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Steppe Eagle (Accipitridae, Aves) in the Volgograd Trans-Volga Region. – Belik V. P., Gugueva E. V., Milobog Yu. V., Vetrov V. V., and Pimenov V. N. – As a result of our expedition surveys in the Volgograd Trans-Volga region during May – July 2013 – 2014, it has been found that the Steppe Eagle currently remains nesting only in semi-deserts around the Lake Elton, within an area of about 7,000 km2. According to route census, the Steppe Eagle abundance in the Elton area is about 6 breeding pairs per 100 km2. By nest mapping, approximately 2 breeding pairs per 100 km2 nest in deserted locations of the Elton area (Pimenov, 2013). With an average population density of 4 pairs/100 km2, the Elton area has 200 – 300 breeding pairs of the Steppe Eagle, which is twice as lower as was in the early 21st century (Bukreyev, Chernobay, 2004). Besides territorial birds, there appeared a lot of idle steppe eagles, mostly juveniles, to form flocks up to 40 – 80 individuals near water bodies. At present, such unwed birds constitute about 60 – 70% of the Steppe Eagle’s entire population in the Elton area. This significant increase in the numbers of unwed birds is apparently explained by the increasing breeding success due to predominant tree nesting, the reduced effect of elimination factors, and the rapid reduction (down to 20 – 25% of the whole Elton area) of the optimal feeding biotopes, which are necessary for reproduction.
Key words: Steppe Eagle, Aquila nipalensis, population dynamics, ecology, limiting factors, Volgograd Region, Russia.
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Specific assemblage structure of longhorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) in floodplain forests of the western Saratov region. – Gorshkova V. P. and Volodchenko A. N. – From 2011 to 2014, we studied the biodiversity structure and habitat requirements of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) in floodplain forests of the western Saratov region. 51 species of longhorn beetles were identified, the most important subfamilies being Cerambycinae, Lepturinae, and Lamiinae: 19, 17, and 13 species, respectively. The composition of the specific communities includes 34, 14, 11, 9, 7, 7, 6, and 3 species for the oak, aspen, elm, willow, linden, maple, alder, and ash-tree, respectively. The largest number of longhorn beetle species was found in oak forests.
Key words: Cerambycidae, floodplain forest, habitat preference, steppe zone, Saratov region.
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Long-term comparative analysis of the stability of Betula pendula (Betulaceae, Fagales) and Tilia cordata (Malvaceae, Malvales) to motor traffic pollution. – Yerofeyeva E. A. and Shapovalova K. V. – In 2010 – 2012, a comparative analysis of the chlorophyll and carotenoid content, total protein, sulfhydryl group content and lipid peroxidation rate in the leaves of the drooping birch (Betula pendula Roth) and small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata Mill.) was carried out for relatively normal conditions and for various levels of motor traffic pollution. In most cases the carotenoid and sulfhydryl group content was higher in the leaves of T. ńordata in comparison with B. pendula under the action of motor traffic pollution and at a reference plot. A reverse situation was observed for total protein. The identified interspecific differences were not absolutely rigid and could be inverted under the action of motor traffic load at some parts of roads. Interannual differences among all the studied indices of T. ńordata and B. pendula were revealed (p < 0.05) at the reference plots, which indicates that the weather conditions during the current growing season can affect the studied tree indices. Of the two tree species, T. cordata was more resistant to traffic pollution, because deviations of its indices from their reference values under the action of traffic pollution were detected less frequently than in B. pendula leaves. This fact, in particular, was due to the higher content of carotenoids and protective peptides with sulfhydryl groups in T. cordata leaves.
Key words: Tilia cordata, Betula pendula, pigment, lipid peroxidation, protein, sulfhydryl groups.
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Composition and distribution of the sibling species of Chironomus Meigen, 1803 (Diptera, Chironomidae) in the Curonian Lagoon of the Baltic Sea. – Markiyanova M. F. – The specific composition of Chironomus in the Curonian Lagoon was studied. Three sibling species of the plumosus group have been shown to live there, namely: Ch. plumosus, Ch. balatonicus, Ch. muratensis, and a first-generation interspecific hybrid Ch. muratensis × Ch. plumosus. The occurrence frequency was 87, 19, 6, and 3% for Ch. plumosus, Ch. balatonicus, Ch. muratensis × Ch. plumosus, and Ch. muratensis, respectively. Ch. plumosus was found in all the regions (southern, central, and northern), whilst Ch. balatonicus was only found in the northern region, from the Juodkrante settlement to the city of Klaipeda. Supposedly, the distribution of these sibling species is due to the presence of a salinity gradient in the Lagoon.
Key words: Curonian Lagoon, distribution, salinity gradient, sibling species of the plumosus group, interspecific hybrid Ch. muratensis × Ch. plumosus.
