Biological activity of mountain meadow subalpine soils of Central Caucasus

Indicators of biological activity (humic content and stock, Cmic content and stock, hydrolytic and redox enzymes activity) were measured for the first time in the upper horizons of mountain meadow subalpine soils of Central Caucasus (elbrus altitudinal zonality in Kabardino-Balkaria). The comparative assessment was performed for the biological characteristics together with soil density and acid-base properties for soils of natural and pasture ecosystems. The integral index of ecological and biological soil state (IIEBSS) was calculated to estimate the level of changes in biological activity. It was shown that pasture degradation leads to 30% decrease of IIEBSS compared to the undisturbed soil. The defined biological parameters of natural undisturbed mountain meadow soils could be used as diagnostic indicators for the ecological studies of ecosystems under anthropogenic load.

URAL MOUNTAIN-PLAIN COUNTRY AS A KEY MEGA-REGION OF EURASIA FOR THE CONTINUOUS NATURAL RESERVES NETWORK DEVELOPMENT

The paper is considered the landscape-ecological formation of a continuous network of specially protected natural areas (SPNA) within the Ural mountain-plain physical-geographical country as a transcontinental mega-region of Eurasia. A principally new scheme of the Ural physical-geographical demarcation was a matrix to develop a representative network of protected territories. This scheme was developed, taking into account Ural orographic subdivision, latitudinal zonality, and peculiarities of landscapes altitudinal zonality. The SPNA existing network of the mega-region was analyzed; the prospective key landscape territories were defined as a reserve fund to form reservations.

The current state of mountain meadow soils of subalpine pasture ecosystems of the Central Caucasus (elbrus altitudinal zonality)

Intensive recreational, agricultural and logistics land use in uplands leads to their transformation and degradation. Subalpine meadow ecosystems of Central Caucasus are traditionally used for grazing and mowing. The work determined the current state of soils on pastures (mountain meadow-steppe subalpine soil and mountain meadow subalpine soil) and the level of changes of their properties under different stages of pasture degradation were defined. The efficacy of 4-stage assessment system for evaluating the pasture degradation of grasslands dominated by Bromus variegatus M. Bieb. was shown for the assessment of soil cover condition. The reduce of estimated soil indicators and degradation of soils under pastures with maximal degradation stage (DS3) of meadow ecosystems was statistically significant.

MICROCLIMATIC MONITORING IN MOUNTAIN-DEPRESSION LANDSCAPES

Monitoring is a continuous process of observing and registering the parameters of an object, in comparison with specified criteria. In recent decades, questions related to changes in climatic characteristics have been of great interest. Since 2007, microclimatic observations have been carried out automatically in the mountain-depression landscapes of the Baikal region. The correctness of the use of atmospheric-soil measuring systems is shown by comparing the data of automatic measurements and the data of standard meteorological instruments used at the weather stations of Roshydromet. Estimates of the temperature and humidity regime of air and soils were obtained at 72 sites located in different landscapes in the altitude range of 450–2300 m above sea level. The influence of landscape characteristics, primarily altitudinal zonality, is manifested in the monthly and annual values of meteorological characteristics. Calculations of the vertical gradient of air temperature on the slopes of the mountains are carried out. As a result, an assessment was made of the characteristics of temperature inversions, a phenomenon unique in its power in Eastern Siberia. Their intensity, duration, and frequency were estimated. A comparison is made of the temperature regime of soils under natural and anthropogenically disturbed conditions. The obtained measurement data are used to validate the results of climate modeling and remote sensing (satellite images). The best convergence of rows is observed in open, moderately humid areas. Microclimatic observation data make it possible to study in detail the temperature and humidity regime of landscapes, taking into account the altitudinal zonality, exposure and steepness of slopes throughout the year. The observational data obtained make it possible to clarify the climatic description of the study area, which is currently based mainly on the data of weather stations, the network of which does not cover mountainous regions.

Trajectories of land cover transformation in zonal types of landscapes of Indochina

The article deals with the study of the land cover change of Indochina based on the MODIS Land Cover database for 2001—2012. Geospatial land cover data, which are objectively recorded land surface characteristics, are widely used for small-scale mapping of landscapes and ecological systems. The case region of Indochina was selected for the analysis of land cover transformation. In recent decades it has been undergoing active transformation of land use, associated with rapid economic development, substantial population growth, and reorientation of the agricultural sector to foreign markets. The processes of land cover change were studied within the boundaries of zonal types of landscapes, altitudinal zonality spectra, and groups of intrazonal landscapes. The density of changes is uneven in different zonal types of landscapes, the greatest range of transformations is characteristic to the deciduous monsoon forests, semi-evergreen forests (in the subequatorial belt), and within river valleys. The main trajectories of land cover change for 2001—2012 are as follows: 1) expansion of arable areas due to the reduction of forests, savannas and grasslands; 2) the likely increase in the area of perennial plantations (mainly rubber trees and oil palm); 3) forest degradation and spread of savannas; 4) fluctuations of land under shifting cultivation. Since the 2000s commercial production of perennial cash crops is the main cause of deforestation in the region. Land clearing for these needs could have a greater impact on forest cover than logging. The revealed features of land cover change for Indochina made it possible to specify the regional characteristics of the transformation processes as compared to global typology of land coverchanges.

Lipid fatty acid from the pericarp Cydonia oblonga Mill. and Mespilus germanica L. involved in plant adaptation to altitudinal zonality

The composition of fatty acids of total lipids of the outer and parenchymal part of the pericarp in Cydonia oblonga Mill and Mespilus germanica L. Maloideae (ROSACEAE), growing in the Northern Caucasian mountains at altitudes of 300, 500, 700, and 1200 m above sea level in various natural zones from experimental sites, was studied for the first time. It is established that the altitude of plant growth is largely correlated with the changes in the FA composition of the outer, but not the parenchymal, part of the pericarp. The nature of this variability suggests that the adaptation of plants to the conditions of significant temperature differences in the mountains is associated with the regulation of cell membrane fluidity, based on the interaction of opposite processes of synthesis of polyunsaturated and very-long-chain fatty acids.

(A review) B. B. Namzalov. Steppes of Tuva and South-Eastern Altai. Novosibirsk: Academic publ. "Geo", 2015. 294 p .

The monograph of B. B. Namzalov “Steppes of Tuva and South-East Altai” describes the steppe vegetation of the vast mountain region of the South Siberia. Two fundamental problems of botanical geography and geobotany such as the spatial structure of the plant cover at regional and topological levels and classification of steppe vegetation based on florocoenogenetic approach are discussed. Studying the heterogeneity of the mountain vegetation, the author has revealed the interrelations between vegetation and climate, topography, soils and other components of natural complexes. The advantages of ecological-historical approach to the typology of the vegetation are shown. A hierarchical system of syntaxa of steppe vegetation is given. The book is nicely illustrated including the fragments of geobotanical maps, profiles, block diagrams, schemes of altitudinal zonality of vegetation, as well as color photographs. The book has an English summary where the all chapters are shortly presented.