Southern Variant Research Articles

Natural radioactivity of the soils of the Voyskovoy ravine

The concentration of natural radionuclides in the soils, which determine the amount of its natural radioactivity, varies widely and depends on the intensity of soil-forming processes, and is also determined by the type of soils. As a result of the study of the natural radioactivity of the soils of the Voyskovoy ravine (southern variant of the ravine forest), it was established that the upper horizons H1 and H2 of the ordinary chernozem of the northern exposure differ in increased values of natural radioactivity compared to the lower horizons HPk and Pk, which is caused by a higher content of organic substances in the upper horizons, which actively adsorb radionuclides. The eluvial horizons (H1el, H2el and H3el) of the forest chernozem of the northern exposure are characterized by reduced values of natural radioactivity compared to the eluvial horizons and the parent rock (Hil, Phil and P), which is due to the peculiarities of the redistribution of the silty fraction, which are able to bind significant amounts of radionuclides. Horizons H1el and H2el of meadow-forest soil of the thalweg are characterized by increased values of natural radioactivity compared to horizons H3el and Hil. Illuvial horizons Hil and Phkil of the forest chernozem of the southern exposure are characterized by increased values of natural radioactivity compared to eluvial horizons H1el, H2el and H3el. The minimum values of natural radioactivity in ordinary chernozem of the southern exposure were found in the upper horizons H1 and H2, the maximum value is associated with the Pk horizon. The maximum values of natural radioactivity among the upper horizons of the studied soils are characteristic of the meadow-forest soil of the thalweg and the forest chernozem of the southern exposure, the minimum values are for the ordinary chernozem of the southern exposure and the forest chernozem of the northern exposure. The content of organic substances plays a decisive role in the profile distribution of natural radioactivity values for the ordinary chernozem of the northern exposure and the meadow-forest soil of the thalweg, the distribution of the silty fraction – for the forest chernozems of the northern and southern exposures, as well as for the ordinary chernozem of the southern exposure of the ravine.

Genome-wide exploration reveals distinctive northern and southern variants of Clonorchis sinensis in the Far East.

Clonorchis sinensis is a carcinogenic liver fluke that causes clonorchiasis-a neglected tropical disease (NTD) affecting ~35 million people worldwide. No vaccine is available, and chemotherapy relies on one anthelmintic, praziquantel. This parasite has a complex life history and is known to infect a range of species of intermediate (freshwater snails and fish) and definitive (piscivorous) hosts. Despite this biological complexity and the impact of this biocarcinogenic pathogen, there has been no previous study of molecular variation in this parasite on a genome-wide scale. Here, we conducted the first extensive nuclear genomic exploration of C.sinensis individuals (n=152) representing five distinct populations from mainland China, and one from Far East Russia, and revealed marked genetic variation within this species between "northern" and "southern" geographical regions. The discovery of this variation indicates the existence of biologically distinct variants within C.sinensis, which may have distinct epidemiology, pathogenicity and/or chemotherapic responsiveness. The detection of high heterozygosity within C.sinensis specimens suggests that this parasite has developed mechanisms to readily adapt to changing environments and/or host species during its life history/evolution. From an applied perspective, the identification of invariable genes could assist in finding new intervention targets in this parasite, given the major clinical relevance of clonorchiasis. From a technical perspective, the genomic-informatic workflow established herein will be readily applicable to a wide range of other parasites that cause NTDs.

Translation strategies for rendering interjections from Dutch into Russian in translation of comics

The growing popularity of online communication, where participants increasingly convey their feelings and emotions using minimal characters, has significantly increased the role of interjections in modern language. This research is based on the translation into Russian of the comic book Het Amusement by the Flemish author Brecht Evens (translated by E. Tortsyna). In the comics, the use of interjections, alongside graphic techniques, plays an extremely important role. When rendering interjections, the translator relies primarily on the context. The translation strategy is connected with the search for a word or expression, which will preserve the semantic, stylistic and functional-communicative information contained in the original. The language of the comic book under study demonstrates the features of the southern variant of colloquial Dutch (tussentaal, ‘intermediate language’), first of all, at the level of interjections, which in the southern variant differ from the “northern” ones. The results of the study consist in a systematised review of the ways of rendering Dutch interjections into Russian, with an important role given to the functional-semantic characteristics of these lexical units. Both primary and secondary interjections are of particular interest when studying the problem of interjection translation, as in some cases, the internal form of a secondary interjection in the original does not coincide with the internal form of an interjection chosen by the translator. The omission of an interjection is also an interesting technique, where there is a redistribution of the expressive nuances of an original interjection among elements of the utterance in the translated text.

