Long-term dynamics of heavy metal concentrations in the food and liver of bank voles (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Myodes glareolus</Emphasis>) in the period of reduction of emissions from a copper smelter

Long-term changes in the contents of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Рb) in the food and liver of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) inhabiting areas exposed to pollution from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter (MUCS) in the period of reduction of its emissions (1990–2015). The results show that 50-fold reduction of emissions has not resulted in an equivalent decrease in the dietary and body concentrations of metals: in the impact zone (1–2 km from the MUCS), Cu, Zn, and Pb concentrations remain unchanged, while Cd concentrations have increased twofold by the end of the observation period; in the background zone (20 km), Cu, Zn, and Cd concentrations remain unchanged, while Pb concentrations have decreased by a factor of 1.7–2.5; and no directed changes have been revealed in moderately polluted plots (4–6 km). The accumulation of heavy metals in the animal body depends primarily on the contents of these elements in food and on the system of elementspecific homeostatic barriers providing effective protection from the toxic effect of heavy metals.     

Estimates of energy expenditures for reproduction in the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca Pall. in an industrially polluted environment

Energy expenditures for reproduction in local populations of the pied flycatcher in the environs of the Middle Urals Copper Smelter (Revda, Sverdlovsk oblast) have been estimated on the basis of the results of long-term studies (1989?C2008). It is shown that the total energy expenditures per fledgling over the nesting period are 1.2 times higher than in the background area, which is explained by increased energy losses (by a factor of 4.1) resulting from partial mortality of the progeny (eggs or nestlings). Variation in the average energy ??cost?? of one fledgling in the heavily polluted zone is also higher, compared to the background area. Average energy expenditures per fledgling increase in years with cold weather, and the same is observed when the birds lay larger clutches.     

The State of Food Resources and Reproductive Success of Tufted and Horned Puffins in the Northern Sea of Okhotsk

Studies on the reproductive biology of seabirds on Talan and Umara islands in 1987–1999 showed that the diet of nestlings and reproductive success of the tufted puffin (Lunda cirrhata) and horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata) considerably varied in different colonies. This was determined by differences in the hydrologic characteristics of water areas and the state of food resources in Taui Bay (the northern Sea of Okhotsk). The reproductive success of tufted puffins was higher on Umara Island due to more favorable environmental conditions and relatively stable food resources in Odyan Bay. The parameters of reproductive success and the nestling diet in tufted and horned puffins from Talan Island differed considerably. The survival of nestlings was always higher in horned puffins, which was related to some characteristics of their feeding ecology.     

Reproductive Parameters of Adult Birds and Morphophysiological Characteristics of Chicks in the Pied Flycatcher (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ficedula hypoleuca</Emphasis> Pall.) in Technogenically Polluted Habitats

Effects of toxic emissions (heavy metals and sulfur dioxide) on reproductive parameters of adult pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca Pall.) and morphophysiological characteristics of their progeny have been studied in the vicinity of the Middle Ural Copper-Smelting Plant. In polluted areas, the fecundity of adult birds is lower, mortality among the progeny is higher, and changes in the physiological parameters of birds are observed. The effects of toxic load are better manifested in nestlings than in adult birds. They include an increase in the liver index, the reduction of hemoglobin concentration, and an increase in the proportion of immature erythrocytes in the peripheral blood. The proportion of anemic birds also increases. The weakening of nestlings facilitates their infestation by the larvae of parasitic flies. Changes in the differential blood count of nestlings reflect the combined impact of toxic pollutants and parasites.     

