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Diagnostic indices of pasture digression of steppe plant communities of the Mongolian biogeographical province of Palaeoarctics. – Bazha S.N., Gunin P.D., Danzhalova E.V., and Kazantseva T.I. – Our research shows that the main phytocenosic characteristics (specific variety, project coverage, and above-ground phytomass) may be not demonstrative to judge on the level of pasture digression in some cases. On the basis of analysis of the correlation of the above-ground phytomass structure values, quantitative indices are offered to evaluate the actual condition of pasture lands (bushyfication, palatability, invasiveness).
Key words: specific variety, project coverage, above-ground phytomass, pasture digression, anthropogenic disturbance, bushyfication, palatability, invasiveness, transformation.
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Structure and elements of the natural-ecological framework and specially protected natural territories of the Saratov region. – Volkov Yu.V. – The paper presents the results of studies of the Saratov region's natural-ecological framework structure at several hierarchical levels; some ways to solve problems of protected zones in the Saratov region is shown. Schemes of the territorial distribution of the natural-ecological framework's elements with brief estimation of its general structural-functional parts are given.
Key words: natural-ecological framework, nature protection, native zones, Saratov region.
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Modern flora features of the Buzulukskiy coniferous forest. – Kin N.O. – Historical aspects of studies of the floristic diversity in the Buzulukskiy coniferous forest are discussed. No purposeful floristic surveys of this territory have been made as yet. Critical analysis of some literature and archival sources was made, herbarium collections for the past 100 years were examined. The author has made floristic studies for 10 years and revealed 679 vascular plant species from 353 genera and 96 families, among which 11 rare and 22 disappearing ones need special monitoring and protection.
Key words: flora, forestry, rare species, taxonomic analysis, introduction, national park.
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Steppe shrubs in the forest-steppe communities of the Middle Volga region. – Koudriav-tsev A.Yu. – Data on the steppe shrub distribution over the area under survey and the shrub contribution into the forest and steppe communities are given. The composition and structure of the shrub cenosis are analyzed. General characteristics of the shrub communities are described. A plant community classification based on the ecologo-phytocoenological approach is elaborated.
Key words: forest-steppe zone, shrub steppe, shrub communities, shrub undergrowth, Penza region.
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Some aspects of scaled landscape mapping (with the Saratov Trans-Volga region as an example). – Makarov V.Z., Pichugina N.V., and Pavlova A.N. – The modern landscape structure (up to the landscape level) of the Saratov Trans-Volga region is presented. The paper shows possibilities of a landscape zoning network for large-scale mapping. A methodology of landscape mapping with the aid of GIS technologies is offered. Main problems and difficulties of large-scale and middle-scale cartographic work creation are discussed.
Key words: landscape science, mapping, division into districts, Saratov region.
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Social organization and nesting biology of Acrocephalus stentoreus (Hemprich et Ehrenberg, 1833). – Opayev A.S. – A first description of the breeding system of Clamorous Reed Wabler (Acrocephalus stentoreus) is presented. There are no clear borders between its home ranges. The home ranges sometimes overlap. Particular forms of the territorial behavior are lacking. The mating system is facultative polygyny. A comparison of the breeding systems of three closely-related species of the so-called «Acrocephalus arundinaceus-complex» is presented. The main difference between these three forms concerns some basic features of their territorial behavior. The two other species, namely, Great Reed (A. arundinaceus) and Oriental Reed (A. orientalis) Warblers, have protected territories. The territories of these species rarely overlap, particular forms of the territorial behavior are presented. The mechanism of the breeding system evolution of Acrocephalus warbler proposed by Bernd Leisler is critically discussed.
Key words: Acrocephalus stentoreus, reed warblers, breeding system, mating system, evolution of breeding systems.
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Recent trends in the number change of Great bustard on its display sites (leks) in the Trans-Volga region. – Oparina O.S., Oparin M.L., and Khrustov A.V. – The results of our spring and autumn censuses of the Great bustard abundance on its two display sites with different degrees of their agricultural loading are presented. The ten-year abundance dynamics is analyzed. Data on the Great bustard distribution by biotops and its behavior on display sites are presented.
Key words: Otis tarda, abundance, display site (lek), agricultural load.
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Morphological typification of the Orenburg Ural agrolandscapes. – Penzeva S.V. and Petrishchev V.P. – The paper contains the results of our examination of the morphological structure and zoning types of the Orenburg Ural agrolandscapes. Three approaches to typification of these agrolandscapes are proposed, namely, landscape typology, agro-morphological and basin-erosion ones. Approaches to the usage of geographic information systems for agrolandscape differentiation of agricultural areas are formulated.
Key words: agrolandscape, morphological structure of landscape, basin principle, Geographic Information System, agricultural land structure.
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On the problem of the boundary between the steppe and desert zones in the Lower Volga region. – Safronova I.N. – The Lower Volga region lies within the limits of the steppe and desert zones. The boundary between them crosses the Caspian Lowland. The saline parent rocks, water deficiency, and enormous evaporation are the factors determining the heterogeneity of the plant and soil covers expressed by the term «semidesert». Resolution of a semidesert as a particular zone in the system of natural zones has become a tradition in spite of its indefinite meaning and the fact that its zonal vegetation type is a desertified steppe. On vegetation maps no semideserts have been shown since the 1960ies. By field surveys in recent years we have obtained data to help us to give a new meaning to the published papers and cartographic sources and to correct the location of the steppe-desert boundary according to modern conceptions on the steppe and desert vegetation types.