The Local Speech of Three Bistricas in Prekmurje

The local speech of three Bistricas – Gornja, Srednja and Dolnja – is classified as the southern variant (or dialect variant of Dólinsko) of the Prekmurje dialect of the Pannonian dialect group, but in some respects, it is closer to the speeches of Prlekija and Medžimurje dialects than to the neighbouring speeches of Dólinsko. The material-supported paper deals with those phonological, morphological, and verbal phenomena in the local speech of the three Bistricas, which are distinctive in relation to nearby local speeches and which linguists have too often generalized to the entire Prekmurje dialect. A list of uninhabited-area names of Gornja, Srednja and Dolnja Bistrica has also been added.

Stonewall Jackson, Beresford Hope, and the Meaning of the American Civil War in Britain by Michael J. Turner

Reviewed by: Stonewall Jackson, Beresford Hope, and the Meaning of the American Civil War in Britain by Michael J. Turner Robert Cook Stonewall Jackson, Beresford Hope, and the Meaning of the American Civil War in Britain. By Michael J. Turner. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2020. Pp. xii, 334. $50.00, ISBN 978-0-8071-7108-0.) Not everyone in mid-Victorian Britain supported the breakaway Confederacy. Progressive academics like Francis W. Newman and ex-Radicals such as John Bright sided with the North, as did many unheralded middle- and working-class people who came to associate the imperiled Union with the ongoing struggle for domestic suffrage reform. However, most well-to-do Conservatives (and some prominent Liberals) articulated strong support for the southern cause. Among them was Alexander James Beresford Hope, a High Anglican, quondam Tory member of Parliament and newspaper owner who [End Page 728] championed the South in the pages of his Saturday Review and worked actively alongside Confederate agents in Britain to promote southern independence. As Michael J. Turner explains in this well-researched study, Hope also played a leading role in an ultimately successful project to build a statue of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, which was unveiled in Richmond, Virginia, in 1875. Basing his findings on an impressive number of British newspapers and Hope’s published writings, Turner broadly confirms the Confederacy’s appeal to Englishmen committed to social hierarchy, the protection of property rights, and white supremacy and opposed to the putatively leveling democracy of the American North. Hope insisted that “our brethren of the South” were fighting for the quintessentially Anglo-Saxon values of liberty and self-determination and, in the process, were “trying to raise up a new English nation” (pp. 55, 56). Aware that slavery was hardly the Confederacy’s main selling point in Britain, he depicted the southern variant as benign and derided the Emancipation Proclamation as unenforceable. His considerable efforts to promote the southern cause at home were thwarted by the Palmerston government’s decision in late 1862 to put the national interest above the ruling class’s affective attachment to the Confederacy and by the decisive Union military successes in the second half of the Civil War. Turner’s analysis of the Richmond statue is rich in detail. He convincingly roots the statue’s genesis in the fact that Stonewall Jackson attained celebrity status in Britain during the war. For many Britons, Jackson exemplified the manly courage and devotion to high principle that they associated with the Confederacy. Ordinary folk as well as elite Tories like Hope thrilled to press reports of how the southern hero repeatedly outwitted hapless Yankee commanders in the Shenandoah Valley, and they admired his religious faith, self-discipline, and apparent affection for England and Scotland after his transatlantic trip in 1856. Manifestations of Jackson’s popularity included his name affixed to a race-horse, a boat at the Glasgow royal regatta, and a factory engine in Blackburn. E. M. Grace, brother of the more famous W. G. Grace, was applauded as “the Stonewall Jackson of the cricket field” after enjoying an exemplary cricket season in 1862 (p. 165). Jackson’s death did nothing to stem many Britons’ admiration for the general. Hope was the prime mover in a concerted campaign to raise money for a monument that would not only express its funders’ admiration for the general and his cause but also legitimate their support for the Confederacy. A brief Republican interregnum in postwar Virginia delayed matters, but defeated ex-Confederates quickly restored their political power in the state. They were predictably eager to accept a tangible testimony of well-to-do Englishmen’s admiration for one of the wartime South’s leading men. Although the author’s judgments are generally sound, there is good reason to question his assertion that into the twentieth century Stonewall Jackson’s “name and fame had abiding relevance in Britain” (p. 261). Few Britons today have any knowledge of either Jackson or the American Civil War. More abiding by far is the affinity of leading English Tories—illustrated by their fawning embrace of Donald J. Trump—for American opponents of democracy and racial equality. [End Page...

