Differential spatial responses and assembly mechanisms of soil microbial communities across region-scale Taiga ecosystems.

Different soil microbial communities play distinct key roles in regulating forest ecosystem processes and functions. However, the differences in spatial variability and assembly mechanisms of various taiga forest soil microbial taxa remain poorly understood. Here, we assessed the spatial patterns of bacterial and fungal communities, their assembly processes, and the influencing factors in taiga forest ecosystems in Xinjiang, China. A significant distance decay pattern was observed in the similarity of bacterial and fungal communities, with bacterial communities exhibiting a more pronounced pattern than fungal communities. Stochastic and deterministic processes governed together to drive soil bacterial community assembly, whereas stochastic processes dominated fungal community assembly. The coexistence networks revealed that the interactions of bacterial and fungal networks in the four regions are primarily based on interspecies symbiosis, with fungal coexistence networks demonstrating greater stability than bacterial networks. Additionally, the study identified a positive relationship between the modularity of bacterial networks and dispersal limitation. Analysis of environmental factors revealed that soil pH primarily affects the characteristics and assembly mechanisms of bacterial communities, while vegetation conditions primarily affect fungal diversity and composition, with other unconsidered environmental variables influencing the fungal community assembly process. This study emphasized the distinct ways in which bacteria and fungi respond to environmental factors and interspecies interactions. Our results suggested that distinct restoration measures should be implemented for bacteria and fungi in future conservation efforts for forest soil microorganisms.

To what extent does surrounding landscape explain stand-level occurrence of conservation-relevant species in fragmented boreal and hemi-boreal forest? - a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Forestry and land-use change are leading causes of habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation worldwide. The boreal forest biome is no exception, and only a small proportion of this forest type remains intact. Since forestry will remain a major land-use in this region, measures must be taken to ensure forest dependent biodiversity. Stand level features and structures promoting conservation relevant species have received much attention, but the landscape level perspective is often missing. Hence, we review the literature that has related fragmentation in the surrounding landscape to occurrence of threatened, declining, red-listed, rare, or deadwood dependent species as well as those considered to be indicator, flagship, umbrella, and/or keystone species in a given boreal forest stand. METHODS: A comprehensive search string was developed, benchmarked, and adapted for four bibliographic databases, two search engines, and 37 specialist websites. The online evidence synthesis tool Cadima was used for screening of both abstracts and full texts. All articles meeting the inclusion criteria were subject to study validity assessment and included in a narrative table. Studies reporting means and variance were included in quantitative meta-analysis when more than 3 comparable studies were available. RESULTS: The searches resulted in 20 890 unique articles that were reduced to 172 studies from 153 articles. These studies related stand level presence, abundance, species richness, and/or composition of conservation relevant species to landscape factors such as: categorical fragmentation intensity (higher vs. lower), amount of habitat or non-habitat, distance to habitat, and/or habitat configuration, on scales ranging from tens to tens of thousands of ha. Forty-three studies were suitable for meta-analysis. These showed a significant negative effect of fragmentation on both presence and abundance of conservation relevant species, as well as a near significant trend for species richness. This was particularly clear when fragmentation was measured as distance to surrounding habitat for presence, and as habitat amount for abundance. The organism groups with the strongest support for a negative effect of fragmentation were wood fungi and birds. CONCLUSION: As hypothesised, there is strong support for negative effects of fragmentation in boreal forest. These results emphasize the negative consequences of the intensive forestry and associated landscape transformation that has been the norm for the last century. We argue that this should have direct implications for policy makers to shift towards including a landscape perspective in all planning of harvesting, preserving, and restoring forest. In addition, we found that research effort has been very uneven between organism groups, that studies on landscape change over time were rare, and that many studies have not quantified the difference in fragmentation intensity among landscapes making it difficult to quantify the extent of the negative effect. One way forward would be to revisit the studies included here in to incorporate change over time, as well as a true quantification of landscape fragmentation. By doing so, the scale of the negative effects would be much better analysed, which would greatly assist conservation practitioners all throughout the boreal forest biome.

Analysis of taiga and tundra lake browning trends from 2002 to 2021 using MODIS data.

