Habitat selection of sympatric Siberian Grouse and Hazel Grouse in natural and exploited forests of the lower Amur region

The Siberian Grouse (Falcipennis falcipennis), which is endemic to the “dark-needle” taiga of the Russian Far East, is one of the least studied grouse species in the world. We examined post-breeding habitat selection of Siberian Grouse and contrasted it with that of the better examined Hazel Grouse (Tetrastes bonasia) in two areas near Komsomolsk na Amure, Russia. To infer species-specific preferences, we used field sampling, logistic regression, and AIC model selection, and compared late summer habitats of Siberian Grouse and Hazel Grouse in a mountain- and hilly area in the dark needle taiga. Our study is the first to explain Siberian Grouse habitat relationships with an empirical modelling approach. Results indicate proportions of coniferous/ pioneer trees forest and rejuvenation to be the most important covariates separating Siberian and Hazel Grouse observation sites in forests from both areas. Siberian Grouse tended to select sites with low proportions of pioneer trees and rejuvenation but availability of dwarf shrubs. Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) appeared to be of high importance for the presence of Siberian Grouse in both regions. Hazel Grouse were common in places dominated by pioneer trees with high canopy cover, and high proportions of grass/herb cover. Hazel Grouse also occurred more often in forest sites with dense vertical layering and rejuvenation. Modern forestry, which results in increasing amounts of forests at younger successional stages, is likely to favour the Hazel Grouse at the expense of the Siberian Grouse.

Transnational Co-production of Knowledge: The Standardisation of Typhoon Warning Codes in the Far East, 1900–1939

The why and the how of knowledge production are examined in the case of the transnational cooperation between the directors of observatories in the Far East who drew up unified typhoon-warning codes in the period 1900–1939. The why is prompted by the socioeconomic interests of the local chambers of commerce and international telegraphic companies, although this urge has the favourable wind of Far Eastern meteorologists’ ideology of voluntarist internationalism. The how entails the persistent pursuit of consensus (on ends rather than means) in international meetings where non-binding resolutions on codes and procedures are adopted. The outcome is the co-production of standardised knowledge, that is, the development of a series of processes and practices that co-produce both knowledge and ideas about the social order in a force field characterised by negotiations and power struggles.

A new species of the genus Pterostichus Bonelli, 1810 (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from the Russian Far East

Pterostichus (Phonias) neglectoides sp. n. is described from the Jewish Autonomous Region, Russia. New species is similar to P. neglectus A. Morawitz, 1862 but differs from latter in the structure of endophallus, and colouration of palps and legs.

Adakites, High-Nb Basalts and Copper–Gold Deposits in Magmatic Arcs and Collisional Orogens: An Overview

Adakites are Y- and Yb-depleted, SiO2- and Sr-enriched rocks with elevated Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios originally thought to represent partial melts of subducted metabasalt, based on their association with the subduction of young (<25 Ma) and hot oceanic crust. Later, adakites were found in arc segments associated with oblique, slow and flat subduction, arc–transform intersections, collision zones and post-collisional extensional environments. New models of adakite petrogenesis include the melting of thickened and delaminated mafic lower crust, basalt underplating of the continental crust and high-pressure fractionation (amphibole ± garnet) of mantle-derived, hydrous mafic melts. In some cases, adakites are associated with Nb-enriched (10 ppm < Nb < 20 ppm) and high-Nb (Nb > 20 ppm) arc basalts in ancient and modern subduction zones (HNBs). Two types of HNBs are recognized on the basis of their geochemistry. Type I HNBs (Kamchatka, Honduras) share N-MORB-like isotopic and OIB-like trace element characteristics and most probably originate from adakite-contaminated mantle sources. Type II HNBs (Sulu arc, Jamaica) display high-field strength element enrichments in respect to island-arc basalts coupled with enriched, OIB-like isotopic signatures, suggesting derivation from asthenospheric mantle sources in arcs. Adakites and, to a lesser extent, HNBs are associated with Cu–Au porphyry and epithermal deposits in Cenozoic magmatic arcs (Kamchatka, Phlippines, Indonesia, Andean margin) and Paleozoic-Mesozoic (Central Asian and Tethyan) collisional orogens. This association is believed to be not just temporal and structural but also genetic due to the hydrous (common presence of amphibole and biotite), highly oxidized (>ΔFMQ > +2) and S-rich (anhydrite in modern Pinatubo and El Chichon adakite eruptions) nature of adakite magmas. Cretaceous adakites from the Stanovoy Suture Zone in Far East Russia contain Cu–Ag–Au and Cu–Zn–Mo–Ag alloys, native Au and Pt, cupriferous Ag in association witn barite and Ag-chloride. Stanovoy adakites also have systematically higher Au contents in comparison with volcanic arc magmas, suggesting that ore-forming hydrothermal fluids responsible for Cu–Au(Mo–Ag) porphyry and epithermal mineralization in upper crustal environments could have been exsolved from metal-saturated, H2O–S–Cl-rich adakite magmas. The interaction between depleted mantle peridotites and metal-rich adakites appears to be capable of producing (under a certain set of conditions) fertile sources for HNB melts connected with some epithermal Au (Porgera) and porphyry Cu–Au–Mo (Tibet, Iran) mineralized systems in modern and ancient subduction zones.

