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History of bird studies in the Volgograd region. – Belik V. P. - On the territory of the contemporary Volgograd region, bird studies began in the second half of the 18th century. First ones were conducted by the heads of large academic expeditions, namely: S. G. Gmelin (1771, 1777), I. I. Lepekhin (1771, 1795), and P. S. Pallas (1788). Therefore, this period of ornithological research can be called the “academic period”. In the mid-19th century, professors, masters, undergraduate and graduate students of big Russian universities (Eversmann, Artzibascheff, Bogdanov, Yakovlev, Khlebnikov, and Bostanzhoglo) started to study the birds of the Volga region, and this second research period can be called the “university period”. At this time, much information about the birds in the Lower Volga region was also published by German taxidermists (together with zoologists), who were gathering bird collections for sale to European museums (Moeschler, Badeker, Rikbeyl, Henńke, Pelzam, Loretz, et al.). In the first half of the 20th century, scientific and practical studies of birds prevailed in the Lower Volga region, required to organize their use and protection. Together with planned surveys by specialists, important data on the birds were collected by amateur ornithologists, who came to the Lower Volga region accidently (Kracht, Vietinghoff, Torne, and Bub). In the second half of the 20th century, active ecological and geographical research was initiated by the staff of Volgograd Pedagogical Institute, who studied the parasites of birds of prey and corvids, the urban bird population, and the birds in fish ponds. And at the end of the 20th century, works under the Important Bird Areas of Russia program started in the Lower Volga region, supported by foreign grants. These works were accompanied by a large series of publications, but, unfortunately, they contained very little significant ecological and faunistic information.
Key words: birds, avifauna, research history, Volgograd region, Russia.
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Salinity influence on chironomid larvae (Diptera, Chironomidae) in the Crimean hypersaline lakes. – Belyakov V. P., Anufriieva E. V., Bazhora A. I., and Shadrin N. V. - The paper summarizes the results of our long-term research (2007 – 2015) of chironomids in 38 saline and hypersaline lakes in the Crimea. Chironomid larvae were found at salinities up to 340 g/l, and their occurrence frequency decreased as salinity rose above 30 – 50 g/l. Four species, namely, Baeotendipes noctivagus, Cricotopus gr. cylindraceus, Tanytarsus gr. Mendax, and Paratanytarsus gr. quantuplex were identified. The numbers of chironomid larvae varied within wide limits and reached rather high values: up to 8 thousand/m3 in plankton, up to 9 thousand/m2 in benthos, and up to 3 thousand/m2 on the floating mats of filamentous green algae, it nonlinearly depended on salinity. A salinity increase led to a decreased number of species and reduced average sizes. Salinity nonlinearly influenced the abundance, biomass and production of larvae, the maximum values were observed within 150 – 170 g/l.
Key words: specific composition, hypersaline waters, Crimea, salinity, chironomids.
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On the distribution of Caulinia minor (All.) Coss. et Germ. (Hydrocaritaceae, Liliopsida) on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region. – Birykova O. V., Schestakova A. A., Belyakov E. A., and Garin E. V. - The results of our analysis of the Caulinia minor distribution in the Nizhny Novgorod region on the basis of published sources, herbaria samples and the authors’ original data are presented. The species preferring water bodies with well-warmed shoals and high mineralization levels was revealed. The species entering the Red Data Book is justified due to its location on the border of the habitat. It is proposed to promote the rarity status of the species in the region; recommendations on its conservation are given.
Key words: Caulinia minor, Nizhny Novgorod region, rare species, Red Data Book.
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Vitality dynamics of Tulipa gesneriana L. (Liliaceae, Liliopsida) populations in the Lower Volga region and adjacent territories. – Kashin A. S., Petrova N. A., Shilova I. V., Kritskaya T. A., and Ugolnikova Ye. V. - The vitality of 38 Tulipa gesneriana populations in the Lower Volga region and adjacent territories was monitored during four agricultural seasons (2013 – 2016). A significant variability of this parameter, correlated with certain geographical trends, is shown within the territory surveyed. Two population clusters were revealed, differing by oppositely directed responses to external factors. A similar variability character was also obtained from ordination of the studied cenopopulations using the average values of morphological traits by means of the principal component analysis. Of all the possible analyzed factors determining the vitality variability,
preference was given to the biogeographical distribution of the genetic variability of the species within the region. A decrease in the vitality of individuals in the populations was established under intensive grazing, as well when growing under low temperatures (the average daily temperature below 10oŃ) during the active vegetation period.
Key words: Tulipa gesneriana, population vitality, Lower Volga region.
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On increasing the accuracy of hunting animal accounting in small areas. – Kondratenkov I. A. - The possibility of increasing the accuracy of hunting animal accounting by replacing the average values of various accounting parameters obtained for small areas by the average values of the same parameters obtained for larger areas is considered with the results of our winter route account of the moose Alces alces Linnaeus, 1758, held in the Saratov region as an example.
Key words: aggregate, accounting accuracy, mathematical expectation, daily traces, winter route account.