Encoding different types of topics and foci in German Sign Language. A cartographic approach to sign language syntax

This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the encoding strategies of different types of topics and foci in (the southern variant of) German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS). The discussion will be guided by two main hypotheses: (i) the existence of a strict, universal ordering of topic and focus projections in the tradition of Rizzi (1997) and (ii) the Bodily Mapping Hypothesis (Bross & Hole 2017; Bross 2020), i. e., the hypothesis that scope is expressed in a systematic way in sign languages: the higher an operator is located in the syntactic tree, the higher the articulator expressing it will be. As this study is concerned with very high CP categories, the Bodily Mapping Hypothesis predicts that the categories under discussion will be marked with the highest possible articulators, i.e., the eyebrows. Concerning topics, base-generated frame setters (epistemic, locative, and temporal frames) and moved aboutness topics will be discussed as well as structures resembling pseudo-clefts. Concerning focus, contrastive and mirative focus as well as regular cleft sentences will be examined.

Features of soil thermophysical properties of the southern variant of ravine biogeocenoses of the Ukrainian steppe zone

Thermophysical properties are an important characteristic of the general condition of soils, which determine the peculiarities of the distribution of heat flow in them. Today studies of thermophysical properties of soils, including the steppe zone of Ukraine, are practically not performed. This determines the relevance of the work, which is devoted to establishing the characteristics of the thermal properties of various soils. As a result of the study of thermal diffusivity, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of soils of northern and southern exposures, as well as the thalweg of the Voyskovoy Bayrak (located near the village of Voyskovoe Solonyansky district of Dnipropetrovsk region), it was found that the most important soil factors particles of physical clay and organic matter content. It was found that the eluvial horizons of the chernozem of the forest of the northern exposure differ in the reduced values ​​of heat capacity and thermal conductivity in comparison with the illuvial horizons. Eluvial horizons of forest-meadow soil of thalweg are characterized by increased values ​​of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity, as well as reduced values ​​of heat capacity compared to illuvial horizons. Eluvial horizons of forest chernozem of southern exposure are characterized by lower values ​​of thermal diffusivity, heat capacity and thermal conductivity compared to illuvial horizons. The most significant boundary between eluvial and illuvial horizons in terms of thermophysical properties is characteristic of the chernozem of forest southern exposure, which is manifested in a sharp increase in the values ​​of thermophysical properties in the first illuvial horizon. Cluster analysis revealed that the most similar in terms of thermal diffusivity are forest chernozems of southern and northern exposures, and in terms of heat capacity and thermal conductivity – forest chernozems of northern exposure and forest-meadow soil of thalweg ravine.

Global populism and its 1890s Southern United States antecedent: the vexing case of Thomas E. Watson and William Faulkner’s literary intervention

ABSTRACT Contemporary global populism combines systemic critique of power inequities with a politics of resentment. This conjunction under conditions of modernity gives rise to populisms whose twenty-first-century manifestations markedly exhibit features of Southern variants of the 1890s populism that briefly convulsed United States politics. Volatile mixtures of systemic critique and resentment politics, of progressive and proto-fascist tendencies, are vividly illustrated in the career of Thomas E. Watson (1856–1922), a prominent Georgia lawyer and politician whose populist rhetoric moved from advocating racially inclusive class solidarity to embracing virulent racist nativism. This trajectory, revelatory of susceptibilities to nativist authoritarianism also prominent in many currents of contemporary global populist politics, raises the question of whether and how literary art and humanities scholarship might work to disentangle justified revolt from reactionary resentments. William Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses (1942) and The Hamlet (1940) offer diverse models of such efforts.

Растительность в окрестностях мыса Желания (остров Северный архипелага Новая Земля)

Растительность в окрестностях мыса Желания (остров Северный архипелага Новая Земля)

Object marking in German Sign Language (<i>Deutsche Gebärdensprache</i>): Differential object marking and object shift in the visual modality

This article discusses differential object marking and object shift in German Sign Language (DGS). Although there is already some literature discussing the existence of differential object marking in sign languages, this article provides the first in-depth description of the phenomenon in a visual language. It will be shown that the sign PAM, previously categorized as an agreement auxiliary, is in fact a differential object marker with adposition-like properties—at least in the Southern variant of DGS with which this article is concerned. Additionally, it will be shown that definite objects move into a structurally higher position in DGS. This behavior is well-known from spoken languages, but is not well-documented for sign languages.

