Northeast Europe Research Articles

Paleopalinological survey of soils of the European north-east of Russia having complex organic profile

The genesis of the soils having second humus horizon in the North-East of the European part of Russia was considered in the paper. The theory of the relict origin of the second humus horizon in sod-podzolic soils was confirmed on the basis of paleopalynological analysis. Data of paleopalinological study of sod-podzolic soils with complex organic profile are presented. In these soils, the remains of the relict humus horizon, which formed in the warmer Atlantic period of the Holocene under broad-leaved forests, have been preserved. It was revealed that despite the significant degree of destruction of the relict horizon, paleomorphs (pollen and plant spores) were preserved in it, which formed phytocenoses of broad-leaved forests. During the optimal period of the Holocene, the northern boundary of the spread of phytocenoses of coniferous-deciduous forests within the borders of the modern Kirov region of Russia presumably passed north of 58 degrees north latitude. Currently, in the region, broad-leaved forests in natural conditions have been preserved south of 56 degrees north latitude. The results will clarify the species composition of vegetation and the history of landscape development in the Kirov region of Russia in the Holocene.

Distribution and Biological Features of Grayling Thymallus thymallus (Thymallidae) in the European North-East of Russia

The distribution and some ecological features of the European grayling Thymallus thymallus are studied in the extreme European Northeast of Russia. In many water systems of the region the state of the species is close to natural one. A significant ecological and genetic diversity of the populations is found. According to the ratio of genotype frequencies of the polymorphic two allelic system of blood serum transferrins the grayling populations in the Pechora River system can be combined into two clusters, Ural and Timan ones which differ from the groupings of the Kola Peninsula. It is suggested that a wide spectrum of ecological conditions provides a successful existence of all species diversity of European grayling in the northeast of the European part of Russia.

Evolution of observed and modelled temperatures in Finland in 1901–2018 and potential dynamical reasons for the differences

AbstractObserved monthly and annual mean temperatures in Finland in 1901–2018 were compared with simulations performed with 28 global climate models (GCMs), and dynamical factors behind the emerging differences were studied by regression analysis. Observational temperatures were extracted from high‐quality kriging analyses specifically tailored for Finland. Considering the entire time interval, the increase in the annual multi‐GCM mean temperature agrees well with the observed warming, even though observations exhibit substantial inter‐decadal fluctuations. After 2000, the mean temperatures have been higher than during any period in the 20th century. In the baseline regression model, the 10 leading EOFs of the European—Northeast Atlantic sea‐level pressure (SLP) field were used to explain differences between the GCM‐mean and observed evolution of temperature. The regression model is able to reduce the mean squared difference of the temporally‐smoothed temperature by 58%. The performance is highest in winter and summer and lowest in April. For a sensitivity assessment, multiple alternative regression models were tested, for example, one using the local SLP, geostrophic wind and vorticity as predictors. These models mostly showed somewhat inferior performance. We specifically explored the trends of monthly temperatures during 1961–2018, a period considerably affected by anthropogenic emissions. Compared with the multi‐GCM mean, warming proved to be negligible in June, fairly slow in October and quite rapid in December. All these features were explained rather nicely by dynamical factors. Accordingly, the deviations of the observed regional temperature trends from the multi‐GCM mean largely appear to be related to internal variability.

Air pollution trends measured from Terra: CO and AOD over industrial, fire-prone, and background regions

Following past studies to quantify decadal trends in global carbon monoxide (CO) using satellite observations, we update estimates and find a CO trend in column amounts of about −0.50 % per year between 2002 to 2018, which is a deceleration compared to analyses performed on shorter records that found −1 % per year. Aerosols are co-emitted with CO from both fires and anthropogenic sources but with a shorter lifetime than CO. A combined trend analysis of CO and aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements from space helps to diagnose the drivers of regional differences in the CO trend. We use the long-term records of CO from the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) and AOD from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument. Other satellite instruments measuring CO in the thermal infrared, AIRS, TES, IASI, and CrIS, show consistent hemispheric CO variability and corroborate results from the trend analysis performed with MOPITT CO. Trends are examined by hemisphere and in regions for 2002 to 2018, with uncertainties quantified. The CO and AOD records are split into two sub-periods (2002 to 2010 and 2010 to 2018) in order to assess trend changes over the 16 years. We focus on four major population centers: Northeast China, North India, Europe, and Eastern USA, as well as fire-prone regions in both hemispheres. In general, CO declines faster in the first half of the record compared to the second half, while AOD trends show more variability across regions. We find evidence of the atmospheric impact of air quality management policies. The large decline in CO found over Northeast China is initially associated with an improvement in combustion efficiency, with subsequent additional air quality improvements from 2010 onwards. Industrial regions with minimal emission control measures such as North India become more globally relevant as the global CO trend weakens. We also examine the CO trends in monthly percentile values to understand seasonal implications and find that local changes in biomass burning are sufficiently strong to counteract the global downward trend in atmospheric CO, particularly in late summer.