Assessment of biological effects in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plantago major</Emphasis> L. Seed progeny in the zone of impact from a Copper Smelter

The quality of seed progeny was studied in Plantago major from populations growing for a long time in the gradient of chemical pollution around the Karabash Copper Smelter (KCS). The results showed that the range of variation in seed germination and seedling survival rates was wider in background than in impact populations. The lowest values of growth parameters (the number of seedlings with a true leaf and root length) were recorded in the sample from the most polluted plot. Challenging exposure to toxic elements (seed germination in soils from polluted plots) was found to stimulate, to different extents, the rate of leaf formation and suppress root growth in the seedlings. It cannot be stated from these results that the adaptive potential of plants grown in the zone of impact from the KCS is altered, compared to that in other samples. Evaluation of the prooxidant and antioxidant status of seedlings from this zone revealed a decrease in superoxide dismutase and catalase activities (to 60 and 33% of background values, respectively) and an increase in peroxidase activity (to 122%). The prooxidant status of seedlings in samples from the KCS zone was found to be increased, except for the sample from the most polluted plot.     

Changes in the assemblage of necrophilous invertebrates under the effect of pollution with emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter

Changes in the abundance and taxonomic and trophic structure of necrophilous invertebrates inhabiting mixed forests have been studied in the area polluted with the emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter. It has been shown that the abundance of most taxa decreases by factors of 2 to 80 along the pollution gradient, but the trophic structure and composition of major groups vary insignificantly. Changes in the necrophilous assemblage can be caused by either direct (toxic) action of industrial pollutants or their indirect effect exerted through modification of habitats.     

The gyrfalcon, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Falco rusticolus</Emphasis>, in the Yamal Peninsula: Dynamics of brood size and nest size over the years 1973–2008

The gyrfalcon in the Yamal Peninsula nests mostly on trees. The average brood size in this species decreased from 3.1 nestlings per active nest (n = 28) between 1973 and 1989 to 2.2 (n = 22) between 1998 and 2008. This decrease is probably explained by switching to the habit of using mostly smaller nests (built by the rough-legged buzzard, raven, or hooded crow) instead of large nests built by the white-tailed eagle. The survival rate of gyrfalcon nestlings in smaller nests is considerably lower: the average brood size is only 1.6 (n = 12), compared to 2.5 (n = 20) in medium-sized and 3.0 (n = 34) in large nests. The possible role of increase in snow cover density caused by climate warming in making large nests less accessible to the gyrfalcon is discussed.     

Dynamic trends of heavy metal contents in plants and soil under different industrial air pollution regimes

Based on 30-year monitoring of Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺ concentrations in the organic horizon of Albic Rustic Podzols and the foliage of six plant species, a dynamic trend in the level of heavy metal accumulation in the components of forest ecosystems of the Kola Peninsula has been revealed against the background of five- to eightfold reduction of pollutant emissions. The direction of the trend has been found to differ: the size of polluted area and pollution level increase with time, while the concentrations of heavy metals in plants decrease due to reduction in their input from the polluted air.     

Trophic specificity of theRana arvalis population from the eastern ural radioactive trace in relation to the state of the soil mesofauna

Studies on the population ofRana arvalis Nilss. frogs performed in the radioactively contaminated area near Lake Berdanish in 1993 revealed a number of features indicating that the contents of nutrients in the organisms of adults and juveniles is low. The analysis of simultaneously collected data on food supply to this population showed that the structure of food chains in the study area is simplified and the diversity and biomass of soil invertebrates (the main food for amphibians) are sharply reduced. These factors account for food deficiency, which manifests itself in a low level of stomach filling and individual energy reserves of the frogs and is reflected in their population characteristics.     

Microscale Spatial Variation in Forest Litter Phytotoxicity

The spatial variation (within a 100 × 100 m plot) in the pollution of forest litter with heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, and Zn), its acidity, and phytotoxicity (measured by the results of the root test using seedlings from a genetically homogeneous sample of common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale s.l.) have been estimated. Forest litter has been sampled in three zones differing in the toxic impact of long-term polymetal pollution by emissions from a copper-smelting plant emissions in the Middle Urals. The phytotoxicity variation is maximum in a moderately polluted plot, where both very high and very low pollution levels were observed, which determines a substantially nonlinear dose–effect relationship. The litter phytotoxicity is mainly accounted for by exchangeable forms of metals. Biological testing of samples from the most polluted plot has demonstrated marked antagonism between heavy metals and acidity.     

