Reproduction of the Siberian spruce in the timberline ecotone of the Iremel’ Massif

Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of cones and seeds and the emergence and survival of seedlings in the Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) were studied in different parts of the timberline ecotone on the Iremel’ Massif, the Southern Urals, from 2003 to 2006. In the productive year 2003, a decrease in the number of cones (from 110000 to 3000 per hectare), the yield of seeds (from 13 × 10⁶ to 0.09 × 10⁶ per hectare), and their laboratory germination rate (from 34 to 14%) with an increase in elevation above sea level was recorded. In 2004, significant differences in the number of seedlings per hectare were revealed between the lower, middle, and upper parts of the ecotone (85 200, 19 800, and 0–400 ind., respectively). It has been shown that the greater part of seedlings (76–96%) perish during the first cold period. New generations of spruce trees are formed only after productive years. Seed production and seedling mortality in spruce apparently depend not only on air temperature and soil moistening but also on snow depth and soil temperature, which change more abruptly along the altitudinal gradient.     

Formation of Two Xylem Frost Injuries in One Annual Ring in Siberian Spruce under Conditions of Western Siberian Forest-Tundra

The phenomenon of the formation of two damaged xylem layers in one frost ring is described in Siberian spruce grown in western Siberian forest-tundra. Temperature conditions providing for the formation of pathological cell and tissue structures are determined. The relationship between the formation of double frost injuries and cold periods is demonstrated.     

Interannual changes in the fauna of dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta,Odonata) in the Southern Urals

Data on the abundance and occurrence of 64 odonate species in the Southern Urals are considered. A comparative analysis of the odonate fauna in the early 20th century, in the 1960s and 1970s, and in the early 21st century is performed. On this basis, it is concluded that its structure has been markedly changing with time, with the magnitude of these changes being comparable to that of regional faunistic differences. The causes of these changes are discussed. The apparent enrichment of the odonate fauna is attributed primarily to the appearance of new anthropogenic habitats.     

Seasonal spatial differentiation of sex groups in populations of resident bat species (Chiroptera,Vespertilionidae) in the Southern Urals

On the basis of studies on the ecology of boreal bat species in the Southern Urals (1997–2004), the first classification of their summer habitats has been made. It has been shown that spatial segregation of sex groups into areas of two types, designated wintering and breeding zones, takes place in populations in the period of offspring rearing. In females, seasonal migrations are guided by imprinting on sites providing sufficient food for offspring rearing and on wintering sites. In males, imprinting on wintering sites alone is observed.     

Effect of Climatic Changes on Radial Increment and Age Structure Formation in High-Mountain Larch Forests of the Kuznetsk Ala Tau

The relationship between growth indices and renewal rates of the Siberian larch (Larix sibiricaLedeb.) stands that have grown at the timberline in the Kuznetsk Ala Tau mountains during the past 350 years was analyzed. The age generations of larch were formed in the 1640s, 1660s, 1680s, 1700s, 1720s, 1740s, 1760s–1770s, 1800s–1810s, 1850s, 1870s–1880s, 1900s, 1920s, and 1930s–1940s. It was shown that the formation of these age generations coincided with 10- to 30-year periods of increased growth of larch and improved temperature conditions in summer.     

Habitus Diversity of Ladybirds (Coleoptera,Coccinellidae) in the Steppe Zone of the Southern Urals and the South of Western Siberia

In the ladybird fauna of the steppe zone of the Southern Urals and the south of Western Siberia, five variants, three forms, and two habitus types of adult beetles are distinguished, and their hierarchy is established. The habitus diversity of ladybirds is revealed using a new method of describing each form in a polar system of coordinates whose center coincides with the center of gravity of the insect body. The system of ladybird habitus reflects the main directions of trophic specialization in the family.     