Lakes in taiga and tundra regions may be silently undergoing changes due to global warming. One of those changes is browning in lake color. The browning interacts with the carbon cycle, ecosystem dynamics, and water quality in freshwater systems. However, spatiotemporal variabilities of browning in these regions have not been well documented. Using MODIS remote sensing reflectance at near ultraviolet wavelengths from 2002 to 2021 on the Google Earth Engine platform, we quantified long-term browning trends across 7616 lakes (larger than 10 km2) in taiga and tundra biomes. These lakes showed an overall decreased trend in browning (Theil-Sen Slope = 0.00015), with ∼36% of these lakes showing browning trends, and ∼1% of these lakes showing statistically significant (p-value <0.05) browning trends. The browning trends more likely occurred in small lakes in high latitude, low ground ice content regions, where air temperature increased and precipitation decreased. While temperature is projected to increase in response to climate change, our results provide one means to understand how biogeochemical cycles and ecological dynamics respond to climate change.

Analysis of rhizosphere fungal community of agricultural crops cultivated in laboratory experiments on Chernevaya taiga soil.

Chernevaya taiga of Western Siberia, Russia, is a unique ecosystem characterized by fertile soil, exceptionally large herbaceous plant sizes, and extraordinarily rapid rates of plant residue degradation. We expected that growing crops on soil collected from Chernevaya taiga, which has never been used for agricultural purposes before, would result in a distinct rhizospheric fungal community. This community could potentially yield novel, potent biostimulators and biocontrol fungi for modern agriculture. To check this idea, we used high-throughput ITS sequencing to examine the microbial communities in the rhizosphere of spring wheat and radish grown in greenhouse experiments on Chernevaya and control soils. Additionally, representative fungal strains were isolated and assessed for their ability to promote growth in wheat seedlings. The study revealed that the most abundant phyla in the rhizospheric fungal community were Mortierellomycota, primarily consisting of Mortierella species, and Ascomycota. Mucor and Umbelopsis comprised the majority of Mucoromycota in the control soils. Fusarium and Oidiodendron, two potentially plant-pathogenic fungi, were only found in the rhizosphere of crops grown in the control soil. Conversely, Chernevaya soil contained a diverse range of potential biocontrol fungi for plants. Tested novel fungal isolates showed a stimulating effect on the development of wheat seedlings and positively affected their rate of biomass accumulation. The results of the study demonstrate that the soil of Chernevaya taiga do indeed contain fungi with prominent potential to stimulate agricultural plants growth.

Cortinarius and Tomentella Fungi Become Dominant Taxa in Taiga Soil after Fire Disturbance.

Fungi have important ecological functions in the soil of forests, where they decompose organic matter, provide plants with nutrients, increase plant water uptake, and improve plant resistance to adversity, disease, and disturbance. A forest fire presents a serious disturbance of the local ecosystem and can be considered an important component affecting the function of ecosystem biomes; however, the response of soil fungi to fire disturbance is largely unknown. To investigate the effects of fire disturbance on the community composition and diversity of soil fungi in a taiga forest, we collected soil from plots that had undergone a light, moderate, and heavy fire 10 years previously, with the inclusion of a fire-free control. The present soil fungi were characterized using Illumina MiSeq technology, and the sequences were analyzed to identify differences in the community composition and diversity in response to the changed soil physicochemical properties. The results showed that the Chao1 index, which characterizes the alpha diversity of the fungi, did not change significantly. In contrast, the Shannon index increased significantly (p < 0.05) and the Simpson index decreased significantly (p < 0.05) following a light or heavy fire disturbance compared to the control. The relative abundance of Basidiomycota was significantly higher in the soil of the fire sites than that in the control (p < 0.01), and the relative abundance of Ascomycota was significantly lower (p < 0.01). The results of principal coordinates analyses (PCoAs) showed that fire disturbance highly significantly affected the beta diversity of soil fungi (p < 0.001), while the results of canonical correlation analysis (CCA) indicated that the available nitrogen (AN), moisture content (MC), pH, available potassium (AK), and total nitrogen (TN) contents of the soil significantly affected the compositional structure and diversity of the soil fungal communities. The results of functional prediction showed that the majority of the detected soil fungi were symbiotrophs, followed by saprotrophs and saprotroph-symbiotrophs, with ectomycorrhiza being the dominant functional taxon. Fire disturbance significantly reduced the relative abundance of ectomycorrhiza (p < 0.05). This study illustrates that fire disturbance alters the structural composition, diversity, dominance, and relative abundance of the guilds of soil fungal communities in taiga forest, and strongly affected the beta diversity of soil fungi, with AN, MC, pH, AK, and TN being the most important factors affecting their community structure. The results may provide a useful reference for the restoration and rehabilitation of taiga forests after fire disturbance.