Soil-dwelling Collembola in coniferous forests along the gradient of pollution with emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter

The results of three-year studies on Collembola communities in spruce-fir forests along the gradient of pollution with emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter (Revda, Sverdlovsk oblast) are presented. They show that the species and ecological structure of these communities change abruptly in the impact zone (1 km from the source of emissions), compared to the background zone (30 km from the source), which involves a decrease in the abundance and diversity of Collembola. Their total abundance and species richness in the zone of intermediate disturbance (7 and 4 km) are considerably higher than in the background zone, and the species structure of communities is characterized by superdominance. Four species groups differing in sensitivity to pollution are distinguished. Preference for zones with different pollution levels in closely related species is regarded as a case of ecological vicariation.     

Features of Prooxidant and Antioxidant Systems of Greater Plantain <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plantago major</Emphasis> Growing for a Long Time under Conditions of Radioactive Contamination

The viability and state of the prooxidant and antioxidant systems of Plantago major seed progeny from cenopopulations growing for a long time at the East-Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT) has been estimated. Radiation doses of maternal plants have been calculated using our empirical data in ERICA Tool. The absorbed dose rates for plantain in the EURT zone varied from 19 to 157 μGy/h, which is 178–1455 times higher than the background values. These relatively low levels of chronic irradiation did not cause a significant decrease in the survival rate of P. major seed progeny; the rate of root and leaf growth decreased only in seedlings from the most polluted cenopopulation. A prooxidant shift was revealed in seedlings from the EURT zone. Given the same regime of enzyme protection (SOD, CAT, and POX) against active oxygen forms, the average rate of accumulation of secondary products of lipid peroxidation (MDA) was 3.3 times higher in impact samples than in background samples. The level of prooxidant shift in impact samples is not linearly related to dose rates that are classified as low doses.     

Mortality and recruitment of mountain birch (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Betula pubescens</Emphasis> ssp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">czerepanovii</Emphasis>) in the impact zone of a copper-nickel smelter in the period of significant reduction of emissions: The results of 15-year monitoring

Long-term monitoring of mountain birch populations (1992–2006) was performed in 14 test plots located at distances of 1 to 63 km from the copper-nickel smelter in Monchegorsk (Murmansk oblast) and differing in the degree of disturbance. In the period from 1999 to 2006, atmospheric emissions of sulfur dioxide and heavy metals amounted to only one-third of those between 1992 and 1998, but birch mortality in heavily polluted areas (with nickel concentrations in leaves exceeding 160 mg/kg) remained at the same level, being absent (as previously) in less polluted areas. Throughout the observation period, birch recruitment was observed only in areas where nickel concentrations in the leaves were below 160 mg/kg; i.e., this concentration proved to be the threshold with respect to both mortality and recruitment of mountain birch. The course of demographic processes in its populations has remained unchanged after the reduction of emissions, confirming the hypothesis of the “inertial“ effect of industrial emissions on ecosystems. In some areas of industrial barrens, mountain birch may perish completely within the next decade.     

Relationship between morphological disparity and taxonomic diversity in rodent communities in the zone of influence from the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace in the Southern Urals

To test the hypothesis that morphological disparity increases while taxonomic diversity decreases in a radioactively contaminated environment, the relationship of these parameters was studied in communities (taxocenes) of rodents living in the Southern Urals in the zone of influence from the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT) (2003–2008). Young of the year of six rodent species (98 samples) were examined in the background (control) area (0.2 Ci/km²) and in the impact area polluted with radionuclides from the EURT (750 Ci/km²). The dynamics of morphological disparity (MD), assessed with regard to average values of five exterior characters, was compared between the control and impact taxocenes. Taxonomic (taxocenotic) diversity was estimated with the Shannon index (H). Morphological disparity was found to increase significantly at low rodent abundance (in conditionally unfavorable years) and decrease at high abundance, with the value of MD in the impact taxocene being significantly higher. A negative correlation between MD and H was revealed (r = −0.70), in conformity with the above hypothesis. Discordance (difference in direction) of annual changes in the test parameters, with H increasing while MD decreases (or vice versa) was observed in unfavorable years; it can be used as an indicator of conditions unfavorable for rodent taxocenes.     

