Holocene dynamics of forest ecosystems on the upper plateau of the Volga Upland

Main stages in the development of forest ecosystems on the upper plateau of the Volga Upland in the Holocene have been reconstructed by analyzing palynological assemblages from peat deposits. Dominance of the forest landscape in the region began in the Boreal time. Pine and, to a lesser extent, birch were the main forest-forming species, whereas the role of spruce was never significant. Broad-leaved species appeared in forests in the early Atlantic time. The formation of floodplain and upland bogs began at the end of the Boreal time and in the first half of the Atlantic time, respectively. Significant anthropogenic changes in the vegetation began in the Subboreal time.     

Holocene dynamics of forest ecosystems on the upper plateau of the Volga Upland

Main stages in the development of forest ecosystems on the lower plateau of the Volga Upland in the Holocene have been reconstructed by analyzing palynological assemblages from peat deposits. It was established that the steppe cenosis dominated from 12000 to 8500 years ago, forest and steppe communities were equally dominant further up to 6000 years ago, mainly forest communities were dominant up to 3200 years ago, and then domination again passed to forest-steppe landscapes with a predominance of steppe communities.     

Vegetation restoration dynamics in the forest-steppe system of the middle Volga region

The current dynamics of ecosystems of the forest-steppe system is most adequately described via determining the probable trajectories of changes in its elements in a simple Markov chain. The obtained data have made it possible to determine the direction of succession and draw its scheme. Theoretically possible series of community development are presented. The succession of community restoration from the spread of shrubs over steppificated fallow lands to the formation of low forests of European bird cherry has been analyzed. The restoration cycle of ecosystem dynamics is described by eight age stages.     

The Holocene Dynamics of Vegetation and Ecological Conditions in the Polar Urals

Palynological, paleocarpological, and paleoentomological analyses of frozen peat deposits near Lake Pereval'noe, the Polar Urals, were performed to reveal the main stages of change in the pattern of vegetation over the period from the beginning of warming after the last Pleistocene glaciation to the late Holocene. Nine to four thousand years ago, the study region (at the present-day upper boundary of open larch forests) was covered with taiga forests, as the climate there was significantly warmer. These were larch–birch forests with an admixture of spruce and, later, spruce forests with larch and birch.     

Holocene Dynamics of Vegetation and Ecological Conditions in the Center of the East European Plain

Changes in the vegetation and fire regimes in the central East European Plain during the second half of the Holocene have been reconstructed based on the results of paleobotanical analysis and radiocarbon dating of material from a section of peat deposit in the Mordovia State Nature Reserve. It has been shown that birch–pine forests were widespread in the region between 7000 and 5000 yr BP, with the frequency of fires in that period being high (the fire return interval ranged from 10–20 to 100 years). Beginning from 5000 yr BP and to the early 20th century, broadleaf forests were dominant, with the fire return interval increasing to 300–500 years or longer.     

云南喀斯特关键带植被时空变化特征及气候与人为影响因子解析

受自然环境及人类活动的影响,滇东南喀斯特地区石漠化问题严重,当地生态环境面临巨大压力.基于MODIS-NDVI数据通过像元二分模型提取植被覆盖度FVC,采用回归与残差分析等方法对2000 ～ 2016年植被覆盖时空变化特征和趋势进行了分析,并对影响其变化的气候和人为因子进行了解析.研究结果表明:近17年研究区FVC总体呈波动上升的趋势,增长速率为春季(0.005 0/a)＞冬季(0.004 3/a)＞秋季(0.004 0/a)＞夏季(0.000 3/a),年增长速率0.003 6/a.2000年以来FVC呈增加趋势的区域占研究区总面积比例在85％以上,而在市域、县域中心区以减少为主.研究区分别有56.41％、61.47％的FVC与气温、降水因子的相关系数通过0.05的显著性检验,主要呈正相关关系.2000～2016年研究区受人类活动影响持续增加的面积占总面积80.54％,持续减弱的面积占13％,影响不变的面积占6.46％,人类活动对FVC变化的影响呈持续加强的趋势.研究结果将为定量评估喀斯特区域石漠化综合治理工程和生态修复评估提供科学依据.     

Efficiency of natural reproduction of sturgeons in the lower Volga under current conditions

The results are presented that have been obtained during long-term studies (1991–2009) on the efficiency of natural reproduction of the beluga, Russian sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, and sterlet in different spawning zones of the Volga. The influence of major environmental factors on the formation of the offspring of these fishes is analyzed. It is shown that the productivity of Volga spawning grounds varies depending on the river flow volume during spring floods and the abundance of active spawners. Practical recommendations are proposed for enhancing sturgeon reproduction in the Volga.     