Material Legacies and Environmental Constraints Underlie Fire Resilience of a Dominant Boreal Forest Type.

Resilience of plant communities to disturbance is supported by multiple mechanisms, including ecological legacies affecting propagule availability, species' environmental tolerances, and biotic interactions. Understanding the relative importance of these mechanisms for plant community resilience supports predictions of where and how resilience will be altered with disturbance. We tested mechanisms underlying resilience of forests dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana) to fire disturbance across a heterogeneous forest landscape in the Northwest Territories, Canada. We combined surveys of naturally regenerating seedlings at 219 burned plots with experimental manipulations of ecological legacies via seed addition of four tree species and vertebrate exclosures to limit granivory and herbivory at 30 plots varying in moisture and fire severity. Black spruce recovery was greatest where it dominated pre-fire, at wet sites with deep residual soil organic layers, and fire conditions of low soil or canopy combustion and longer return intervals. Experimental addition of seed indicated all species were seed-limited, emphasizing the importance of propagule legacies. Black spruce and birch (Betula papyrifera) recruitment were enhanced with vertebrate exclusion. Our combination of observational and experimental studies demonstrates black spruce is vulnerable to effects of increased fire activity that erode ecological legacies. Moreover, black spruce relies on wet areas with deep soil organic layers where other species are less competitive. However, other species can colonize these areas if enough seed is available or soil moisture is altered by climate change. Testing mechanisms underlying species' resilience to disturbance aids predictions of where vegetation will transform with effects of climate change. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10021-022-00772-7.

Out of site, out of mind: Changes in feather moss phyllosphere microbiota in mine offsite boreal landscapes.

Plant-microbe interactions play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and ecological services in boreal forest biomes. Mining for minerals, and especially the emission of heavy metal-enriched dust from mine sites, is a potential threat to biodiversity in offsite landscapes. Understanding the impacts of mining on surrounding phyllosphere microbiota is especially lacking. To investigate this, we characterized bacterial and fungal communities in the phyllosphere of feather moss Pleurozium schreberi (Brid). Mitt in boreal landscapes near six gold mine sites at different stages of the mine lifecycle. We found that (1) both mining stage and ecosystem type are drivers of the phyllosphere microbial community structure in mine offsite landscapes; (2) Bacterial alpha diversity is more sensitive than fungal alpha diversity to mining stage, while beta diversity of both groups is impacted; (3) mixed and deciduous forests have a higher alpha diversity and a distinct microbial community structure when compared to coniferous and open canopy ecosystems; (4) the strongest effects are detectable within 0.2 km from operating mines. These results confirmed the presence of offsite effects of mine sites on the phyllosphere microbiota in boreal forests, as well as identified mining stage and ecosystem type as drivers of these effects. Furthermore, the footprint was quantified at 0.2 km, providing a reference distance within which mining companies and policy makers should pay more attention during ecological assessment and for the development of mitigation strategies. Further studies are needed to assess how these offsite effects of mines affect the functioning of boreal ecosystems.

Evaluation of the efficacy of permethrin- and cypermethrin-based textile against taiga tick, Ixodes persulcatus.

