scholarly journals Spatial-temporal distribution of birds in the northern macroslope of the Kyrgyz mountain ridge (Tien Shan)

Author(s):  
E. Davranov ◽  
M. I. Lyalina

Based on the results of our analysis, a classification of bird species of the Kyrgyz mountain ridge (Northern Tien Shan) was compiled according to their preference for habitats and occurrence throughout the year. The program of factorial classification used for this unites species according to the maximum similarity in their distribution and stay in an unspecified number of clusters. In total, 4 supertypes and 12 types of preferences have been identified along the Kyrgyz ridge. In the supertype of birds that prefer undeveloped areas, 6 types were distinguished, namely, the species choosing: 1 – high mountains, 2 – high and medium mountains, 3 – medium mountains, 4 – medium mountains and foothills, 5 – foothills, and 6 – found at all heights. The supertype of birds preferring built-up areas is represented by one type only: the species preferring foothill sheaths and villages, and the supertype of birds preferring rivers and their banks is represented by four types, namely, the species preferring: high-mountain rivers in the summer and autumn; high-altitude and mid-mountain rivers in the spring and summer; mid-mountain rivers in the autumn; and foothill rivers in the first half of the summer. The supertype uniting species found in all habitats is represented by one type of preference, namely, found throughout the whole year. It is shown that of the 154 recorded bird species, most were found in undeveloped habitats, and 6 and 12 times less were in built-up areas and rivers, including their banks. In undeveloped areas, most bird species prefer high- and mid-mountainous landscapes and half as many prefer foothill landscapes. In residential landscapes, most species tend to the foothills, and among rivers, they prefer high-altitude and mid-mountain areas. At to the seasons, the maximum number of species was recorded in the spring-summer and summer periods.

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 04022
Author(s):  
Yurii Aleshin ◽  
Ilgiz Aitmatov ◽  
Isakbek Torgoev ◽  
Bektur Chukin

The genesis and transformation in time of risks in the areas of high altitude tailings storage facilities with respect to changing climate are considered. Based on the example of the Kumtor mine in the center of the Tien Shan at a height of 3600-4300 m, three groups of risk factors were allocated concerning a large, ecologically hazardous facility - the tailings dam containing cyanide waste. For one of the factors, calculations of an accidental dam burst were made using the Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) method. It was concluded that the construction of large-scaled and geoenvironmentally hazardous facilities in less researched high-mountain areas has to be be drawn upon detailed and permanent monitoring of the facility itself and its environment. It is crucial to be prepared for operational adjustment of projects and an immediate rehabilitation of constructed facilities.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich-Karl Holtmeier

Wild herbivorous mammals may damage treeline vegetation an cause soil erosion at a local scale. In many high mountain areas of Europe and North America, large numbers of red deer have become a threat to the maintenance of high-elevation forests and attempts to restore the climatic treeline. In northern Fennoscandia, overgrazing by reindeer in combination with mass outbreaks of the autumnal moth are influencing treeline dynamics. Moose are also increasingly involved damaging treeline forest. In the Alps, the re-introduction of ibex is causing local damage to subalpine forests and tree establishment above the forest limit as well as aggravating soil erosion. High-elevation forests and treeline in Europe are susceptible to the deleterious impact of wild ungulate populations because of former extensive pastoral use. Rodents may damage tree seedlings and saplings by girdling, root cutting, bark stripping and burrowing. Hares damage young trees by gnawing. Large numbers of small rodents may occasionally impede tree regeneration by depleting the seed sources. Rodents do not contribute to forest expansion beyond the current treeline. Among birds, nutcrackers are highly effective in influencing tree distribution patterns and treeline dynamics. Without the nutcracker caching of stone pine seeds any upward advance of the trees in response to climatic warming would be impossible. Some bird species such as black grouse, willow grouse and ptarmigan can impair tree growth by feeding on buds, catkins and fresh terminal shoots.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 241-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Fischer ◽  
R. S. Purves ◽  
C. Huggel ◽  
J. Noetzli ◽  
W. Haeberli

Abstract. The ongoing debate about the effects of changes in the high-mountain cryosphere on rockfalls and rock avalanches suggests a need for more knowledge about characteristics and distribution of recent rock-slope instabilities. This paper investigates 56 sites with slope failures between 1900 and 2007 in the central European Alps with respect to their geological and topographical settings and zones of possible permafrost degradation and glacial recession. Analyses of the temporal distribution show an increase in frequency within the last decades. A large proportion of the slope failures (60%) originated from a relatively small area above 3000 m a.s.l. (i.e. 10% of the entire investigation area). This increased proportion of detachment zones above 3000 m a.s.l. is postulated to be a result of a combination of factors, namely a larger proportion of high slope angles, high periglacial weathering due to recent glacier retreat (almost half of the slope failures having occurred in areas with recent deglaciation), and widespread permafrost occurrence. The lithological setting appears to influence volume rather than frequency of a slope failure. However, our analyses show that not only the changes in cryosphere, but also other factors which remain constant over long periods play an important role in slope failures.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2283-2298 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Occhiena ◽  
V. Coviello ◽  
M. Arattano ◽  
M. Chiarle ◽  
U. Morra di Cella ◽  
...  