Phylogenetic diversity scaling in small mammal communities: The example of Nizhny Novgorod region of the Volga Basin

Traditional approaches to structural analysis of biotic communities, based on the data on species abundances, do not take into account phylogenetic relationships between these species. We propose a new approach to studying the scaling (scale dependence) of phylogenetic diversity by means of multifractal analysis in which the moments of phylogenetic diversity are used. The results of applying this approach to small mammal communities of Nizhny Novgorod region of the Volga Basin has shown that phylogenetic diversity scaling complies with the power law, which is indicative of the self-similarity of these communities. The multifractal spectra of phylogenetic diversity scaling markedly differ from the spectra of species diversity scaling, providing evidence that the proposed approach can provide novel information on the structure of biotic communities.     

Effects of the Anthropogenic Factor on Bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in the Volga Region

Using the example of bats inhabiting the Volga region, the cases in which the anthropogenic factor creates favorable conditions for these animals or significantly reduces their diversity of their fauna are considered. In this context, an opinion concerning the approaches to the conservation of bats is formulated.     

Towards better water governance in river basins: some lessons learned from the Volga

This article focuses on the problems of water governance at a river basin level, and on the role of institutional coordination, participation and partnerships between multiple stakeholders towards sustainable water management. Its approach presupposes that institutional capacity building, strengthening coordination between government institutions (vertical and horizontal), on the one hand, and broadening participation and consolidating partnerships between public, private and civil society actors, on the other hand, is among effective tools in integrated water resource management in river basins. It explores environmental challenges, problems, emerging trends and recent institutional innovations in the Volga basin in Russia—the largest river basin in Europe. Transfer and adaptation of good practices in good water governance between the EU and Russia are discussed. This article presents some research findings and lessons learned from practice by the EC international project ‘CABRI—Cooperation along a big river: Institutional coordination among stakeholders for environmental risk management in the Volga basin’, which is assessed as one of the selected success stories of the European research.’     

The Holocene dynamics of vegetation and climatic conditions on the eastern slope of the Subpolar Urals

Changes in the vegetation and climatic conditions on the eastern slope of the Subpolar Urals over the past 10000 years have been reconstructed on the basis of integrated palynological, botanical, and radiocarbon analysis of material from two sections of peat deposits in the floodplains of the Lyapin and Man’ya rivers (the Severnaya Sos’va basin). The dynamics of regional vegetation have been traced: from the herb–shrub tundra in the late postglacial time to the spruce–larch forest–tundra and sparse larch–birch–spruce stands in the Early Holocene, to birch–pine–spruce forests with an admixture of fir in the Middle Holocene, and to northern taiga forests with dominance of Scots pine and Siberian stone pine (similar to present-day forests) in the Late Holocene. The results show that the northern taiga zone of the study region in the period between approximately 5500 and 2500 years BP was occupied by forests of middle and southern taiga facies, as the climate was significantly warmer than it is today.     

Assessment of Present-Day Reproduction Efficiency in Stellate Sturgeon Acipenser stellatus in Different Spawning Zones of the Lower Volga

Studies performed from 1979 to 1998 provided data on the efficiency of natural reproduction of the stellate sturgeon Acipenser stellatus in the upper, middle, and lower spawning zones of the Volga. A correlation between the size of the progeny and environmental factors was revealed. Today, the main factors limiting the efficiency of reproduction in the stellate sturgeon are the numbers of fish admitted to the spawning grounds (especially in 1997 and 1998) and water level in the Volga during the summer low-water season. Measures to support natural reproduction of the stellate sturgeon are proposed.     

Dynamics of carbon balance components in fallow arable lands on the Valdai Upland

The dynamics of carbon pools in the live phytomass, necromass, and soil reservoirs have been analyzed in fallow arable lands of Novgorod oblast. The results show that the amounts of above- and belowground necromass increase with the age of fallows, while the dynamics of live phytomass have no distinct trend. Comparisons with archival data show that the stocks of soil organic carbon in the studied ecosystems have decreased by 1.39 t C/ha since 1983, which is equivalent to an annual loss of 0.03 t C/ha. The main factors accounting for changes in the carbon stocks of fallow soils are the initial organic carbon contents in topsoil, the intensity of agromeliorative measures taken during the period of agricultural land use, and carbon contents in soils of meadow communities typical for a given region (zone).     

Prognosis of the impact of global climate change on zonal ecosystems of the Volga River Basin

On the basis of the GISS prognostic climatic model, landscape-ecological scenarios concerning the immediate future of the region are considered in the forms of cartographic and analytical models. These scenarios predict a growing thermoarid bioclimatic trend accompanied by a general northward displacement of zonal boundaries, with corresponding acceleration of the biological cycle and increase in the productivity of boreal forests.     

Distribution of Zooplankton along the Longitudinal Profile of Two Disturbed Small Rivers of the Upper Volga Basin

The abundance and trophic structure of zooplankton along the longitudinal profile of two typical rivers in the Yaroslavl sector of the Volga region are determined by anthropogenic and zoogenic factors. The distribution of zooplankton under the influence of these factors is described by the concept of patch dynamics. The abundance of zooplankton reaches the highest values in the ameliorated upper reaches of rivers and in beaver ponds.