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Zooplankton of an urbanized water body and the factors determining its development (a case study on the Bolshoye Vasilyevskoye Lake, Togliatti City, Samara region). – Mukhortova O. V., Bolotov S. E., Tarasova N. G., Bykova S. V., Umanskaya M. V., Gorbunov M. Yu., Krasnova E. S., Krivina E. S., and Burkova T. N. – The zooplankton of the anthropogenically eutrophied Bolshoye Vasilyevskoye Lake is poor in taxa. The community of hydrobionts in the lake is characterized by a low specific number of species, low indices of abundance, biomass and zooplankton production. Its base includes eurybiont species, which are indicators of high levels of organic pollution. Our comparative analysis of some quantitative indicators of zooplankton development at various stages provides making a conclusion of its uniformity over the whole surface area of the reservoir during the navigation season. Significant differences in the zooplankton community structure were observed only during the winter period (relative to the other seasons). Our evaluation of the interattractor distances (between chaotic attractor centers) shows certain differences between the stations and relative ecological specificity of the local zooplankton community at Station 1, influenced by industrial waste waters and possessing more expressive chaotic dynamics. Water hardness, the biomasses of bacteria and ciliates appear to be the most important factors for zooplankton development in the lake under the conditions of predominance of «uneatable» and toxic phytoplankton species.
Key words: zooplankton, lake, abundance, biomass, eutrophic lake.
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Trans-Volga Great bustard (Otididae, Aves) population abundance dynamics. – Oparina O. S., Kondratenkov I. A., Oparin M. L., Mamayev A. B., and Trofimova L. S. – The results of our study of the Great Bustard population abundance dynamics in the southern part of the Saratov Trans-Volga region for the period from 1998 to 2015 are presented – on the basis of censuses carried out before the migration to wintering in the autumn and on mating-places in the spring. The abundance dynamics was analyzed and the factors causing it were identified. Data on the distribution of the Great Bustard population density over an account area of 12,000 km2 are presented.
Key words: Great bustard, abundance dynamics, abundance dynamics factors, spatial structure of population, land-use patterns.
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Transformation of the vegetable cover on the territory of the settlement Tytkesken’-2 (the Altai Mountains) since IV thous. B.C. by paleobotanic data. – Solomonova M. Yu., Silantyeva M. M., and Kiryushin K. Yu. – A phytolithic study was made on the territory of the archaeological site Tytkesken’-2 to reconstruct stages of the vegetable cover transformation. Studied were the graminoid phytoliths vegetating at the research site and the phytolithic composition of the soil crossover containing the cultural horizons of the Neolithic, Eneolithic eras, the Bronze age, and the Scythian Epoch. As a result of comparison of the modern plants’ phytoliths with the silicic soil particles, facts of the anthropogenic and climatic changes in the vegetable cover at the site were obtained. Our important achievement is identification of the stage of the maximum anthropogenic influence upon the vegetable cover of the territory during the final Neolithic era.
Key words: phytolithic study, vegetation reconstruction, transformation, archaeology, Neolithic, Eneolithic, settlement.
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On the ecology of one little-known ant species – Camponotus fedtschenkoi Mayr, 1877 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Bogdinsko-Baskunchakskiy state nature reserve. – Grebennikov K. A. and Anikin V. V. – Data on the distribution and features of the ecology and biology of Camponotus fedtschenkoi Mayr, 1877 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Bogdinsko-Baskunchakskiy state nature reserve (the only known habitat of this species in Russia) are given. Critical analysis of the literature data of the species’ ecology and biology is provided.
Key words: ants, Camponotus fedtschenkoi, fauna, ecology, biology.
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Role of nature sanctuaries in the Sverdlovsk region for rare plant species conservation. – Zolotareva N. V. and Podgaevskaya E. N. – Nature sanctuaries in the central and southern districts (the most populated and transformed part) of the Sverdlovsk region were studied. It is shown that, in spite of the absence of real protection measures, these nature sanctuaries serve habitats for many rare and endemic plant species and their surveys promote revealing new habitats of rare species of higher plants and even those earlier unknown in the region.
Key words: nature sanctuaries, protected plants, endemic plants, Sverdlovsk region.
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White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) in the Undory and Sengiley mountains. – Korepov M. V., Stryukov S. A., Mironov P. V., Guzhov A. S., and Tymoshenko N. N. – The results of our abundance census and biology studies of the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla Pallas, 1771) on the coast of the Kuibyshev reservoir, in the Undory and Sengeley mountains in the winter and spring seasons of 2014 are presented. 12 eagle nesting sites were identified along an 80 km coastline, including 10 ones with living birds' nests, with territorial birds noted on other two ones. The nesting density of the species was 20 and 12 pairs/100 km of coastline in the Undory and Sengeley mountains, respectively. All the detected nests were located within the 400-m coastal zone of the reservoir. Eagles prefer nesting on pines.
Key words: white-tailed eagle, Kuibyshev reservoir, Undory mountains, Sengiley mountains.
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