How Does Indian Monsoon Regulate the Northern Hemisphere Stationary Wave Pattern?

The Northern Hemisphere summer climate isstrongly affected by a circumglobal stationary Rossby wave train, which can be manifested by the first EOF mode of the geopotential height at 200 hPa. Interannual variation of this Northern Hemisphere wave (NHW) pattern has a significant impact on remarkably warm surface temperature anomalies over the North Atlantic, Northeast Europe, East Asia to Central-North Pacific, and America, particularly in 2018 and 2010. The NHW pattern is likely generated by atmospheric diabatic heating and vorticity forcing: diabatic heating is mainly confined in the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) precipitation region, whereas the anti-cyclonic vorticity forcing is distributed in the globe. The ISM is a well-known diabatic heat source; however, the main source of vorticity forcing has not been established. In general, the tropical vorticity anomaly comes from diabatic heating-induced atmospheric waves and randomly generated inherent internal waves. The linear baroclinic model experiment reveals that the NHW pattern can be generated by the westward propagating tropical waves generated by the ISM diabatic heat forcing.

Spatial pattern of location advantages of ports along the Maritime Silk Road

Location advantages of ports refer to the current developments of ports based on their conditions, such as geographic location, traffic accessibility and hinterland economy, etc., and the spatial pattern of ports’ location advantages reflects the spatial distributions, the regularities and the correlations among their conditions for development. A good understanding of the spatial patterns of ports’ location advantages can help to better identify the relative advantages of ports, position ports’ functions and make strategic plans for development. This paper selected 1259 ports from 63 countries along the Maritime Silk Road as research objects and builds an accessing model to analyze their location advantages on the bases of six factors: the influence of strategic shipping pivot, the competitiveness of port location potential, port network status, the influence of city, the influence of traffic trunk, and road network density in hinterland. The study has the following three findings. Firstly, the location advantages of ports show a “high-low-high” distribution pattern from the west to the east, displaying an obvious “core-periphery” regionalized distribution. Secondly, most ports have high location advantages, mainly located in Strait of Malacca, the United Arab Emirates, northern Mediterranean coastal region and China-Japan region, the top 10 ports are mainly located in Singapore, China, Malaysia and Japan, indicating that the shipping industry in Asia-Pacific region has stepped to the far front of the global competition; slow economic growths, wars, far away from the Belt and Road countries or bad climate have low location advantages, mainly located in African coastal areas, Oceania, Northeast Europe and Russia. Thirdly, compared with the landward location advantages, the seaward location advantages have a higher influence, and different indicators of location advantages have different influences on the evaluation results, the competitiveness of port location potential being the core indicator.

Air Power Projection in Conduct of NATO Deterrence Activities and Operations

This paper provides an overview and analysis of the role, place and importance of air power for the success of joint military operations in conduct of NATO deterrence activities and operations. Air power has been highly valued in defence, security and in warfare from its very beginning, since the establishment of the first Air Forces. With its modern development it has become crucial for achieving military goals, as well as national ones. The importance of air power is shown through its definition and comparison in the military doctrines of the air forces of certain countries and NATO, where it is obvious how important it is in the structure of national power, security and defence, as well as in collective security and defence of NATO. The emphasis is on the ongoing implementation of NATO military activities and operations and the projection of the Alliance’s air power in deterring Russia’s potential threats to its members in Northeast Europe, in the Baltic region. The current method of projection of air power and the use of its elements in these NATO military activities are discussed and presented. The special features and capabilities provided by the air power, which do not possess other military components and cannot compensate for these effects, give it a key role in supporting and conducting joint military operations, and in enabling the success of their implementation.