Effect of ravined forest biogeocenoses on soil humus status in a steppe environment

A detailed study of the relationships between all components of each biogeocenosis is needed for its in-depth investigation. According to the concept of biogeocenoses developed by V. M. Sukachev, soil is one of the five components of biogeocenosis being its resulting unit. Soil is a bioinert component body of biogeocenosis. Playing the role of a subsystem, it is characterized by self-regulation, stability, direct and feedback mechanisms, self-restoring fertility, a specific biological cycle of substances and energy flow against the background of a specific natural geographical area. When the soil testing, its chemical, physical, water, micromorphological properties should be determined, and, above all, a total humus content and quality. Humus affects all important soil properties. In fertility, its essential role consists in a nutrient source as a factor that has a physiological effect on plants. A role of humus in improving the physical, thermal and water properties of soils is well-known. The total content and group composition of humus are also determined during the diagnosis and classification of soils. For a more detailed description of humus, Grishina and Orlov proposed a system of indicators of soils humus condition. This is a level of humus content and reserves, its profile distribution, type of humus, degree of humification, etc. In this work, we made an attempt to diagnose the soils of ravined biogeocenoses and steppe virgin lands in Dnipropetrovsk region on the basis of a number of the above parameters. To compare, the common steppe virgin chernozem and forest chernozems of the northern and southern variants of the ravines were used. The study was carried out in the fresh linden-ash oakery (the Kapitanovsky Bayrak) and in the fresh maple oakery (the Viyskovoy Bayrak) occured in the middle part of the slopes of the northern exposition. The paper presents data on the study of the ravined forest biogeocenoses influence on the total content and qualitative composition of soil humus in the northern and southern variants of Dnipropetrovsk region in comparison with the steppe virgin soil. It was established that the total humus content and reserves in the layer of 0–20 cm increased and varied from moderate to high under the influence of ravined forest vegetation; the type of humus turns from humate to fulvate-humate, which has a positive effect on plant growth and development, as it makes nutrients more mobile and available to plants. Under the influence of forest vegetation in the ravines, the soil humus condition improved, namely, the total humus content and reserves in the 20 cm layer varied from moderate to high, and the type of humus turned from humate to fulvate-humate. Our data confirmed O. L. Belgard and A. P. Travleev provisions that forests in the steppe zone effect positively on soil properties, in particular their humus condition, in contrast to the forest zone.

Structural and aggregate composition features of southern variant natural forest edaphotopes of Ukrainian steppe zone

The natural forests of the southern variant of the steppe zone of Ukraine (according to the classification of O. L. Belgard) are located on the territory of the former porous part of the Dnieper. The properties of edaphotopes of these forests were studied in detail by the staff of the Comprehensive expedition of the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University for the study of forests in the steppe zone of Ukraine (A. P. Travleev, N. A. Bilova, A. A. Dubina, K. M. Bozhko). However, there are no data on the structural and aggregate composition of the genetic horizons of edaphotopes of natural forests of the southern variant of the steppe zone of Ukraine, established by classical methods of determination. This work is devoted to the coverage of these features. As a result of research it is established that the best conditions for the formation of structural aggregates are characteristic of the upper horizons of all studied soils and especially for the forest chernozem in the conditions of northern exposure. The highest content of agronomically valuable structural aggregates is characterized by forest chernozem in the conditions of northern exposure of the ravine, the lowest – meadow-forest soil of thalweg, and forest chernozem in the conditions of southern exposure occupies an intermediate value. The eluvial horizons of ravine edaphotopes differ most contrastingly from the illuvial horizons in the conditions of northern and southern exposures. Eluvial horizons are characterized by a reduced fraction content of > 10 mm and increased values ​​of the structural coefficient compared to illuvial horizons. In the thalweg, these differences are not so clear. The upper horizons have an increased content of water-resistant fraction size > 5 mm compared to the horizons below. With depth in all studied edaphotopes there is an increase in the content of the fraction size < 0.25 mm with depth. Among the upper horizons, the highest content of water-resistant fraction size > 5 mm and the lowest content of fraction < 0.25 mm differs meadow-forest soil in thalweg conditions. Very close to the meadow-forest soil in terms of the values ​​of the respective fractions is forest chernozem in the conditions of northern exposure. Forest chernozem in the conditions of southern exposure differs by the lowest content of water-resistant fraction size > 5 mm and the highest content of fraction size < 0.25 mm among all studied soils. Eluvial horizons of forest chernozems of northern and southern exposures differ from illuvial horizons by reduced content of water-resistant fractions of > 5 and 5–3 mm. The eluvial horizons of the meadow-forest soil of the thalweg differ from the illuvial horizon by a sharp decrease in the content of the water-resistant fraction of 1–0.5 mm. A comparative analysis of the structural and aggregate composition of the studied edaphotopes revealed that the best conditions for the formation of agronomically valuable fractions are characteristic of the forest chernozem of the northern exposure. As a result of comparing the characteristics of eluvial and illuvial horizons, it was found that the change of eluvial process to illuvial is accompanied by a sharp decrease in forest chernozems content of agronomically valuable fractions during dry sieving, as well as an increase in water resistance. In meadow-forest soils, this transition is characterized by a sharp decrease in the content of agronomically valuable fractions in the illuvial horizon during wet sieving compared to the eluvial horizon.