A comparison of the efficacy of permethrin- and cypermethrin-based textile against taiga ticks (Ixodes persulcatus) was carried out in a tick-borne viral encephalitis hotspot in the Irkutsk Region (Russia) using model samples of impregnated textiles. We demonstrated that permethrin- and cypermethrin-treated model samples have similar protective parameters in terms of maximum height reached by the tick when climbing up the treated textile (20.9-38.7 cm for cypermethrin, 27.6-39.3 cm for permethrin, depending on concentration) and knockdown time (i.e., the time until a female tick falls off the treated textile; 3.52-4.31 min for cypermethrin, 5.02-8.25 min for permethrin, depending on concentration). In contrast, when evaluating the 'biting speed' index (which is the ratio of the average attaching time of ticks contacting untreated textiles and ticks contacting treated textiles), it has been shown that permethrin-treated textiles accelerate biting. So, using permethrin-treated protective clothing against the taiga tick could be risky because it increases the likelihood of being bitten and thus getting infected. In contrast, cypermethrin-treated textiles appear to block the ability of ticks to attack warm-blooded animals and humans - after contact with cypermethrin-treated textiles none of the ticks attached to a rabbit. So cypermethrin-based textiles could be an alternative to permethrin for tick-bite protection clothing production if there is no toxic effect on humans of textile materials based on it.

Safety and efficacy of a feed additive consisting of a tincture derived from the roots of Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim. (taiga root tincture) for use in dogs, cats and horses (FEFANA asbl).

Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of a tincture from the roots of Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim. (taiga root tincture) when used as a sensory additive in feed for dogs, cats and horses. The Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) concluded that the additive is safe for dogs, cats and horses at the maximum proposed use level of 460.7, 489.5 and 140.7 mg/kg complete feed, respectively. The additive was considered safe for consumers when used at the proposed conditions of use in horses for meat production. The additive under assessment should be considered as irritant to skin and eyes, and as a skin and respiratory sensitiser. The use of the taiga root tincture as a flavour in feed for horses was not expected to pose a risk for the environment. Since the root of E. senticosus has flavouring properties and its function in feed would be essentially the same as that in food, no further demonstration of efficacy is considered necessary for the tincture under assessment.

Alien Algae Species Invasions in Humic Rivers within Weakly Human Impact Basin.

Increasing anthropogenic influence and climate change are leading to significant transformations in living conditions for indigenous representatives of aquatic communities. The problem of alien species invasions is actively discussed in the example of large rivers and water reservoirs, but medium and small rivers with weak anthropogenic influence have been insufficiently studied in this aspect. With the help of analysis of literary data and the results of our own long-term observations of phytoplankton using morphological and molecular genetic methods in some left-bank Volga tributaries, we identified six invasive species of different taxonomic groups of algae, with a predominance of diatoms. The relevance of using both traditional and modern approaches to identifying invasive algae species is revealed. Such invasive species as Thalassiosira incerta, T. faurii, Skeletonema subsalsum, Unruhdinium kevei, and Gonyostomum semen were part of planktonic communities; the benthic species Plagiotropis lepidoptera var. proboscidea sometimes reached a significant level of development (up 6 to 44% from total biomass) in plankton. It was demonstrated that some algae species have firmly taken the position of dominants and subdominants in planktonic algae communities. The expansion of alien representatives of microphytobenthos was noted in the Volga River basin for the first time. For Gonyostomum semen, its European origin was revealed, for plankton and benthic diatom-Ponto-Caspian. Our study showed that the processes of invasion and subsequent development of alien species take place in habitats with weak anthropogenic influence, which is likely determined by the hydrological, hydrochemical, and climatic changes in river basins and the high adaptive capabilities of invasive species.

Agricultural Crops Grown in Laboratory Conditions on Chernevaya Taiga Soil Demonstrate Unique Composition of the Rhizosphere Microbiota.

Chernevaya taiga in West Siberia is a unique environment, with gigantism of grasses and shrubs. Exceptionally high productivity of plants is determined by the synergistic interaction of various factors, with a special role belonging to microorganisms colonizing the plant roots. This research explored whether agricultural plants can recruit specific microorganisms from within virgin Chernevaya Umbrisol and thus increase their productivity. Radish and wheat plants were grown on the Umbrisol (T1) and control Retisol of Scotch pine forest stand (T3) soils in the phytotron, and then a bacterial community analysis of the rhizosphere was performed using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes. In laboratory experiments, the plant physiological parameters were significantly higher when growing on the Umbrisol as compared to the Retisol. Bacterial diversity in T1 soil was considerably higher than in the control sample, and the principal coordinate analysis demonstrated apparent differences in the bacterial communities associated with the plants. Agricultural plants growing in the T1 soil form specific prokaryotic communities, with dominant genera Chthoniobacter, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, and Massilia. These communities also include less abundant but essential for plant growth nitrifiers Cand. Nitrosocosmius and Nitrospira, and representatives of Proteobacteria, Bacilli, and Actinobacteria, known to be gibberellin-producers.

