Meadows and meadow-like communities on valley and hillsides in the tundra zone: new associations and alliance in the class Mulgedio-Aconitetea

Новые ассоциации и высшие синтаксоны ивняков в восточноевропейском секторе Арктики

Зональная растительность равнинных восточноевропейских тундр

Чек-лист синтаксонов Российской Арктики: текущее состояние классификации растительности

Reindeer remains one of the least studied animals from the point of view of genetics and reproduction of all animals that are use by humans in economic activities. In Russia, reindeer is use as a farm animal to produce environmentally friendly meat with high nutritional value. Reindeer is also the basis of economic activity for the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Depending on the climatic zone, there are two methods of breeding reindeer - tundra and taiga. For more effective breeding and planning of reproduction work of this species of animals, it is necessary to have clear knowledge about the features of their reproductive cycle. Reindeer are animals with a pronounced seasonal reproduction; in addition, the timing of calving and rutting season can shift significantly depending on changes in weather conditions. According to researchers, the gestation period of northern females has a very high variability. The aim of this work was to conduct research on the differences in the timing of the beginning and end of the calving and rutting periods, their dynamics, as well as the duration of pregnancy in female reindeer in reindeer herding farms in the taiga and tundra climatic zones. To compare the dynamics and timing of calving and rutting, data were collected on the recording of matings and calvings in reindeer herding farms in the tundra zone of the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation (Taimyr Peninsula and Yamal Peninsula) and in the taiga zone (Buryatia). Because of the research, it was found that not only the timing of the rut, but also the timing of calving have differences in time in the tundra and taiga habitat zones of reindeer, in addition, they can shift even within the same climatic zone depending on weather conditions. The pregnancy period under unfavorable weather conditions can be shorten or extend.

Twenty-one year dynamics of vegetation from long-term plots in East European tundra

Растительность торфяных бугров болотных комплексов севера Западной Сибири и полуострова Таймыр

The article presents the results obtained by field tectonophysical methods applied to study tectonic stresses of the Northern Eurasia regions, including young and ancient platforms (West European, Timan–Pechora, Turan, West Siberian, East European, and East Siberian) and orogenic frame structures (Caucasus, Northern Tien Shan, Mongolia-Okhotsk system of mesozoids, and Sakhalin Island). Tectonic stress reconstructions provided the basis for analysing the influence of spreading in the North Atlantics and the Arctic on the stress state of the platforms in Northern Europe. A spatial boundary of the influence goes approximately along the margins of the Fennoscandian shield and the Russian plate in the north. Further southwards, the boundary is submeridional and extends from the western wing of the Byelorussian anteclise almost to the Eastern Carpathians. The stress reconstructions for this boundary show the WNW and W-E-trending axes of compression. The boundary line does not coincide with the Teisser-Tornquist line that represents the boundary between the platforms with heterochronous basements. However, it correlates well with heat flow anomalies. The boundary area is confined to the Baltic coast [Sim, 2000. Along the boundary area, near the Baltic Sea, there is an area wherein faulting is mainly caused by extension [Sim, 2000. In this setting, helium permeability is the highest, as shown by the crust map of the European part of the USSR [Eremeev,1983. Extension in this area is probably related to formation of young grabens in the Baltic shield. Changes in the compression axis orientation may be due to the alternating activations of the grabens in the submeridionalBotnicGulf and the latitudinalGulf of Finland. Reconstructions for individual faults show contradictions in the directions of shear displacements: both right- and left-lateral displacements are possible on the same fault segments, and the axes of compression can have either latitudinal or meridional orientations. The focal mechanisms of the Osmussaar andKaliningrad earthquakes (meridional and latitudinal axes of compression, respectively) give evidence of specific current neotectonic stresses in this area. Another zone is distinguished at 52°N from the above-described area. It is mainly sublatitudinal and detected along the southern flank of the Byelorussian anteclise. Further to the east, its orientation changes to SSW, and it roughly follows the SW boundary of theVoronezh anteclise. Reconstructions for the Ukrainian Shield, located south of this zone, show mainly the unstable orientations of the axes of compression. For the platforms inNorthern Eurasia, the tectonophysical methods reconstructed neotectonic stresses in the structures formed under the influence of intraplatform tectonic stresses. These are the residual gravitational horizontal compression stresses released by long-term denudation and uplifting of the structures, including the Khibiny massif of the Baltic Shield, theOlenek and Munsky massifs of the East Siberian platform. These structures are composed of the ancient Archaean-Proterozoic rock complexes, which have been subjected to predominantly vertical displacements for a long time, from the Paleozoic to the modern stage. Special attention should be given to the tectonic stresses ofSakhalin located at the boundary between the Eurasian and North American lithospheric plates. At the edges of these two largest plates, there are the Amur and Okhotsk microplates separated by theCentral Sakhalin fault, as described in some publications. Neotectonic stress reconstructions forSakhalinIsland show sublatitudinal compression and submeridional extension in the common stress field of shearing. The tectonophysical studies show that the neotectonic stresses differ in large structures: horizontal compression and shearing are typical of the uplifts (Kola Peninsula, Tien Shan, Sakhalin), while horizontal extension and extension with shearing are characteristic of depressions (Kandalaksha graben, depressions of theTatarGulf and theSea ofOkhotsk). Our studies provide the data on spacious ‘white spots’ in the modern stress maps ofNorthern Eurasia. The stress reconstructions for practically all the studied structures show that shearing is the dominant geodynamic regime in the study region.