Influence of Heracleum sosnowskyi Manden. invasion on postagrogenic soil fertility in European North-East

Influence of Heracleum sosnowskyi Manden. invasion on postagrogenic soil fertility in European North-East

Разнообразие гаплотипов гена COI горбуши Оncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum, 1792) бассейна реки Печоры

Pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walba-um, 1792) is an anadromous epipelagic species that forms the basis of the Far East fishing in¬dustry. The result of the work on its acclimati¬zation carried out in the second half of the XX cen-tury was the rapid expansion of the area, in¬cluding the rivers of the European northeast of Russia. The findings of this species in the Pe¬chora river basin, which is the largest river sys¬tem in the area of distribution, allowed us to carry out a general morphological description of the pink salmon. The obtained values of the meristic characteris¬tics of the studied individuals indicate that they are close to the typical form of the pink salmon species. It is noted that the number of this spe¬cies in the Pechora River is extremely unstable. The analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene (n = 71), carried out on the basis of our own data and in¬formation from the GenBank database, revealed 15 haplotypes. The average number of nucleo-tide differences per site (nucleotide diversity - Pi) was 0.00303 ± 0.000024. The transi¬tions/transversions ratio corresponded to the value of 2.4. The haplotype diversity value (Hd) is 0.823. In 11 tissue samples of pink salmon caught in the watercourses of the European northeast of Russia, 7 haplotypes of the COI gene were found, which is a fairly high ratio. An increase in the sample size will lead to the identification of even greater diversity for the studied gene in the acquired part of the range of the studied species. It is suggested that the main genetic effects of the «bottleneck» and «founder», characteristic of the populating by this species of a new territory, may not be ob¬served. The main reason is assumed to be a fairly large number of individuals from differ¬ent years of generations used in the process of introduction of pink salmon.

Radiocarbon chronology of the Neolithic – Chalcolithic sites of the extreme European northeast: a critical analysis of data

Radiocarbon chronology of the Neolithic – Chalcolithic sites of the extreme European northeast: a critical analysis of data

Геологическое наследие В. Г. Оловянишникова

The article is dedicated to the memory of Vsevolod Georgievich Olovyanishnikov (Getsen), an outstanding researcher of geology of the European North-East, Candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences, who worked at the Institute of Geology from 1960 until the end of his life (1936—2006). The article analyzes his creative path and shows main scientific achievements in three most significant areas of activity: stratigraphy of Precambrian deposits, tectonics (geodynamics) and rock metamorphism.

Динамика показателей смертности на Европейском Северо-Востоке России в конце ХIХ – начале ХХ в

The paper describes the dynamics of mortality of the population of the European North-East of Russia in the late XIX - early XX century. The total mortality rates of the population in the region are compared with the indicators for European Russia. The process of reducing the overall birth and death rates taking place at the all-Russian level, was not noted in the Komi Region. At the same time, the mortality rate of the urban population was significantly lower than that of the rural population. Throughout the studied period, high mortality was characterized by a significant concentration in younger age groups. The mortality rate of children under the age of one year averaged 45-50% of the total number of deaths in the region. At the same time, the process of reducing the proportion of deaths in older age groups has begun among the population of the region.

The penultimate interglaciation of northern Russia

This paper presents new field and laboratory data combined with previously published materials on interglacial sediments underlying two upper tills of northern European Russia and West Siberia. The emphasis is on the structure and chronometric data of marine strata with shells of boreal molluscs of Cyrtodaria genus indicative of the Atlantic marine invasion into these sedimentary basins during the late Middle Pleistocene. Another line of evidence for this time span is inferred from inter-till terrestrial sequences in the European Northeast with forest pollen spectra suggesting a climate much warmer than today. The decisive correlation signal is provided by optically stimulated luminescence and electron-spin resonance dates, indicating MIS 7 time, and by the geological position of two interglacial formations between the first, second and third from the surface glacial complexes. The collected evidence disagrees with the model of the unique boreal transgression and confirms that saline Atlantic water at least twice invaded northern Russia during the last 250 kyears. The sedimentary formations of the penultimate interglaciation can serve as a new intra-regional stratigraphic marker for the northern Pleistocene.

STRESS-PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF AQUEOUS INFUSION OF FERMENTED LEAVES CHAMAENERION AN-GUSTIFOLIUM (L.) SCOP.