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Environmental organization of the spatial-typological diversity of communities of amphibians, reptiles and small mammals in the West Siberian Plain. – Ravkin Yu. S. and Bogomolova I. N. - The differences in estimates of the relation of the population diversity of amphibians, reptiles and small mammals with environmental factors were analyzed by the species’ abundance and contributions to the Shannon index on the basis of their energy indices, as well as the difference in general representations of the spatial-typological variability of the communities of these animal groups with the West Siberian Plain as an example. Analysis of spatial changes in the diversity of their communities by these indicators is shown to give a similar result, thus illustrating the primary influence of latitudinal differences in heat supply. However, the abundance indices with somewhat lower assessments of the relation are more clearly associated with the moisture content (swamped nature) and trophicity of the biocenoses (especially bogs). The hierarchy of the environmental factors revealed is the same by both indicators, although, by the classification and structural modes, the estimates, as well as the general information content of representations, are somewhat higher when ordering the representations by diversity. These differences are most likely due to the uniformity of the values after taking the logarithm used in the Shannon index.
Key words: amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, abundance, Shannon coefficient, factors, relation, linear quality approximation.
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Myelograms of marsh (Pelophylax ridibundus) and pool frogs (Pelophylax lessonae) (Amphibia: Ranidae) of conventionally “background” and anthropogenously transformed territories in the Nizhniy Novgorod region. – Romanova E. B., Shapovalova K. V., and Mar’in I. A. - Our comparative analysis of the myelograms of these lake and pond frogs has revealed a higher erythropoietic activity of the bone marrow in the conditionally "background" amphibians (group 1) as compared to the individuals from urbanized (group 2) territories. Restructuring of the bone marrow cellular composition and activation of the myeloid cells were the adaptive reaction of the amphibians to living in polluted conditions of their aquatic environment. The response variability of particular myelopoiesis elements reflected the plasticity of the organism’s compensatory abilities. With common adaptive reactions of the two sympatric amphibian species, their interspecific differences were shown as hematopoiesis activation in pond frogs. A statistically significant strong dependence between the integral myelogram index of amphibians and the content of iron (r = -0.81, đ = 0.04); chlorides (r = 0.88, đ = 0.01); sulfates (r = 0.88, đ = 0.018) and oil products (r = 0.89, đ = 0.015) in water has been established.
Key words: amphibians, marrow, myelopoiesis, erythropoiesis.
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Morpho-anatomical seed adaptation of some species from the Iris L. (Iridaceae, Asparagales) genus of the Saratov regional flora to environmental conditions. – Minjal M. Sh. and Boldyrev B. A. - Morpho-anatomical features of the seeds of seven species from the Iris genus of the Saratov regional flora, which are important in plant adaptation to environmental habitat conditions, are presented. The seeds of two species, namely: I. halophila Pall. and Iris pseudacorus L. seem the most revealing from this viewpoint. The strategy of I. halophila seeds is expressed in the development of facilities to protect the seed contents from saline solution penetration, which is accomplished as follows: the presence of a coating waterproof and salt-tight film protecting the seed contents from penetration of water with dissolved salts; the most pronounced lignification of the seed coat, as compared with the seeds of all other species studied; the absence of a pronounced ultrasculpture of the seed coat to prevent accumulation of salt deposits on its surface. The strategy of I. pseudacorus seeds is as follows: the formation of a seed that can survive in the aquatic environment for a long time, while maintaining viability, which is achieved by the following adaptations: the seed shape is a flat discoid that allows the seeds to float; the most thickened seed peel, as compared to other species; the weak lignification of the seed coat, especially mesotesta; the presence of an air-bearing cavity in the chalazal part of the seed, which reduces its specific gravity and, presumably, supplies the embryo with oxygen when in an aquatic medium. In the remaining five Iris species (Iris aphylla L., I. pineticola Klokov, I. pumila L., I. sibirica L., and I. tenuifolia Pall.) the seeds have similar adaptations for living in moderate conditions of the terrestrial environment.
Key words: Iris, seed morphology and anatomy, embryo, paraffin method, ecological adaptation, Saratov region.
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Effect of a low-intensity 30 MHz electromagnetic field on Daphnia magna Straus (Daphniidae, Crustacea) crustaceans of various ages. – Papoyan G. K., Filenko O. F., Yusupov V. I., Vorobyeva Î. V., Zotov K. V., and Bagratashvilli V. N. - The results of action of a low-intensity 30 MHz electromagnetic field (EMF) in continuous mode and when amplitude modulation with a 1000 s exposure on Daphnia magna Straus, 1820 crustaceans from a laboratory culture (newborn, 5 – 7 and 7 – 9 day aged) are presented. Observations were carried out of the irradiated parent generation and three subsequent ones (F1 – F3) with no exposure. This irradiation in continuous mode was shown to affect the overall fecundity in the F1 generation only, a reduction of this index down to 64 – 80% in comparison with a reference was revealed in all the 3 age groups. The irradiation affected the quality of the posterity born, by causing the emergence of individuals with abnormalities in the swimming antennas, carapace, apical spine and vision apparatus in all the generations. These abnormalities in the carapace and swimming antennas structure were accompanied by a decreased survivability.
Key words: Daphnia magna, electromagnetic field, morphological anomalies, fertility.
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