Economic and cultural types of the Turkic peoples of Siberia in scientific works of the mid-19th — first decades of the 21st century

The history of the Russian scientific research on the types of traditional culture of peoples using the scientific concept of economic-cultural types developed in the 1940s–1950s is analysed. The main attention is given to the scientific works on the economic-cultural types of the Turkic peoples of Western and Southern Siberia — the Tu-vans, the Chulyms, groups of the Siberian Tatars — Tomsk, Baraba, and Tobol-Irtysh,— mainly focused on the period of 18th — beginning of the 20th century. The aim of this paper is to clarify the level of knowledge of the types of traditional culture of these peoples and to determine future directions of research on the topic. The peri-ods of the study of the economic-cultural types have been identified. These are the 1950s–1970s, when a body of work on the typology of traditional culture was carried out and B.V. Andrianov and N.N. Cheboksarov developed their classification and published a worldwide map of economic-cultural types in 1972. Further on it is the period of the 1980s–1990s when the works in this direction were reducing and almost completely stopped in the first decades of the 21st century. However, it is at this time that the theory of integrated economic-cultural types has been formulated and tested during their study in different groups of the Siberian Tatars living predominantly in the transitional forest-steppe zone and combining components of the culture of populations with appropriative and productive types of economic activities. A task has been set to study economic complexes of the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars in the 17th–18th centuries aiming at the further use of obtained results in the development of an ethno-graphic classification of the types of traditional culture of the Turkic peoples of Western Siberia.

Higher fire frequency impaired woody species regeneration in a south-eastern Amazonian forest

Understorey wildfires harm tropical forests by affecting natural regeneration, but the trajectories of fire-disturbed forests after disturbance are poorly understood. To fill this gap, we conducted experimental burns in a transitional forest between the Amazon forests and the Brazilian Savanna (Cerrado) and investigated their effects on plant community diversity of regeneration. The experiment consisted of three 50-ha plots that between 2004 and 2010 were burned either annually (six times), every three years (thrice) or not at all (Control). To evaluate early post-fire recovery, we recorded grass occurrence and regenerating stems (≤1 cm in diameter at breast height). We noted that high fire-frequency plots had a reduction of species richness (62%) and abundance (84%) and were associated with floristic and structural changes, dominance of few species and increase of grass colonization when compared with low fire-frequency. We observed that resprouts were the main pathway for forest restoration in both burned regimes, particularly in low fire-frequency. However, the forest can recover from fires by means of resprouting, until a threshold in fire frequency is reached, when resprouts and seedlings declined for most of the species, with a few fire-tolerant species becoming dominant.

Three new species of nocturnal geckos of the Paroedura oviceps clade from xeric environments of Madagascar (Squamata: Gekkonidae)

We describe three new gecko species of the Paroedura oviceps clade, diagnosed by deep divergences in mitochondrial DNA, absence of haplotype sharing in two nuclear genes (sacs and kiaa1239), and morphological differences. Paroedura spelaea sp. nov. is an extremely slender species from karst habitats in the limestone massif of the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park in western Madagascar, morphologically reminiscent of P. homalorhina but distinguished by the absence of distinct dorsal rows of spiny tubercles. Paroedura fasciata sp. nov. from the small karstic island Nosy Hara in northern Madagascar is phylogenetically placed sister to P. spelaea despite radical morphological differences. It is morphologically most similar to P. hordiesi from the geographically close Montagne des Français massif, but is smaller, has slightly more spiny dorsal scales, and a distinctive colour pattern with light grey dorsal crossbands. The third species, Paroedura kloki sp. nov., is known from Ankarafantsika National Park and the western slopes of Makira, two sites of dry to transitional forest in western Madagascar. It is at least partly arboreal and morphologically very similar to P. oviceps, from which it differs by spiny scales extending over its entire tail. Although incomplete, the available phylogenetic evidence suggests that the karst specialists in the P. oviceps clade (P. fasciata, P. homalorhina, P. hordiesi, P. spelaea) form a monophyletic group which might have diversified by vicariance after becoming isolated, respectively, in their limestone habitats in Tsingy de Bemaraha, Ankarana, Nosy Hara and Montagne des Français.

Wood anatomy of Laguncularia racemosa (Combretaceae) in mangrove and transitional forest, Southern Brazil

Mangroves represent an environment of great heterogeneity and low diversity of plant species that have structural and physiological adaptations linked to a high salinity environment. Laguncularia racemosa is a typical tree species in mangroves and transitional zones. This study aimed to compare the wood anatomy of L. racemosa (Combretaceae) in two different forests (mangroves and transitional forests), which have different soil conditions. For this, we obtained wood and soil samples in March 2016. We analyzed soil nutritional contents in one 15 cm deep soil sample per forest type. In addition, we selected five mangrove trees in each formation for wood anatomy analysis and took one wood sample per individual, per area. We prepared histological slides and separated materials following standard methods for wood anatomy studies. Soil analysis showed that mangrove soils had higher phosphorus, potassium and calcium contents. The transitional soil had lower pore water salinity and soil pH, probably due to high aluminum levels. Anatomical attributes differed between different forest populations. In the different wood aspects evaluated, we obtained higher values in mangrove individuals when compared to the transitional forest population: vessel elements length (375.79 mm), tangential vessels diameter (75.85 mm), frequency of vessels (11.90 mm) and fiber length (889.89 mm). Moreover, parenchyma rays height was larger in the samples of the transitional forest (392.80 mm), while the mangrove population presented wider rays (29.38 mm). The structure of the secondary xylem in the studied species apparently responds to edaphic parameters and shows variations that allow it to adjust to the environmental conditions. The population of the transitional forest showed a secondary xylem that invests more in protection than the mangrove population. Rev. Biol. Trop. 66(2): 647-657. Epub 2018 June 01.

Estructura, composición florística y diversidad de especies leñosas de un bosque mesófilo de montaña en la Sierra de Manantlán, Jalisco

In this paper we describe the structure, floristic composition and woody (tree and shrub) species diversity of a cloud forest at Cuzalapa, Sierra de Manantlán, Jalisco. Two localities with four 2,500 m2 plots each were established at El Durazno and La Pareja. All species present in the plots were identified and recorded, and their diameters at breast height (DBH ≥ 3cm) and heights measured. Forest structure is described using the relative values of density and basal area; in addition, a diagram of forest profile was drawn for each plot. Among-plot similarity was assessed with Sørensen 's Index. Species diversity was evaluated using Shannon-Wiener 's, Simpson's, and Fisher's α indexes. In the total sampled area (2 ha) 2,086 individuals belonging to 101 species (including two new records for the flora de la Sierra de Manantlán, Sapranthus foetidus and AIchornea latifolia), distributed in 75 genera and 44 farnilies, were recorded. The families with the largest numbers of species were: Leguminosae (8), Solanaceae and Fagaceae (7 each), Moraceae and Compositae (6 each), Lauraceae (5), and Rubiaceae (3). Tree density at El Durazno and La Pareja was 1,084 and 1,002 trees ha-', and basal area was 38.7 and 31.9 m2 ha-', respectively. At both localities, Styrax radians had the highest relative importance value. Forest structure and species composition at both localities correspond to tracks of transitional forest between early to intermediate stages, which results from recurrent anthro- pogenic disturbances such as logging 50 years ago. Species diversity in Cuzalapa is one of the highest ever recorded for cloud forests of Mexico, which presumably is a consequence of anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Both kind of disturbances are important forces in maintaining the structure, species composition, and high species diversity in this cloud forest.