Сообщества с кустарниковыми ивами в подзоне типичных тундр восточноевропейского сектора Арктики

The NOAA satellite data for 1982–2012 are used to analyze current changes in plant productivity of the Russian boreal and tundra zones. Trends in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are calculated separately for the vegetation zones in the European, West Siberian, East Siberian, and Far East sectors of the Russian Arctic and are compared with each other. This index is the normalized difference in reflectance between the red and infrared regions of the spectrum and is widely used as an indicator of the photosynthetically active biomass amount. Multifactorial statistical analysis is used to analyze the link between the plant productivity characterized by NDVI and predictive climatic indices characterizing the temperature regime and precipitation. A statistical model is developed on the basis of the resulting set of regression equations and is used with a climatic projection to predict plant productivity changes across the zonal gradient from northern tundra to boreal forests. According to our results, the current increase in plant productivity, which is observed in all vegetation zones in the Arctic, will continue in the coming decades. By the mid-21st century, productivity may increase by as much as 30% of its current value in selected zones of arctic vegetation.

The area of Eurasia and the shelves of the marginal and internal seas have been sufficiently investigated by geological, geophysical, and drilling means to formulate a number of regional conclusions about the association between various types of tectonic structures and distribution of the petroliferous provinces (basins). This problem has been considered against the background of platforms of different age, the ancient pre-Riphean (East European and Siberian) and the epi-Paleozoic types (West Siberian and West European, and also the South Caspian intrageosynclinal basin). There are significant differences in their geological evolution, which exerted a direct effect on the distribution of the petroliferous complexes. Within the Siberian Platform, the fundamental stages in downwarping were associated with the deposition of Vendian and lower Paleozoic sediments. The principal stages in the formation of the sedimentary cover of the East European Platform were associated with the Devonian, Carboniferous, and P...

The article discusses the features of the formation and functioning of human capital based on the materials of sociological studies conducted by the authors in small towns of the Russian Arctic. Traditional sociological tools were used: mass surveys, focus groups, an in-depth survey of experts according to the developed author’s methods. As an opposition to the development of Arctic small towns, shift camps are considered, the functioning of which is currently complicated due to the pandemic and sanctions. The paper presents a comparative analysis of the situation associated with the formation of human capital in the aggregate of its three components (health capital, edu-cational and professional capital, cultural capital) in three regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (RF AZ): its European sector (the study was conducted in the Arkhangelsk region), West Siberian (Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) and East Siberian (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug). Judging by experts’ assessments, the least favorable situation for the preservation and enhancement of human capital is developing in the territories of the European sector of the RF AZ, the most favorable situation is in Yamal.