Ground Fires as a Factor of Maintenance of Pine–Larch Forests in the Southern Urals

Russian Journal of Ecology -     

Pathological tree-ring structures in Siberian juniper (juniperus sibirica burgsd.) and their use for reconstructing extreme climatic events

The results of identification and dating of frost, false, and light rings in the wood of living and dead Siberian juniper plants growing at the upper forest boundary in the Polar Urals were used to determine the incidence of these structures over the past 630 years. Based on the data of instrumental observations on daily air temperature, the dates and rates of temperature decrease in the years of pathological tree ring formation were analyzed. The recurrence and intensity of extreme temperature drops during the growing seasons of the past six centuries were reconstructed. The severest frosts occurred in the summer seasons of 1601, 1783, 1857, 1882, and 1968.     

Climate changes in the past century and radial increment of pine in the Southern Ural steppe

Changes in the main climatic factors (air temperature and total precipitation) and their effect on the radial increment of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) over the period from 1933 to 2002 were studied in an insular pine forest growing in the steppe zone of the Southern Urals. Evidence for a significant increase in the amount of precipitation and air temperature in the second half of this period was obtained. Functions of response of radial increment indices to climatic parameters were analyzed. Relative contributions of air temperature and precipitation to variation in the radial increment of pine in different time intervals proved to differ in relation to climate changes during the past century.     

Sensitivity of the Structural Characteristics of Tree Rings to Climatic Changes in Different Climatypes of Scotch Pine

Radial increment and tree-ring structure were studied in the progenies of 16 climatypes growing in the southern taiga subzone. The coefficients of correlation between tree-ring parameters of the local and other climatypes were as high as 0.7–0.9, and the synchronism coefficients were higher than 0.7. Climatypes of northern origin were an exception. The sensitivity of the parameters of the tree-ring late wood decreased with an increase in the latitude at which the seeds for establishing the cultures were collected. Estimation of Euclidean distances in the space of tree-ring parameters showed that the northern climatypes differed from the southern taiga types by no more than 15%. The climatypes from the middle taiga and the forest–steppe exhibited smaller differences (10–11%).     

Morphogenesis of the Procumbent Life Form in Siberian Stone Pine at the Timberline in the Western Sayan Mountains

The morphology and development are described for Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibiricaDu Tour) growing at the timberline in the Western Sayan Mountains. Throughout ontogeny, these plants have a short stem trailing in an approximately horizontal direction. Maximal longevity and viability are characteristic of basal branches, which are able to root and produce vegetative generations. This allows these plants to be classified with the procumbent tree life form, in which the clones of most adaptive genotypes not only survive under extreme environmental conditions, but can also reproduce vegetatively.     

Altitudinal and horizontal shifts of the upper boundaries of open and closed forests in the Polar Urals in the 20th century

In the Polar Urals (the Rai-Iz massif and Mounts Tchernaya and Malaya Tchernaya), altitudinal and horizontal shifts of the upper boundary of open and closed larch forests in the 20th century have been studied. Spatiotemporal parameters of these shifts have been assessed with the aid of the ARC/INFO geographic information system (ESRI Inc., United States), using our original large-scale geobotanical maps showing the distribution of different types of forest-tundra communities in the early 1910s and 2000s. The results show that tree vegetation has been actively expanding to higher elevations over the past 90 years. On average, the upper boundaries of open and closed forests have ascended 26 and 35 m and shifted horizontally 290 and 520 m, respectively. These shifts have been conditioned by climate warming and increasing humidity observed since the 1920s.     

Climate changes and overstory recruitment of larch at the northern timberline in the Yamal Peninsula

Studies on overstory recruitment of the Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) in open larch forests depending on the time of seedling establishment (1880–1980) have been performed in the northern timberline ecotone on the Yamal Peninsula. Two periods of active larch establishment have been revealed: from 1900 to 1935 and from 1950 to 1970. A comparison of these data with the results of instrumental observations on temperature and precipitation has shown that the overstory recruitment of larch in valleys of northern rivers is largely dependent on July air temperatures in the first years of tree life, when seedlings grow 10–20 cm high.     