Key words: vegetation type, environment, semidesert, desert steppes, zonal boundary.
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Methodical approaches to analysis of the biodiversity of small mammals with the intrazonal and zonal sandy landscapes of Mongolia as an example. – Surov A.V., Bogomolov P.L., Tikhonov I.A., and Tikhonova G.N. – A method of calculation of the A-E-gradient is offered for establishment of the zonal distribution of small mammals and for estimation of fauna similarity. Irrespective of the number of allocated zones, the method can be used for zoocartography with few key points, for tracking transboundary interactions, and for developing prediction models of the animal and plant distribution.
Key words: biodiversity, zonal distribution, small mammals, A-E-gradient.
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A strategy of Volga agrolandscape management. – Trofimov I.A., Trofimova L.S., Yakovleva E.P., and Lebedeva T.M. – Agrolandscape management is directed to the creation of an ecologically steady structure and maintenance of normal functioning of agrolandscapes, their optimization, an increase of the fraction of natural fodder lands in the structure of steppe agrolandscapes, development and realization of a complex of biomeliorative and phytomeliorative actions for erosion and deflation prevention, soil fertility restoration, making meadows or forests on erosion and deflation lands, cultivation of long-term grasses on erosion-dangerous and deflation-dangerous arable lands, expansion of drought-resistant and salt-stable culture crops, regulation of the salt and solonetzic processes.
Key words: agrolandscape, structure of agrolandscapes, management of agrolandscapes, phytomeliorative measures, Volga region.
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Pond flora in the Voronezh region. – Khlyzova N.Yu, Novikova N.M., and Davydova N.S. – Our 1990 – 2007 field surveys on 168 ponds in the Voronezh region have shown that their flora includes 139 species of vascular plants (42 families and 78 genera). Systematic and ecological analyses of the regional pond flora speak for a diversity of the ponds in the Oka-Don Plain at a higher taxonomic level in comparison with the specific one. This is associated with the presence of a higher number of the created ponds and the presence of the whole spectrum of small artificial reservoirs of various types among them. Potamogeton acutifolius, P. heterophyllus, P. angustifolium (rare for the region) are met there. The thermophilic Vallisneria spiralis was noted in the cooling pond of the Novovoronezhsky atomic power station. The landscape regions of Calcareous north and Cretaceous south are characterized by the absence of flora specificity and the presence of several species spread in various types of reservoirs. Several adventive species have been identified.
Key words: taxonomic and ecological composition, flora, ecology, ponds, landscape regions, rare, adventive species.
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Abundance and seasonal changes in the small mammal distribution in the Saratov Right-Bank-Volga region. – Tsvetkova A.A. – Monitoring surveys of a community of small mammals in a steppe ecosystem transformed by anthropogenous activity, on a site of typical feather-grass and tipchak steppe in the lower stream of the Chardym river were conducted. A substantial growth of the total density level of the populations of the basic background species Apodemus uralensis and Apodemus àgrarius, Microtus arvalis, Clethrionomys glareolus, Mus musñulus, and Sicista strandi is noted. In this connection, an essential change of the spatial distribution of bank vole, common vole, and house mouse has been revealed. Ñommon field mouse was the most numerous and widely spread species in 2007 – 2008, which, at very high numbers, has uniformly occupied almost all the types of habitat, having displaced striped field mouse from its leading positions.
Key words: rodents, small mammals, basic species, abundance dynamics, fluctuation amplitude, steppe, Saratov region.
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Features of the plant communities of the Festuceta valesiacae formation in the «Burtinskaya steppe» (State National Park «Orenburgsky»). – Kalmykova O.G. – The plant communities of the Festuceta valesiacae formation are most distributed over the territory of the «Burtinskaya steppe» district (State National Park «Orenburgsky»). They are met on saltish and break-stone soils. The Festuceta valesiacae formation plant communities are conformed to two different edaphotopes, which determines their composition and structure features.
Key words: fescue steppes, edaphic variant of steppe vegetation, plant communities, Orenburg region.
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A resource-restorative approach in the theory of modern steppe science. – Levykin S.V. and Kazachkov G.V. – Main approaches to steppe studies and conservation are examined. A resource-restorative approach is proposed for steppe science to solve recent problems of steppe ecosystem conservation and reconstruction. This approach is based on our earlier definitions of the steppe and steppe standard plot.
Key words: steppe, geographical approach, botanical approach, title biological objects, resource-restorative approach, biological station park.
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On the modern border of the Jackal (Canis aureus L.) habitat in the Volga-Ural country. – Oparin M.L., Oparina O.S., Kondratenkov I.A., and Khrustov A.V. – The modern habitat expansion of Jackal in the Volga-Ural country is considered. Literature and polling data, production of the animal and its shooting with an automatic infra-red videocamera established at a bustard nest in the Priyeruslanskaya steppe in the Trans-Volga region were used. The northward expansion cause of this species is discussed, the basic part of whose habitat is located in the desert zone.
Key words: Canis aureus, habitat expansion, climate warming.
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Design and introduction of a GIS cadastre of protected natural territories (with the Orenburg region as an example). – Petrishchev V.P. and Yakovlev I.G. – The paper contains the results of our evaluation of the ecological status of some protected natural areas in the Orenburg region and their monitoring problems. To implement monitoring of specially protected areas, a regional environmental geographic information system is proposed to be created with complete and up-to-date information on the landscape and ecological characteristics, geographical positioning, administrative status and extent of human transformation of the natural heritage.
Key words: environmental monitoring, protected natural areas, geographical information systems, human-induced transformation.
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