Russian-German project PLOT (Paleolimnological Transect) aims at investigating the regional responses of the quaternary climate and environment on external forcing and feedback mechanisms along a more than 6000 km long longitudinal transect crossing Northern Eurasia. The well-dated record from Lake Elgygytgyn used as reference site for comparison the local climatic and environmental histories. Seismic surveys and sediment coring up to 54 m below lake floor performed in the frame of the project on Ladoga Lake (North-West of Russia; 2013), Lake Bolshoye Shchuchye (Polar Ural; 2016), Lake Levinson-Lessing and Lake Taymyr (Taymyr Peninsula; 2016-2017), Lake Emanda (Verkhoyansk Range; 2017). Fieldwork at Polar Ural and Taymyr Peninsula was conducted in collaboration with the Russian-Norwegian CHASE (Climate History along the Arctic Seaboard of Eurasia) project. Here, we present the major results of the project obtained so far.

Stranded gas is natural gas in discovered fields that is currently not commercially producible for either physical or economic reasons. This study examines stranded gas from Russia and Central Asia and the role it can play in addressing Europe’s growing demand for imported natural gas requiring additional volumes of gas in excess of 130 trillion cubic feet. We find sufficient volumes of stranded gas in fields in the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan in the Amu-Darya Basin and in Russian fields in the West Siberian Basin. The analysis focused on the estimated cost of extraction and delivery to a single market location for various concentrations of gas in stranded gas fields in Central Asia and Russia. At import prices of $10 per million British thermal units (MMBTU), there are sufficient gas resources in stranded fields that can be commercially developed and delivered to the European market. If, however, imported gas prices fall below $7 per MMBTU, most of the stranded gas evaluated from West Siberia will not be commercial. The costs of delivering gas from the largest stranded gas fields in Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan were calculated to be greater than 30% below the costs of delivering gas from the largest stranded gas fields in Russia, which are located in the Yamal Peninsula. Central Asian gas producers, particularly those east of the Caspian Sea, have limited market options due to the near monopoly position that Gazprom holds in transporting pipeline gas from east of Europe. This study examines several additional options to supply gas to Europe by reviewing expected delivered costs from North African and Atlantic basin suppliers.

The results of evaluation of adaptive properties of released oat varieties of Siberian breeding by yield in the Priobskaya forest-steppe of Novosibirsk region are presented. The experiment was conducted on the experimental field of the Siberian Research Institute of Plant Production and Breeding in 2012-2021. The object of the study were 37 oat varieties included in the State Register of the Russian Federation and released in the West Siberian (№ 10) and East Siberian (№ 11) regions. Yield estimation and phenological observations were carried out according to the methodology of N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources. For statistical data processing the method of B.A. Dospekhov was used. Potential productivity and adaptability of the varieties were determined by L.A. Zhivotkov et al. method, resistance of the varieties to stress conditions - by A.A. Goncharenko, the yield spread - by V.A. Zykin. Analysis of yields by groups of ripeness showed a natural tendency: as the growing season lengthens by groups of ripeness, the productivity potential also increases. The following varieties had high indicators of productivity potential in favorable years and adaptability to adverse environmental factors: Krasnoobsky, Mustang, Metis, Oven, Otrada, Talisman, Irtysh 21, SIR 4, Orion. The varieties Oven, Novosibirsk 5, CIR 4 showed high adaptability and stability. Four varieties were characterized by the ability to give not the maximum, but high stable yield under any conditions: Krupnozerny, Novosibirsk 88, Belozerny, and Korifey.

TThe purpose of the article is to form an idea of publishing educational and educational-methodical literature on disciplines taught in various educational institutions of Siberia at the end of the 18th– 19th centuries. Statistical information on publishing literature by year in the cities of the West Siberian and East Siberian educational districts is provided, the variety of topics of published works, the structure and content of a number of publications based on data from the volume 1 of the “Unified Catalog of Siberian and Far Eastern Books”. 1790–1917." (Novosibirsk, 2004) demonstrated. This article is the first attempt to present generalized data on statistics and topics of educational and educational-methodical publications issued inprinting houses of Siberia and the Far East at the end of the 18th–19th centuries. Such literature mostly prevailed in publishing in the West Siberian educational district, than in the East Siberian one. The bulk of publications were programs, reports of educational institutions and societies, charters, instructions, protocols, rules, regulations, works on the history of educational institutions, other works.The leaders in publishing such literature were Tomsk, Irkutsk, Tobolsk, with the largest number of printing houses involved.