卷 47, 编号 3 (2016)

The processes of soil and vegetation recovery after cessation of surface coal mining operations have been studied for the first time in the far north of Europe. Three stages of primary succession—from primitive algal groups to closed plant communities—have been identified, with the main role being played by soil algae at the zero stage, by herbs at the first stage, and by grasses at the second stage. A close relationship between the early stages in the development of phytocenoses and the stages of posttechnogenic soil formation is demonstrated.

The decline of spruce stands in Belarus has been analyzed in relation to the dynamics of climatic variables. The results show that this process is correlated with the amount of precipitation, moisture deficit, index of aridity, relative air humidity, and evapotranspiration. Frosts at the onset of the growing season enhance tree die-off, while increase in cloud cover has a favorable effect on the state of spruce stands. Damage to trees occurs mainly in areas with elevated and convex topography and slopes of southwestern aspect, increasing on steeper slopes. The level of die-off is most closely correlated with conditions of the previous year, which is explained by the impact of biological factors (pest insects and phytopathogens) on tree stands already affected by water stress. The decline of spruce stands on a mass scale is also observed in neighboring regions of Russia and counties of East Europe, which is evidence for a low adaptability of spruce to current climate change, including the increasing frequency and severity of dry periods.

Coastal afforestation suffers from low survival and slow growth due to harsh conditions and lack of robust seedlings. Inoculation of P-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) or N₂-fixing bacteria (NFB) are effective in promoting plant growth and thus potentially helpful for coastal afforestation. However, it remains unclear about the generality and specificity of these plant-growth-promoting-bacteria (PGPB) on the growth of salttolerant trees. We inoculated seedlings of two mangrove trees and one terrestrial salt-tolerant tree with pure cultures of PSB or mixed cultures of PSB and NFB. Plant biomass, height, base diameter and N and P concentrations were determined six months after bacterial inoculation. We found that inoculation of PGPB had an overall promoting effect on the seedling growth of three tree species, but the effects differed greatly (3–280% increase) among plant species and bacterial isolates or bacterial combinations. Only in the terrestrial tree, co-inoculations of PSB and NFB showed greater promoting effects than monocultures of PSB. Root: shoot ratios of seedlings were not changed by bacterial inoculation. Inoculation treatments moderately elevated N concentrations in shoots and roots and P concentrations only in roots of seedlings. Our results suggest that PGPB might have a general promoting effect on the seedling growth of salt-tolerant trees. Nevertheless, the magnitude of promoting effects and the comparative advantage of dual inoculation over single inoculation are species-specific. The generality and specificity of the plant-PGPB relationship are similar to the plantmycorrhizal symbiosis. In addition, tissue nutrient improvement might not be the main mechanism of the promoting effects by PGPB.

The ranges, spectra of habitat types, and food spectra of artiodactyls in the Far East have been studied. It has been supposed that the overlap of ranges and habitat-type spectra should decrease with an increase in the overlap of food spectra. However, all the three similarity indices have proved to be positively correlated with each other, suggesting that, on the regional scale, the negative role of trophic competition in artiodactyl communities is insignificant, probably because of their low abundance. Conversely, the similarity of food spectra may be regarded as a factor accounting for the overlap of ranges and habitat spectra and, on a large-region scale, for the maintenance of high species diversity.

A comparative analysis of epigenetic variation has been performed in nine European populations and population groups of the American mink. It has been shown that differentiation of samples in nonmetric characters is due mainly to endogenous processes that have occurred in introduced populations in the course of colonization of new territory by the invasive species. Environmental factors have played a secondary role, with the influence of the geographic (latitudinal) origin of a given sample being considerable and stronger than that of macroclimatic factors.

It was studied the tolerance of five spring pea cultivars to Bruchus pisorum based on the weevil damage and chemical composition of seeds related to pea weevil tolerance. From visibly damaged pea seeds by pea weevil was isolated the parasitoid Triaspis thoracica Curtis (Hymenoptera, Braconidae). Cultivars with a lower protein and phosphorus content had a lower level of damage. The crude protein, crude fiber and phosphorus content in damaged seeds significantly or no significantly was increased. Modus, followed Glyans had emerged as tolerant cultivars against the pea weevil. They had the lowest total damaged seed degree, loss in weight of damaged seeds, values of harmfulness coefficient and lower protein and phosphorus content.