Traditional Selection Potato Varieties and Their Resistance to the 28-punctata Potato Ladybug Henosepilachna vigintioctomaculata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in the Southern Russian Far East

Background: Henosepilachna vigintioctomaculata is a polytrophic pest, causing the greatest damage to plants from the nightshade family. The study aimed to research the resistance of potato cultivars that are promising for breeding to damage by a potato ladybug in laboratory and field experiments. Methods: In laboratory experiments, the indicators of fertility, mortality and duration of development, morphological anomalies and the effect of potato varieties on the composition of Epilakhna’s hemolymph were studied. The sample consisted of 50 individuals with a slight predominance of females. The experiment used 13 varieties of potatoes. Result: A specific dependence of the frequency of phytophage anomalies on the variety was revealed. The influence of nutrition on survival and the timing of ontogenesis has been established. The results obtained indicate the high breeding value of the material when recommending it for cultivation in regions with a high number of pests, as well as when creating new varieties.

Urbanization of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia and the Far East (20th to Early 21st Centuries)

This article integrates studies relating to the history of urban communities of Siberian and Far Eastern indigenous peoples. A multidisciplinary approach to urbanization processes is used; their stages, rates, causes, and principal characteristics are analyzed. The database consists of our own fi eld fi ndings, published results of sociological studies, and those of All-Union and All-Russian population censuses. Three stages of urbanization affecting indigenous Siberians are described, and their factors and mechanisms are evaluated. The process is characterized by intense migration of indigenous peoples to the towns and cities during the recent period, accompanied by large-scale industrial development, and the transition of aboriginal societies from the traditional to the modern lifestyle. The urbanization, however, has not been completed, because of the underdeveloped urban infrastructure and the fact that many indigenous peoples to the cities had retained their rural traditions. The sa lient characteristic of the urbanization of indigenous peoples in the macroregion is that it was asynchronous, and that its sh ort intense phase, whereby the indigenous peoples mostly moved to nearby towns and urbanized villages in the 1960s–1970s, did not extend to all indigenous communities. Urbanization was incomplete in terms of both quality and quantity, and the integration of indigenous peoples into the urban space has engendered serious problems. According to the All-Russian population census of 2010, only fi ve indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Far East had completed the urbanization process: Kereks, Mansi, Nivkhs, Uilta and Shors. Currently, most indigenous peoples are medium-urbanized. The lowest level of urbanization is among the Soyots, Siberian Tatars, Telengits, Tofalars, Tubalars, Chelkans, Chulyms, and Tozhu Tuvans. We conclude that urbanization among the indigenous peoples is a long, diffi cult, and contradictory process, which, in modern Siberia, triggers many ethnocultural and ethno-social transformations of regional multiethnic communities.