressions in 2016 and 2017 in the Luvenga cluster. Low peaks on Ryashkov Island and the Karelian coast were observed in 2011 and 2015, and depressions in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

The most populated habitats were marked for each of the taxocene species of mouse-like rodents and insectivores. It was revealed that the communities in the south of the Kola Peninsula were usually formed by 2 to 4 species, with either one dominant or two that were replacing each other in different years. In the Luvenga cluster, the highest species diversity was registered in the ecotone of birch-pine dwarf shrub forest with spruce and clover-grass meadows on the littoral (on the ecotone line of traps). There was a high abundance of 3 species: S. araneus (44 ind. per 100 trap-nights), C. (Myodes) glareolus (15 ind. per 100 trap-nights), C. (Myodes) rufocanus (14.6 ind. per 100 trap-nights). The dominant in those communities were S. araneus (average dominance value – 25.9%) and C. (Myodes) glareolus (average dominance value – 14%). Additionally, C. (Myodes) rufocanus with an average dominance of 14% had the largest abundance on the ecotone line of traps and in the pine-birch lingonberry green moss forest (14.6 and 14.0 ind. per 100 trap-nights, respectively). The abundance of micromammals was significantly lower in communities of Ryashkov Island and the Karelian coast compared to that of the Luvenga cluster. C. (Myodes) glareolus was a little more dominant there, while C. (Myodes) rufocanus was absent on the island. At the same time, C. (Myodes) rufocanus dominated everywhere on the Karelian coast (up to 5.7 ind. per 100 trap-nights, with the total population of 6.3 ind. per 100 trap-nights). The least common species in the south communities of the Kola Peninsula were Microtus (Alexandromys) oeconomus and M. agrestis; the former had a small abundance, but was found in all key areas (2.7 ind. per 100 trap-nights), while the latter was recorded in 2008 in the Luvenga cluster (3 ind. per 100 trap-nights on the ecotone line), and in 2011 on Ryashkov Island and the Karelian coast. Further research is required to accurately determine presence or absence of M. agrestis in communities. Lemmings were not registered in the communities of the Luvenga cluster at all. M. schisticolor was found in 2012, 5 km from the key area in a mountain taiga spruce blueberry-crowberry green moss forest with birch and rowan (2.9 ind. per 100 trap-nights).

Dead individuals of Lemmus lemmus were found in 2012 when its population peaked: 11 were in a pine forest near Kolvitsa Village (14 km from the key area), and 2 more were in a foothill pine blueberry and green moss forest, along the country road from Luvenga Village to the Luvenga Tundra mountains. At that time, the abundance of Lemmus lemmus in the communities of the Luvenga Tundra reached 2.0-2.2 ind. per 100 trap-nights.

Keywords: micromammals communities, northern taiga, theriofauna, Kandalaksha Nature Reserve, abundance, dominance index.

DOI: 10.24412/2542-2006-2024-3-92-102

EDN: RADOTK