Vol 9, No 1 (2016)

The basic tendencies of territorial changes in bird communities of the middle taiga on the Central Siberian Plateau are interrelated with the differences in forestation, productivity, swampiness, bushiness, watering, and buildup of habitats and are on the whole similar to those on the West Siberian and Central Yakutsk plains, although there are also some differences. Thus, the community types of upland swamps and low-inundated meadows in combination with lowland swamps are characteristic only of West Siberia. In Central Siberia, forest ornithocomplexes are the most diverse, which is largely due to the presence of communities of woodlands and glades at different stages of overgrowing. The ecotone type of ornithocomplexes was distinguished only for Central Yakutia. In the North Urals, the formation of ornithocomplexes is significantly influenced by forestation and tree species composition but starts to be noticeably affected by altitudinal zonality as well as productivity of biocenoses and development of shrubs in habitats interrelated with this factor.

The dynamics of meteorological parameters in Siberia and the Altai–Sayan region in the 20^th–21^st centuries are analyzed. Significant trends characterizing the dynamics of the average temperature, precipitation, and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) are revealed. Growing wildfire frequency in the area under study since the end of the 20^th century has been detected. The annual variation of wildfires has a phase coincidence with the dynamics of mean temperatures, positively correlates with climate dryness, and negatively correlates with averaged precipitation data. An abrupt increase in wildfire frequency has been observed in the late 20^th–early 21^st centuries. The spatial redistribution of wildfires in the Altai–Sayan region in the early 21^st century is revealed.

A hypothesis of range formation of the earthworm Eisenia sibirica Perel et Graphodatsky 1984, which is an endemic species of the Altai–Sayan mountain system and is also found on the adjacent plains of Siberia across the valleys of the rivers, is suggested. The limited distribution of the species can be connected with the insufficient cold hardiness of the worm stage (–10 to–12°C). The plains of Western Siberia lie in an area of minimum soil temperature isotherms at a depth of 3 cm:–12 to–14°C, i.e., on average 2–4°C below the tolerable limits for this species. Foothill and mountain soils are warmer, since they obtain much more solid precipitation. Low soil temperatures of the plains apparently “lock up” this species within the Altai–Sayan system. At the same time, there are reasons to consider the northernmost locations of E. sibirica to be relict.

The seasonality of epidemic and epizootic processes of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and borreliosis among the populations of Ixodes persulcatus and Ixodes pavlovskyi ticks was studied. The study was carried out in 2011–2012 on the flatland part of Toguchin and in the vicinities of Akademgorodok in Novosibirsk, on the border between the forest and forest-steppe zones of the Ob region. The results obtained for I. persulcatus did not contradict the previously published studies. The starting point and peak of mass activity of I. pavlovskyi ticks were registered later (the last ten days of May) than that of I. persulcatus ticks. Seasonal variations in the physiological age of I. pavlovskyi ticks were similar to that of I. persulcatus ticks. The only exception to this was detected in the last ten days of April when young specimens prevailed in the population of I. pavlovsky ticks in contrast to the I. persulcatus population. The large influence of I. persulcatus on the circulation of TBE was shown, as well as the influence of I. pavlovskyi on the spreading of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l.

An experimental study of the effects of dietary administered polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on bream (Abramis brama L.) is reported in the present article. Responses of xenobiotic biotransformation system (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase and glutathione-S-transferase activities), antioxidant system (superoxide dismutase and catalase activities), and lipid peroxidation system (levels of conjugated dienes and malonic dialdehyde) are investigated. A PCB dose of 2 mg/kg feed does not cause irreversible physiological transformations in bream after 14 days of administration. The defense systems appear to efficiently suppress the effects of the xenobiotic and maintain stable and low intensity of the destructive processes at the exposure conditions used.

The elemental composition and the content of pigments, proteins, lipids, free amino acids, and antioxidants of five wild halophyte species in Prieltonye were investigated. Plants differed in systematic location (Chenopodiaceae, Plumbaginaceae, Asteraceae), the type of regulation of salt metabolism (eu-, cryno, and glycohalophytes), life form (annual grasses, shrubs), and the water regime (mesoxerophytes, xeromesophytes). A decrease in the ion content of K, Na, Ca among Suaeda linifolia > Salicornia perennans > Halocnemum strobilaceum > Limonium gmelinii > Artemisia santonica was noted. The reversed pattern was observed for the content of C. The increase in the total content of C in glyco-, cryno-, and euhalophytes was accompanied by an increased content of total and membrane lipids, proteins, and pigments. Halophytes varied considerably in terms of components of the antioxidant system—the content of endogenous proline, soluble protein, and lipid peroxidation and the level of total SOD activity. Cluster analysis revealed that the differentiation of the studied halophyte species by the type of regulation of salt metabolism was mostly determined by biochemical parameters.

Migration processes as well as the birth and death rates play the key role in the population dynamics. The main type of movements of the mouse-like rodents outside their home ranges is dispersal. Dispersal processes are still poorly studied: the typical and maximum dispersal distances of different species, as well as the permeability rate of certain landscape elements have not been determined yet. The purpose of this work was to study the dispersal of the two most abundant species by a modified method of nonselective marking. It is found that the distance of dispersal of Sylvaemus uralensis Pallas, 1811 is greater than that of Clethrionomys glareolus Schreber, 1780. The dispersal range of the bank vole is determined (up to 2 km), which is the greatest of all ever determined values for this species. The landscape properties have considerable effect on the dispersal and spatial structure of populations. Landscape barriers limit the processes of dispersal, thus increasing the local density of populations. The article also presents the first description of the “migrant trap” effect.

Transformation of ecological factors on dumps of coal mines under the effect of Pinus sylvestris L. results in formation of three-zone phytogenous fields. The under-crown zone is characterized by a leveled temperature regime, low illumination, forest litter accumulation, and formation of abundant undergrowth. In the sufficiently moistened transitional zone, well-developed moss cover is formed, and the undergrowth occurrence is very low. The external zone, transitional to the background meadow communities, is characterized by well-formed grass cover, an abundance of species, and a group pattern of the undergrowth of P. sylvestris L. The reaction of herbaceous plants on the effect of phytogenous pine fields may be positive (adaptive) or negative. Most species are characterized by a negative reaction.