Abstract. The permafrost degradation is a probable cause for the increase of rock instabilities and rock falls observed in recent years in high mountain areas, particularly in the Alpine region. The phenomenon causes the thaw of the ice filling rock discontinuities; the water deriving from it subsequently freezes again inducing stresses in the rock mass that may lead, in the long term, to rock falls. To investigate these processes, a monitoring system composed by geophones and thermometers was installed in 2007 at the Carrel hut (3829 m a.s.l., Matterhorn, NW Alps). In 2010, in the framework of the Interreg 2007–2013 Alcotra project no. 56 MASSA, the monitoring system has been empowered and renovated in order to meet project needs. In this paper, the data recorded by this renewed system between 6 October 2010 and 5 October 2011 are presented and 329 selected microseismic events are analysed. The data processing has concerned the classification of the recorded signals, the analysis of their distribution in time and the identification of the most important trace characteristics in time and frequency domain. The interpretation of the results has evidenced a possible correlation between the temperature trend and the event occurrence. The research is still in progress and the data recording and interpretation are planned for a longer period to better investigate the spatial-temporal distribution of microseismic activity in the rock mass, with specific attention to the relation of microseismic activity with temperatures. The overall goal is to verify the possibility to set up an effective monitoring system for investigating the stability of a rock mass under permafrost conditions, in order to supply the researchers with useful data to better understand the relationship between temperature and rock mass stability and, possibly, the technicians with a valid tool for decision-making.


Author(s):  
V. N. Vukolov

The purpose of the article is an objective classification of the mountain passes of the Northern Tien Shan, collecting maximum information about them, which will ensure maximum safety for participants of mountain hiking trips. Systematic work on the classification of mountain passes of the USSR began immediately after the formation of tourism as a sport. By 1990, more than 4 thousand passes were classified. After the collapse of the USSR, tourists began to intensively make sports trips to the mountainous regions of far abroad. By 2001 (the year of the release of the new “ List...”), 5 thousand passes had already been classified. In 2020–2021. a new stage of updating the “List of high mountain passes....” has begun. Since Soviet times, the author has been responsible for the implementation of this work on the passes of the Northern Tien Shan and the Dzungarian Alatau. Therefore, it was in these mountainousareas that intensive work was carried out by the Research Institute of Tourism of the University “Turan” (Almaty, Kazakhstan), which the author has been leading for more than 10 years. In addition to supplementing the list with new passes passed by tourists over 20 years (from 2001 to 2021), the task was set to include in the text as much information as possible about the exact coordinates of the pass points, the names of the pioneers and the dates of the first passage. In addition, a large amount of work was carried out to clarify exactly this section of information about the passes. This article is devoted to the consideration of these issues. During this period, the author, together with colleagues, supplemented the list with 64 segments of new information and six segments of clarifications. Special attention is paid to the choice of reliable sources of information about coordinates and pioneers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1045-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandan Sarangi ◽  
Yun Qian ◽  
Karl Rittger ◽  
L. Ruby Leung ◽  
Duli Chand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2015 ◽  
pp. 96-124
Author(s):  
E. G. Zibzeev ◽  
T. A. Nedovesova

The mountain systems are characterized by diverse ecological conditions (climate, geomorphological, soil, etc.). The wide spectrum of environmental conditions entails a rich diversity of plant communities growing on the small territory and determines the different flora and vegetation geneses. The uniqueness of floristic and coenotic diversities of the high-mountain vegetation of the south of Western Altai (Ivanovskiy, Prokhodnoi, and Rossypnoi Ranges) are associated with the effect of two climate-forcing factors such as the westerly humid air mass and dry warm airflow from the inner Kazakhstan regions. The paper summarizes the data on coenotic diversity (Zibzeev, 2010, 2012) and gives a syntaxonomic analysis of the high-mountain vege­tation in the Ivanovskii, Prokhodnoi, and Rossypnoi Ranges (Western Altai, Kazakhstan). The classification of plant communities was carried out using the Braun-Blanquet approach (Westhoff, van der Maarel, 1973). The relevés records were stored in the TURBOVEG database and classified by ­TWINSPAN (Hill 1979).


2018 ◽  
Vol 938 (8) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
S.A. Kotler ◽  
I.D. Zolnikov ◽  
D.V. Pchelnikov

The types of geological and geomorphological structure of the Katun valley are distinguished in the work. For this, a method of geoinformation mapping using morphometric indicators of the valley’s width and meandering of the channel was developed. The morphometric parameter of the valley’s width was calculated as the total area of terraces. As the morphometric parameters of the channel’s meandering, the angles of the river segments’ deviation relative to each other were calculated. Conjugated analysis of these morphometric indicators enabled identifying 18 morphotypes. These morphotypes according to the geological and geomorphological structure of the valley were combined into 4 classes. Separation of the Katun valley in certain classes and morphotypes is due to the different geological history of these sites during the Quaternary period. The most important reasons predetermining the modern variety of geological and geomorphological types of the valley are neotectonic movements and exogenous phenomena (glaciers, dam lakes, landslides, etc.) naturally localized in the space from the upstream of the river to its exit into the foothills. The developed method can be applied for quantitative morphometric classification of the mountain rivers’ valleys in other regions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atanu Bhattacharya ◽  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Kriti Mukherjee ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Brian Menounos ◽  
...  

AbstractKnowledge about the long-term response of High Mountain Asian glaciers to climatic variations is paramount because of their important role in sustaining Asian river flow. Here, a satellite-based time series of glacier mass balance for seven climatically different regions across High Mountain Asia since the 1960s shows that glacier mass loss rates have persistently increased at most sites. Regional glacier mass budgets ranged from −0.40 ± 0.07 m w.e.a−1 in Central and Northern Tien Shan to −0.06 ± 0.07 m w.e.a−1 in Eastern Pamir, with considerable temporal and spatial variability. Highest rates of mass loss occurred in Central Himalaya and Northern Tien Shan after 2015 and even in regions where glaciers were previously in balance with climate, such as Eastern Pamir, mass losses prevailed in recent years. An increase in summer temperature explains the long-term trend in mass loss and now appears to drive mass loss even in regions formerly sensitive to both temperature and precipitation.


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