The stress-protective effect of an aqueous infusion of fermented leaves of flowering plants of Сhamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop., (Onagraceae) collected in the middle taiga zone of the European North-East of Russia (near Syktyvkar), in experiments on white laboratory mice under acute stress has been studied. As a model of acute stress, the hanging of animals by the neck fold for 19 hours was used. Water infusion (1 : 20) was administered to each animal 0.5 and 1.0 ml for five days per os. It was found that the prophylactic administration of water infusion of fermented leaves in doses of 0.5 and 1.0 ml lead to normalizing effect on the mass of internal organs and peripheral blood parameters that have sharp pathological deviations under stress. The content of ascorbic acid and cholesterol in the adrenal glands and malonic dialdehyde in the liver of animals receiving infusion, approached the corresponding values in intact animals, which indicates the protective and antioxidant effects. With the introduction of sodium nitroprusside (25 mg/kg) and ethanol (25% solution, 9g/kg) a pronounced antihypoxic and antitoxic effects were found, which are typical for such well-known adaptogenic plants as ginseng and eleutherococcus. Due to data obtained, the raw material of fermented leaves of Сhamaenerion angustifolium could be considered as adaptogenic remedy that increases the overall non-specific resistance of the body and recommended not only as a tonic tea drink, but also for wider use in functional nutrition and medicine for the prevention and treatment of stress-induced and age-dependent diseases.

Net Primary Production of Carbon in Pine Forests on European North-East of Russia (Republic of Komi)

The accumulation of carbon of organic matter by forest phytocenoses during photosynthesis is their most important function, mitigating climate change on the Earth. The literature provides data that the territory of the Russian Federation is a large sink of atmospheric carbon. However, the estimates of the sink, as well as the values ​​of the net primary production (NPP) of forest ecosystems, vary widely. This paper presents materials describing the net carbon production of phytomass in pine forests of different types of growing conditions in the northern and middle taiga of the Komi Republic. Premature, mature, and old-growth pine forests of green moss, lichen, and sphagnum types have been studied at forest stations. The carbon sequestration by the forest stand is assessed by biological productivity using sample trees. The regression equations for the dependence of the increments of individual organs of a sample tree on the stem diameter at a height of 1.3 m are composed. A statistically significant relationship is found between these parameters, characterized by high trend approximation values ​​varying from 0.44 to 0.99 (at 95% significance level). It is calculated that, under the conditions of the European Russian northeast, the NPP of carbon in pine phytocenoses varies within the range of 1.9–4.5 t C ha–1 year–1. It is established that the tree stand accounts for 32–73% of the total NPP. With increasing soil moisture and moving northward, the participation of plants in the ground vegetation increases in the total NPP. It is noted that a significant part of the NPP of carbon of the tree layer of pine forests is formed by the photosynthetic apparatus and the stem wood. Based on these data, the conversion relations between NPP and wood volume/carbon stock in the stand for pine forests of the northern and middle taiga are derived.

Soil invertebrates occurrences in European North-East of Russia.

BackgroundThe European North-East of Russia is the territory which includes the Nenets Autonomous District, represented by the East European tundra (from Kanin Peninsula to Vaigach Island), Komi Republic with its taiga ecosystems and the Urals (Northern, SubPolar and Polar). Over 20 years of systematic studies of soil fauna in the studied region has resulted in a huge amount of data being accumulated that can be analysed from different positions. Considering that the representation of Russian soil biota data, especially from European North-East of Russia in the GBIF database is not large, our data are of great interest to the scientific world community. The accumulation of such data will solve questions on national and global scales using large arrays.This study produced a dataset containing information on occurrences on soil invertebrates (Lumbricidae, Chilopoda, Diplopda, Collembola, Elateridae and Staphylinidae) in the European North-East of Russia. The dataset summarises occurrences noted in natural and disturbed forests, tundra and mountain ecosystems.New informationData from 196 geo-referenced localities of European North-East of Russia (tundra, taiga and mountains ecosystems) have been collated. A total of 5412 occurrences are included in the resource. The current project surveys 13 species of earthworms, 20 species of millipedes, 246 species of springtails, 446 species of rove beetles and 60 species of click beetles. The diversity of soil invertebrates in the European North-East of Russia has not been fully explored and further exploration will lead to more taxa.