Divergent Morphology among Populations of the New Guinea Crocodile, Crocodylus novaeguineae (Schmidt, 1928): Diagnosis of an Independent Lineage and Description of a New Species

The freshwater crocodile inhabiting Papua New Guinea, currently recognized as Crocodylus novaeguineae, exhibits morphological, molecular, and ecological divergence between the northern and southern versants of the Central Highlands and occupies separate evolutionary trajectories. A robust body of work has long encouraged the formal description of New Guinea crocodiles from the southern versant of the highlands as a distinct lineage with a taxonomy that reflects diagnosed relationships. Here, we use geometric morphometric techniques to assess cranial shape variation between specimens from both versants and add to the diagnostic evidence supporting a more accurate taxonomy. Further, herein, we formally describe the southern variant as a distinct lineage (Hall's New Guinea Crocodile; Crocodylus halli, new species).

Bipartite network structures and individual differences in sound change

This paper assesses the influence of social network structure, and the role of the individual, in shaping the loss of the regional vowel system in the Southern U.S. city of Raleigh, North Carolina. The entire front vowel system, including monophthongal /aɪ/ as in ride, is shifting toward the national standard. Previous network studies in sociolinguistics have focused on individual-level network characteristics, such as integration in dense local networks or contact with speakers from different neighborhoods or ethnic groups. By contrast, the Raleigh study focuses on individuals’ positions in the community network structure as represented by a bipartite network of people and the schools they attended. Bipartite networks indicate social proximity between people via their shared participation in an event or organization.With a 189-speaker sample of Raleigh natives, the network measure of structural equivalence offers a view of Raleigh’s community network structure and of the individual’s role in advancing the shift away from the Southern vowel system. Structural equivalence is the extent to which nodes inhabit similar positions within a social network. In this case, it describes the extent to which pairs of speakers attended the same schools. A distance matrix containing each pair’s network proximity is used to predict speakers’ linguistic similarity. The role of the individual and of the social indexicality of Southern variants is considered in the context of aggregate patterns of variation.

Polymorphism of ITS sequences in 35S rRNA genes in Elymus dahuricus aggregate species: two cryptic species?

Nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences were sequenced for 23 species and subspecies of Elymus sensu lato collected in Russia. The Neighbor-Net analysis of ITS sequences suggested that there are four ribotypes called Core Northern St-rDNA, Core Southern St-rDNA, Northern dahuricus St-rDNA and Southern dahuricus St-rDNA. The Core Southern variant of St-rDNA is closely related to rDNA of diploid Pseudoroegneria stipifolia (PI 313960) and P. spicata (PI 547161). The Core Northern St-rDNA is closely related to rDNA of P. cognata (PI 531720), a diploid species of Kyrgyzstan carrying StY variant of the St genome. The Core Northern St-rDNA is widespread among the Elymus species of Siberia and the Far East, including Yakutia and Chukotka. The Core Southern St-ribotype is typical of southern Elymus and Pseudoroegneria of the South Caucasus, Primorye, Pakistan, and South Korea. The Northern dahuricus St-ribotype and Southern dahuricus St-ribotype are derivatives of the Core Northern and Core Southern St-ribotypes, correspondingly. Both of them were found in all four studied species of the E. dahuricus aggregate: E. dahuricus Turcz. ex Griseb., E. franchetii Kitag., E. excelsus Turcz. ex Griseb. and Himalayan E. tangutorum (Nevski) Hand.-Mazz. In other words, there are at least two population groups (two races) of the Elymus dahuricus aggregate species that consistently differ in their ITS-sequences in Siberia, the Far East and Northern China. Each contains all morphological forms, which taxonomists now attribute either to different species of E. dahuricus aggr. (E. dahuricus sensu stricto, E. franchetii, E. tangutorum, E. excelsus) or subspecies of Campeiostachys dahurica (Turcz. ex Griseb.) B.R. Baum, J.L. Yang et C.C. Yen. At the moment it is unknown if there are any morphological differences between plants carrying either Northern or Southern dahuricus rDNA. Probably, they are cryptic species, but it is certain that if differences in morphology between the two races exist, they are not associated with signs that are now considered taxonomically significant and are used to separate E. dahuricus s. s., E. franchetii, E. tangutorum, and E. excelsus.

Investigation of the molecular signatures of selection on ATP synthase genes in the marine bivalveLimecola balthica

We used transcriptomic sequence data to describe patterns of divergence and selection across different populations of a marine bivalve (Limecola balthica). Our analyses focused on a nuclear gene (atp5c1) that was previously detected in anFSTscan as highly structured among populations separated by the Finistère Peninsula in France. This gene encodes the gamma subunit of the FO/F1ATP synthase, a multi-protein complex that is paramount to cellular respiration and energy production. Analysis of non-synonymous to synonymous mutation ratios revealed that 65% of the gene is highly conserved (dN/dS≤ 0.1, min = 0), while 6% of the gene is likely under positive selection (dN/dS≥ 1, max = 2.03). All replacement mutations are clustered on a 46 residues portion of the protein, within an inter-peptide interaction zone. Comparative genomics suggests that these mutations are evolutionarily stable, and we hypothesize that they are involved in inter-population genetic incompatibilities with other subunits of the ATP synthase complex. The protein stability of the gamma subunit conferred by southern variants was inferred to be higher under warmer temperatures, suggesting that environmental conditions may contribute to the strength of genetic barriers inL. balthica.

A modern analogue of the Pleistocene steppe‐tundra ecosystem in southern Siberia

Steppe‐tundra is considered to have been a dominant ecosystem across northern Eurasia during the Last Glacial Maximum. As the fossil record is insufficient for understanding the ecology of this vanished ecosystem, modern analogues have been sought, especially in Beringia. However, Beringian ecosystems are probably not the best analogues for more southern variants of the full‐glacial steppe‐tundra because they lack many plant and animal species of temperate steppes found in the full‐glacial fossil record from various areas of Europe and Siberia. We present new data on flora, land snails and mammals and characterize the ecology of a close modern analogue of the full‐glacial steppe‐tundra ecosystem in the southeastern Russian Altai Mountains, southern Siberia. The Altaian steppe‐tundra is a landscape mosaic of different habitat types including steppe, mesic and wet grasslands, shrubby tundra, riparian scrub, and patches of open woodland at moister sites. Habitat distribution, species diversity, primary productivity and nutrient content in plant biomass reflect precipitation patterns across a broader area and the topography‐dependent distribution of soil moisture across smaller landscape sections. Plant and snail species considered as glacial relicts occur in most habitats of the Altaian steppe‐tundra, but snails avoid the driest types of steppe. A diverse community of mammals, including many species typical of the full‐glacial ecosystems, also occurs there. Insights from the Altaian steppe‐tundra suggest that the full‐glacial steppe‐tundra was a heterogeneous mosaic of different habitats depending on landscape‐scale moisture gradients. Primary productivity of this habitat mosaic combined with shallow snow cover that facilitated winter grazing was sufficient to sustain rich communities of large herbivores.

