Cartographic analysis of the population of amphibians,reptiles, and birds of the West Siberian plain and Altai

For the entire territory of West Siberia, including its plain and mountainous parts, two maps were constructed for populations of amphibians together with reptiles, and of birds. Communities of these classes of vertebrates differ from one another in their spatial differentiation. The differences are demonstrated for the plain and mountainous territories considered jointly and separately.     

Zonal-landscape distribution of insectivorous mammals (insectivora,mammalia) of the Upper Ob region

On the basis of long-term count of insectivorous mammals, the zonal, landscape, and biotopical distributions of their species and communities in the Upper Ob region have been characterized. Landscape-dependent variations in the species composition and dominance structure, as well as population density and species richness of the communities of insectivores have been estimated.     

Classification of the Avian Summer Population on the Western Siberian Plain

The proposed classification system reflects the difference between the three population systems: unbuilt land, built-up land, and aquatic–semiaquatic communities. Two superorder groups—north and median—further divided into types were recognized in each of the systems. Most types are divided into subtypes, classes, and subclasses (and sometimes genera of the population). The estimation of the power and generality of the influence of environmental factors (their variability correlates with heterogeneity of the avian population) has demonstrated that forestation of the territory is most significant in the first half of summer on the western Siberian Plain. The composition of the forest-forming species and zoning are less affected. The influence of moisture and hydration is 2–3 times less significant; mesorelief is 4–5 times less significant; and productivity (feeding capacity) and anthropogenic influence are 7–9 times less significant.     

Spatial-typological heterogeneity and environmental organization of the summer population of birds in the Middle Region of Northern Eurasia

The area under study covered the West Siberian Plain from the Urals to the Yenisei River and the same band to the southern borders of the former Soviet Union in 1991, including a part of the Altai-Sayan mountain country, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the whole of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The results of ornithogeographic surveys carried out on routes with a length of 63000 km in 3140 habitats from May 16 to July 31 in the period from 1936 to 2013 were analyzed for this territory. More than 110 specialists took part in the study. The collected data were averaged according to the contours of natural-geographical maps. The subsequent cluster analysis revealed the presence of three systems (series) of bird communities in undeveloped and developed lands, as well as in water and riparian areas. Eight types of communities were distinguished within the first system: 1—tundra type; 2—forest-tundra type; 3—forest type; 4 and 5—West Siberian meadow-steppe and semidesert-steppe types; 6 and 7—Middle Asian northern desert-steppe and southern desert types; 8—high-mountain type. The borders of their distribution do not coincide with the zonal borders. Seven and six types of communities were distinguished in the second and third systems, respectively. A part of them was divided into 29 subtypes in total. The revealed heterogeneity of bird communities is largely determined by 12 environmental factors. The greatest correlation was detected for forestation, buildup, and watering. The multiple correlation of the bird population variability with all the identified environmental factors amounted to about 54 ± 1% of variance in the similarity matrix, which approximately corresponds to the correlation coefficient of 0.74.     

Metabolic changes in cells under electromagnetic radiation of mobile communication systems

Review is devoted to the analysis of biological effects of microwaves. The results of last years' researches indicated the potential risks of long-term low-level microwaves exposure for human health. The analysis of metabolic changes in living cells under the exposure of microwaves from mobile communication systems indicates that this factor is stressful for cells. Among the reproducible effects of low-level microwave radiation are overexpression of heat shock proteins, an increase of reactive oxygen species level, an increase of intracellular Ca2+, damage of DNA, inhibition of DNA reparation, and induction of apoptosis. Extracellular-signal-regulated kinases ERK and stress-related kinases p38MAPK are involved in metabolic changes. Analysis of current data suggests that the concept of exceptionally thermal mechanism of biological effects of microwaves is not correct. In turn, this raises the question of the need to revaluation of modern electromagnetic standards based on thermal effects of non-ionizing radiation on biological systems.     

Modeling of Multifactor Taxis in a Predator–Prey System

Biophysics - A model of predator–prey dynamics in a spatially heterogeneous range is considered using a system of two nonlinear equations of the diffusion–advection reaction. The...     

Spatial-typological differentiation of clavarioid mycobiota in Northern Eurasia

The spatial heterogeneity of mycobiota species composition has been studied. Clavarioid fungi are used as a model group for mycobiota zonation of Northern Eurasia. The differences in the classification of mycobiota of these fungi resulting from the used coefficients of similarity, aggregation algorithms, and opinions of different interpreters are shown. A method of combining different classifications is proposed. A further study on a larger number of fungal groups would be more representative and would contribute to the creation of a unified biogeographic zonation of Northern Eurasia.     

Spatial-typological structure and mapping of reptile population of West Siberia

West Siberian reptiles were studied on the basis of the materials collected in forest, forest-steppe, and steppe zones of the Ob’ region during 12 years. Their abundance in certain biotopes has been determined. The relationship between the heterogeneity of reptile community and basic structure-forming environmental factors has been estimated, and a map of population of this faunal class was compiled.     

Modeling the Dynamics of Populations in a Heterogeneous Environment: Invasion and Multistability

Biophysics - Abstract—We model the interaction of two populations based on evolutionary equations that consider diffusion, taxis, and logistic growth. Scenarios of biological invasion are...     

Winter distribution of birds in the West Siberian Plain

Long-term studies on the winter bird communities in the West Siberian Plain on a landscape basis allowed us to reveal the regional and seasonal patterns of their distribution. The highest proportion of species demonstrate forest-steppe and forest preference, a lower proportion demonstrate aquatic-semiaquatic preference, and the lowest proportion demonstrate tundra-forest-tundra preference. The preference zones do not change or extend in the winter period relative to summer postnesting period only in a small fraction of species; while the preference zones of most species were reduced or shifted. Commonly, the zonal borders of preferred habitats shifted southward to better climatic, feeding, and safety conditions. Only separate species with seasonally changing and specialized feeding demonstrated a northward shift of these borders.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Biologicheskaya, No. 2, 2005, pp. 201–207.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Vartapetov, Livanov, Tsybulin, Evsyukova.