Eestlaste, liivlaste ja lätlaste 19. sajandi II poole saunadest / Sauna in Estonia, Livonia and Latvia

Eestlaste, liivlaste ja lätlaste 19. sajandi II poole saunadest / Sauna in Estonia, Livonia and Latvia

Management of dyslipidaemia and hypertension in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in 19 countries

Abstract Background/Introduction The realisation that subjects with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has led to a growing interest in risk factor control in such people, but whether this has influenced the management of dyslipidaemia and hypertension (HT) is uncertain. Purpose To describe differences in lipid and blood pressure (BP) levels among patients with RA from five world regions. Furthermore, to evaluate attainment of guideline recommended targets for lipid lowering and antihypertensive treatment. Methods The SUrvey of CVD Risk Factors in patients with RA (SURF-RA) was conducted at 53 centres in 19 countries from 2014 to 2019. Data including demographics, RA disease characteristics, CVD comorbidity, risk factors and use of preventive treatment was collected. HT was defined as self-reported HT, and/or measured BP >140/90 mmHg, and/or use of anti HT medication (a-HT). The treatment goal of a-HT was BP <140/90 mmHg. The 10-year risk of a fatal CVD event was calculated by the European CVD risk calculator, the Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE), and was thereafter multiplied with 1.5 as recommended by the European League Against Rheumatism. Patients were classified in a high or very high CVD risk group according to the 2012 European Society of Cardiology guidelines, with low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) goal at <2.6 and <1.8 mmol/L, respectively. Results In total, 14503 RA patients were included. The mean age was 59.8±13.6 years, most of whom (74%) were female. Nearly 2/3 of the patients were hypertensive. Use of a-HT in the total population differed substantially between the cohorts with limited use in West Europe and Latin America (17.4% and 24.8%), in contrast to North America and East Europe (46.8% and 57.0%). On average, half of those with HT were at the recommended BP goal. The lowest BP goal attainment was seen in Asia, West and East Europe (40.8–43.1%), and the highest in North America (63.5%). Overall 51.5% had an indication for lipid lowering therapy (LLT), and of these only 43.5% were taking LLT. Only 34.0% of patients with an indication for LLT were at recommended LDL-c goals. The proportion of RA patients on target for LDL-c varied greatly between regions, from 23.1% in East Europe to 51.0% in North America. The LDL-c goal attainment was higher in RA patients at high risk (45.1%) compared to those at very high risk of CVD (18.0%). Conclusion(s) This large international survey on RA patients revealed considerable geographical differences in CVD preventive treatment. Only one half of subjects were at blood pressure goals, and achievement of lipid goals was even poorer at one third of those eligible for treatment, which is lower than what is reported for subjects with coronary heart disease. We conclude that there is a substantial need for improvement in CVD preventive measures in RA patients. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Private grant(s) and/or Sponsorship. Main funding source(s): Unrestricted research collaboration with Lilly

Influence of Ecological Factors on the Population-Ontogenetic Parameters of Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. in Forest Ecosystems of the European Northeast of Russia

Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. is a widespread and dominant species of boreal forests. It has an important ecological role as a food source for humans and many species of animals, including birds. The aim of this study is to determine the ecological features and their influence on the ontogenetic structure of V. vitis-idaea populations in forest ecosystems of the southern taiga (Kirov oblast, Russia). V. vitis-idaea is a gemyeurybiotic species whose ecological space amplitude in Kirov oblast does not exceed the limits of Tsyganov’s ecological range scales (1983). The discomfort index calculated with phytoindication data made it possible to determine the level of favor. We have determined that conditions of swampy pine forest (CP 2, 5) have optimum ecological parameters for species growth. The least favorable conditions for V. vitis-idaea development are formed in the herbaceous birch forests and green moss spruce forest (CP 4, 10), where maximum discomfort indices are marked: 1.08. All populations under study are normal and incomplete. Pregenerative individuals are stable and often dominate. Generative plants, which are absent in some populations (CP 10), are less constant. The dominant specter type of the populations is bimodal. The index of substitution states that prospective populations prevail in the study, except for population 3, which was unstable and ineffective in self-renewal. Delta-omega classification shows that young populations prevail in the study. The ecological conditions of the studied phytocoenoses affect the ontogenetic parameters of V. vitis-idaea plants. The quantity of the young generative age group depends on the soil moisture (r = 0.76) and the soil-moisture variability (r = –0.68); pregenerative age groups depend on illumination (r = 0.74). A high level of significance was revealed between the age index, the replacement index, the coefficient of vegetative self-maintenance, and the illumination of the habitat.

The urban social sustainability paradigm in Northeast Asia and Europe

The urban social sustainability paradigm in Northeast Asia and Europe