Equivalence among three alternative approaches to estimating live tree carbon stocks in the eastern United States

Assessments of forest carbon are available via multiple alternate tools or applications and are in use to address various regulatory and reporting requirements. The various approaches to making such estimates may or may not be entirely comparable. Knowing how the estimates produced by some commonly used approaches vary across forest types and regions allows users of carbon stock estimates to make informed comparisons. Here, we focus on equivalence of alternate estimates of aboveground live tree carbon in eastern U.S. forests derived from the carbon reports output by the Fire and Fuels Extension (FFE) to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS). Three approaches to estimating individual-tree carbon are compared by FVS variant and forest type. There are two approaches available in the FVS Fire and Fuels Extension (labeled FFE and Jenkins) and a third based on the U.S. Forest Service’s forest inventory (component ratio method, labeled CRM).We found that the two volume-based approaches, CRM and FFE, are most often identified as equivalent within forest type group or whole-variant relative to the other two pairs of approaches. Equivalence is common in the Northeast and Southern variants, but relatively infrequent in the Central States and Lake States variants. The underlying volume equations of the FFE and CRM approaches influence the carbon equivalence patterns as indicated by differences in volume estimates between FVS and the U.S. Forest Service’s forest inventory. Aggregation, or expanding forest estimates to include increasingly larger areas, tends to reduce apparent differences between approaches – that is, they become more equivalent. This result is most evident with the CRM-FFE pair or in softwood forest type groups.

Population‐specific stature estimation from long bones in the early medieval Pohansko (Czech Republic)

We tested the effect of population-specific linear body proportions on stature estimation. We used a skeletal sample of 31 males and 20 females from the Early Medieval site at Pohansko (Břeclav, Central Europe) and a comparative Central European Early Medieval sample of 45 males and 28 females. We developed new population-specific equations for the Pohansko sample using anatomical reconstructions of stature, then compared percentage prediction errors (%PEs) of anatomical stature from limb bone lengths using the derived Pohansko equations with those previously derived from more general European and other Early Medieval samples. Among general European equations, the lowest %PEs for the Pohansko sample were obtained using the equations of Formicola and Franceschi: Am J Phys Anthropol 100 (1996) 83-88 and Ruff et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 148 (2012) 601-617. However, unexpectedly, the choice between tibial latitudinal variants proposed by Ruff et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 148 (2012) 601-617 appeared to be sex-specific, with northern and southern variants producing lower %PEs for males and females, respectively. Equations from Breitinger: Anthropol Anz 14 (1937) 249-274, Bach: Anthropol Anz 29 (1965) 12-21, and Sjøvold: Hum Evol 5 (1990) 431-447 provided poor agreement with anatomical stature. When applied to the comparative Central European Early Medieval sample, our new formulae have generally lower %PE than previously derived formulae based on other European Early Medieval samples (Maijanen and Niskanen: Int J Osteoarchaeol 20 (2010) 472-480; Vercellotti et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 140 (2009) 135-142. The best agreement with anatomical stature among our newly developed equations was obtained using femoral+tibial length, followed by femoral length. Upper limb bone lengths resulted in higher %PEs. Variation in the tibia is likely to contribute most to potential bias in stature estimation. Am J Phys Anthropol 158:312-324, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evaluating short term simulations of a forest stand invaded by emerald ash borer

The invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis - EAB) is causing rapid and widespread ash (Fraxinus spp.) mortality in eastern North America, has established populations near Moscow, Russia, and is threatening ash resources in Europe. Given the prevalence of susceptible hosts these post-invasion forests will clearly differ from their pre-invasion counterparts. Understanding these changes is key to mitigating the impacts of invasion and developing sound management strategies. We evaluated short term changes in a forest stand invaded by EAB, and examined if the southern variant of the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) could accurately predict those changes. Through simulation, managers can gain a clearer understanding of how pest invasions impact and alter future forest dynamics. However, many simulators are designed to achieve long-term predictions and thus do not align with the short term changes associated with rapid EAB-induced ash mortality. Woody vegetation was surveyed in 2010 and used to project impacts of EAB invasion into 2012 by simulating a 50% ash mortality rate. The same plots were then re-surveyed in 2012, allowing us to evaluate: (1) changes in actual forest composition and structure; and (2) simulation accuracy. Within our forest stand, FVS accurately estimated short term changes in stem density and basal area parameters, thus demonstrating its value as a short-term simulator for EAB-induced changes within the southern region of the United States. EAB-induced ash mortality is quickly changing these forests and will ultimately alter how stakeholders manage their lands. We discuss the potential usefulness of FVS as a tool for aiding management decisions in response to EAB invasion.