Vascular Plants Flora of Mire Ecosystem of the Bolshoy Shantar Island (the Far East of Russia).

This article presents the findings of the authors' study of the mire ecosystem vascular plants of the island of Bolshoy Shantar, which is the largest island in the Shantar archipelago. Bolshoy Shantar Island is an insular ecosystem, the study of which can provide insight into the natural "polygons" of evolution at work. The botanical research was conducted through the application of traditional techniques of floristic and geobotanical studies. The material for this article was drawn from 73 floristic and 54 geobotanical descriptions made between 2016-2018 in the north-eastern part of Bolshoy Shantar Island on four mire massifs associated with various hypsometric surfaces. The findings of this study indicate that the flora of vascular plants of the mires of Bolshoy Shantar Island reflect the peculiarities of a regional mire type that formed in the insular conditions of the Pacific. The species richness of the vascular flora of the island's mire ecosystems is evidenced by a total species count of 158, composed of 109 genera and 48 families, which accounts for more than one quarter (26.3%) of the Shantar archipelago's flora. Over half of these species (63.7%) form the core of the mire flora.

Reducing model uncertainty of climate change impacts on high latitude carbon assimilation.

The Arctic-Boreal Region (ABR) has a large impact on global vegetation-atmosphere interactions and is experiencing markedly greater warming than the rest of the planet, a trend that is projected to continue with anticipated future emissions of CO2 . The ABR is a significant source of uncertainty in estimates of carbon uptake in terrestrial biosphere models such that reducing this uncertainty is critical for more accurately estimating global carbon cycling and understanding the response of the region to global change. Process representation and parameterization associated with gross primary productivity (GPP) drives a large amount of this model uncertainty, particularly within the next 50 years, where the response of existing vegetation to climate change will dominate estimates of GPP for the region. Here we review our current understanding and model representation of GPP in northern latitudes, focusing on vegetation composition, phenology, and physiology, and consider how climate change alters these three components. We highlight challenges in the ABR for predicting GPP, but also focus on the unique opportunities for advancing knowledge and model representation, particularly through the combination of remote sensing and traditional boots-on-the-ground science.

To what extent does surrounding landscape explain stand-level occurrence of conservation-relevant species in fragmented boreal and hemi-boreal forest?-a systematic review protocol.

BACKGROUND: Silviculture and land-use change has reduced the amount of natural forest worldwide and left what remains confined to isolated fragments or stands. To understand processes governing species occurrence in such stands, much attention has been given to stand-level factors such as size, structure, and deadwood amount. However, the surrounding matrix will directly impact species dispersal and persistence, and the link between the surrounding landscape configuration, composition and history, and stand-level species occurrence has received insufficient attention. Thus, to facilitate optimisation of forest management and species conservation, we propose a review addressing 'To what extent does surrounding landscape explain stand-level occurrence of conservation-relevant species in fragmented boreal and hemi-boreal forest?'. METHODS: The proposed systematic review will identify and synthesise relevant articles following the CEE guidelines for evidence synthesis and the ROSES standards. A search for peer-reviewed and grey literature will be conducted using four databases, two online search engines, and 36 specialist websites. Identified articles will be screened for eligibility in a two-step process; first on title and abstract, and second on the full text. Screening will be based on predefined eligibility criteria related to a PECO-model; population being boreal and hemi-boreal forest, exposure being fragmentation, comparator being landscapes with alternative composition, configuration, or history, and outcome being occurrence (i.e., presence and/or abundance) of conservation-relevant species. All articles that pass the full-text screening will go through study validity assessment and data extraction, and be part of a narrative review. If enough studies prove comparable, quantitative meta-analyses will also be performed. The objective of the narrative review and the meta-analyses will be to address the primary question as well as six secondary questions, and to identify important knowledge gaps.

Fungal Metagenome of Chernevaya Taiga Soils: Taxonomic Composition, Differential Abundance and Factors Related to Plant Gigantism.