Tree vegetation of the forest-tundra ecotone in the Western Sayan mountains and climatic trends

Parameters of reproduction of the Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica), including radial and apical tree increments, the age structure of stands, the amount of young growth, and its distribution along an altitudinal gradient, have been studied in the forest-tundra ecotone of the Western Sayan. The results show that, over the past 30 years, P. sibirica undergrowth has expanded to the mountain tundra belt, the apical and radial tree increments and stand density have increased, and the life form of many P. sibirica plants has changed from prostrate to erect (single-or multistemmed). These changes correlate with the dynamics of summer temperatures and monthly (in May and June) and annual precipitation. The rise of summer temperatures by 1°C promotes the expansion of P. sibirica undergrowth for approximately 150 m up the altitudinal gradient.     

Anatomical Structure of Ectomycorrhiza in Abies sibirica Ledeb. and Picea obovata Ledeb. under Conditions of Forest Ecosystems Polluted with Emissions from Copper-Smelting Works

Changes in the anatomical characters of ectomycorrhiza in Siberian fir and Siberian spruce were studied in natural forests polluted with heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, As, and Fe) and sulfur dioxide. As technogenic load increased, the total radius of mycorhiza terminals and plant roots included in them increased in the organic horizon and decreased in the mineral part of the soil. The absolute thickness of fungal mycorhiza caps and their relative contribution to the total volume of consuming organs increased under pollution. The observed responses were regarded as adaptive, aimed at compensating the adverse effects caused by technogenic pollution.     

Structure of the communities of small mammals (micromammalia) in forests on western slopes of the Northern Urals

Long-term data on the species composition and ratio of insectivores and rodents in forest ecosystems of the western macroslope of the Northern Urals are considered. It is shown that the micromammalian communities of mountain forests are characterized by higher total abundance and polydominance and comprise greater numbers of common species than the communities of taiga forests in neighboring regions of the Russian Plain. Hence, the mountain-forest communities of small mammals have high indices of species diversity and uniformity.Translated from Ekologiya, No. 2, 2005, pp. 138–145.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Bobretsov, Lukyanova, Poroshin.     

Structure and formation of conifer stands in the upper timberline ecotone on the North Chuya Ridge,Central Altai

The structure of Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour.) and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) stands and specific features of their formation have been studies in the forest-tundra ecotone on the North Chuya Ridge (2235–2475 m a.s.l.). Changes in the structure of these stands along the transition from the upper boundary of closed forests to the high-mountain tundra have proved to have an ambiguous pattern. Both tree species form mixed clusters of similar-aged trees in the lower part of the ecotone but grow singly, in scatters, in its upper part. The formation of conifer stands (tree clusters) in the lower part of the ecotone, on the slopes of the Aktru River valley, began during climate warming in the second half of the 19th century. The expansion of confers to its upper part took place markedly later, in the early 20th century (Siberian larch) or even in the 1930s (Siberian stone pine).     

Distribution of plants differing in attitude toward thermal conditions in communities of the timberline ecotone on Mount Iremel’, the Southern Urals

Specific features in the distribution of plant species differing in their attitude toward thermal conditions have been studied in communities of the present-day timberline ecotone on Mount Iremel’ in the Southern Urals. It has been shown that the distribution of such species is characterized by significant spatial nonuniformity. Elevation above sea level, local conditions in habitats located at the same altitudinal level, and specific features of mountain slopes account for 13–84, 5–30, and 0.4–14% of the total variance of test parameters, respectively. The abundance of plants changes nonlinearly along the altitudinal gradient, whereas changes in the species diversity of different plant groups have an almost linear pattern. Marked differences between plant communities with respect to the proportions of species differently responding to changes in thermal conditions have been revealed on all slopes in the upper part of the timberline ecotone, upon transition from the slopes proper to the plateau-like areas of intermontane depressions.     

Effect of Mountain Relief and Industrial Air Pollution on Biometric Characteristics of Pine Stands

The effect of mountain relief and industrial air pollution on biometric parameters of pine stands was studied. The empirical–statistical models of the dependence of biometric characteristics on the parameters of forest sites were developed using raster modeling and multivariate analysis. The possibility of predicting changes in the biometric parameters at any site on the basis of these models is shown.