Mapping Yamal reindeer dietary preferences

In full (EN) Abstract:Large herbivores regulate ecosystem structure and functioning across Earth’s biomes, but vegetation community responses to herbivory depend on complex interactions involving the timing and intensity of herbivory pressure and other, often abiotic, controls on vegetation. Consequently, reindeer-driven vegetation transitions in the Arctic occur heterogeneously between and even within landscapes. Here, we employed…

Forest communities of the Green Book for Bryansk

In full (RU)AbstractTo identify and describe the forest communities of the Green Book of the Bryansk region, the habitats of 10 natural monuments have been surveyed. Forest communities are represented by formations of oak forests and ash forests. Thanks to biomonitoring work followed by analysis of syntaxonomic diversity, observation bases have been created for 6…

Impact on permafrost layers from wildfires

Multi-authored article including some Russian contributions. They were interested in the thickness of the active permafrost layer and have combined 52,566 data records which others can use for modelling further impacts. Abstract: As the northern high-latitude permafrost zone experiences accelerated warming, permafrost has become vulnerable to widespread thaw. Simultaneously, wildfire activity across northern boreal forest…

Measuring freezing and thawing in the Kola peatlands with GPR

The active layer of permafrost which freezes and thaws is seasonally monitored using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) for variation in activity and thickness, especially in response to recent climate change. Ryazantsev wanted to find out whether GPR can provide useful information about thermal factors such as soil temperature change, thermal insulation and thermal conductivity. Remote sensing…

Bee breadmaking becomes renewable in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan researchers alongside Ryazan researchers, investigated the energy processes required for the two stage drying processes involved in the extraction of bee bread. Bee bread is used for medicinal purposes for a range of treatments. For Kazakhstan’s high solar energy potential, providing a renewable drying energy source could reduce costs, increase bee happiness and sustainability…

Measuring two and a half centuries of Ammonia emissions from the Russian Caucuses

Abstract: Atmospheric ammonia (NH3) is a key transboundary air pollutant that contributes to the impacts of nitrogen and acidity on terrestrial ecosystems. Ammonia also contributes to the atmospheric aerosol that affects air quality. Emission inventories indicate that NH3 was predominantly emitted by agriculture over the 19th and 20th centuries but, up to now, these estimates have…

Heartwood and carbon in NW Russian pine trees

Heartwood (HW) has a major proportion of a tree trunk, compared with its outer sapwood (SW). Researchers investigated the carbon accumulation to understand the depths of carbon sequestration in pine species in north-western Russia. They mentioned that 64% of the forests of Russian Karelia are Scots Pine which they compared across lingonberry (30% Karelia, 42%…

Climate change and soil happiness in Leningrad region

Russia has a lot of soil. Russian scientists have been investigating it for centuries and pointeered soil science through researchers such as Dokuchaev, Dokuchaeva, Glazoskaya, Glinka and others. Large soil data projects managed by land institutes e.g. GIZPROZEMs have since been updated using satellite data. Current researchers conducted an agroecological assessment. They investigated land suitable…