Reproductive parameters and disturbances of embryonic development in the fieldfare (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Turdus pilaris</Emphasis> L.) in the zone of impact from the nuclear fuel industry

The impact of emissions from the Siberian Chemical Plant (Tomsk oblast) on reproduction and embryonic development of the fieldfare was studied. Bird abundance, clutch size, and egg volume in the impact and background (control) zones were similar, but partial brood mortality in the impact zone proved to be significantly higher, and the frequency of embryonic pathologies (including developmental abnormalities) was also several times higher than in the control.     

Industrial pollution reduces the effect of trees on forming the patterns of heavy metal concentration fields in forest litter

An analysis is made of the effect of large spruce and birch trees on the spatial pattern of the fields of heavy metal concentrations (Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn) and pH in the forest litter formed in tree stands exposed to long-term pollution with emissions from the copper smelter in Revda, Sverdlovsk oblast. The fields formed by trees growing in the background area have a regular spatial structure: the concentrations of elements decrease with increase in the distance from the tree trunk to the edge of canopy gap, with the position of sampling point relative to the trunk accounting for more than half of total variance. In polluted areas, the regular component of the field structure is very weakly expressed, and the main role is played by higher-order heterogeneity related to the mosaic pollution pattern on the scale of tens to hundreds of meters.     

On sexual dimorphism in the winter diet of the sable (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Martes zibellina</Emphasis> L.)

The contents of the digestive tract in sables (Martes zibellina L.) of known sex and age from the Middle Kolyma basin were examined to assess the winter diet in general and the frequencies of particular types of food in different sex and age groups of these animals. No statistically significant sex-related differences in the diet were revealed. This is probably explained by a considerable overlap of size and weight parameters between male and female Kolyma sables, due to which probable differences in their diets are leveled off.     

The diet of juvenile lake trout Salmo trutta L. in rivers of the Onega basin in autumn

The diet of juvenile trout and the state of their food resources in autumn (September–November) were studied in two typical small rivers tributary to Lake Onega (Karelia) in 2003. The relationship between the composition of food objects among benthic and drifting invertebrates and the food spectrum of trout was analyzed. The results show that before freeze-up, despite the disappearance of aerial and terrestrial insects, juveniles trout continue active feeding. However, their feeding priorities change: they begin to take food objects directly from the bottom, as well as from the water surface and within the water column.     

Accumulation of metals by vegetation in a small drainage area exposed to aerotechnogenic pollution

Trends in the accumulation of metals by different plant species have been analyzed in a forest phytocenosis of the southern taiga zone of the Middle Urals, which is polluted by emissions from a copper-smelting plant. The rate of metal accumulation in the course of annual and net phytomass production and metal outflow with surface waters beyond the biogeocenosis boundaries have been estimated.Translated from Ekologiya, No. 1, 2005, pp. 26–31.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Fedorova, Odintseva.     

Changes in the size structure of carabid communities in forest ecosystems under technogenic transformation

The body size structure of carabid communities has been analyzed based on the 2009 and 2013 collections (with the use of pitfall traps) performed at 10 sites of a spruce–fir forest along the gradient of pollution with emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter. A reduction in the unweighted mean body size of carabid individuals has been shown, as well as the heterogeneity of body sizes in the community (Gini coefficient) of the extremely polluted territory. It has been revealed that the weighted mean body size of individuals and the Lorentz asymmetry coefficient are not dependent on the level of pollution. Differences between the communities of carabids in the background and polluted territories are associated with the smaller number of large-sized species, while the similarity is explained by the dominance of medium- and small-sized species at all sites. The high interannual variability has been observed in the ratio of size groups of the analyzed communities at the background and moderate levels of pollution.