The Chernevaya taiga of Western Siberia is a unique and complex ecosystem, distinguished by the unusually large sizes of herbaceous plants, the reasons for which are poorly understood. Here, we explored the fungal diversity of the Chernevaya taiga soils in the Tomsk regions of Western Siberia in comparison with other soil types. The soil biomes of Chernevaya taiga and the control regions were investigated using Illumina ITS rRNA sequencing, and taxonomic analysis revealed a predominance of fungal phyla in the different soils. These results demonstrate that the fungi of the Chernevaya taiga regions have a higher species diversity (Faith's PD) vs. the control soils, and the diversity is due more to the sampling sites rather than to the seasons (Bray-Curtis distance). We studied most of the differentially abundant taxa among the soil types, and we annotated the taxa with their ecological guilds and trophic types. Some of the abundant fungal taxa in the summer- and fall-Chernevaya taiga samples belong to the phylum Glomeromycota-arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiotrophs, which are known to establish symbiotic relationships and enhance plant growth. Additionally, several OTUs were assigned to novel genera in the Glomeraceae and Claroideoglomeraceae families. Our findings add a potential explanation of the high productivity and plant gigantism in Chernevaya taiga and expand our knowledge of fungal biodiversity.

Spiders of the Udmurt Republic, Russia.

BACKGROUND: The long-term project "Spiders of the Udmurt Republic" (2007-2018) aimed to research spiders' regional fauna and zoogeography, diversity (including spatial and seasonal patterns) and habitat preferences. We performed the collection of spiders in all natural zones of the republic, habitats and vegetation layers, both at permanent sampling plots and through ad-hoc sampling en route. NEW INFORMATION: The dataset includes occurrences from 53 geographical points with 10,500 records and more than 35,000 specimens. This increases the existing data on Russian spiders on GBIF by four times, from 11,000 (excluding iNaturalist observations) to 46,000. The dataset allows for the exploration of regional fauna, local and general species distribution, spider phenology and habitat preferences for the purposes of monitoring and conservation.

Studying phenological phenomena in subarctic biomes with international school pupils as citizen scientists.

Citizen science can facilitate in-depth learning for pupils and students, contribute to scientific research, and permit civic participation. Here, we describe the development of the transnational school-based citizen science project Phenology of the North Calotte. Its primary goal is to introduce pupils (age 12-15; grades 7-10) in northern Norway, Russia, and Finland to the local and global challenges of climate change resulting in life cycle changes at different trophic and ecosystem levels in their backyards. Partnerships between regional scientists and staff from NIBIO Svanhovd, State nature reserves, national parks, and teachers and pupils from regional schools aim to engage pupils in project-based learning. The project uses standardized protocols, translated into the different languages of participating schools. The phenological observations are centered around documenting clearly defined life cycle phases (e.g., first appearance of species, flowering, ripening, leaf yellowing, snow fall, and melt). The observations are collected either on paper and are subsequently submitted manually to an open-source online database or submitted directly via a newly developed mobile app. In the long term, the database is anticipated to contribute to research studying changes in phenology at different trophic levels. In principle, guided school-based citizen science projects have the potential to contribute to increased environmental awareness and education and thereby to transformative learning at the societal level while contributing to scientific progress of understudied biomes, like the northern taiga and (sub)arctic tundra. However, differences in school systems and funding insecurity for some schools have been major prohibiting factors for long-term retention of pupils/schools in the program. Project-based and multidisciplinary learning, although pedagogically desired, has been partially difficult to implement in participating schools, pointing to the need of structural changes in national school curricula and funding schemes as well as continuous offers for training and networking for teachers.

Element mobility from the copper smelting slag recycling waste into forest soils of the taiga in Middle Urals.

The article presents the results of assessing the element mobility (chemical elements and compounds) from the copper smelting slag recycling waste into brown forest soils (Haplic Cambisols) of the southern taiga district in Middle Urals, Russia. The copper smelting slag recycling waste was obtained by crushing the cast slag of the Sredneuralskiy Smelter ("technical sand") followed by flotation extraction of copper concentrate. The investigations were carried out in two forest types, distinguished according to the principles of the genetic forest typology, cowberry shrub pine forest and berry pine forest with linden, and the corresponding clear-cuttings. We conducted the experiment in the autumn before the snow cover was established in two variants: (i) we evenly scattered 1 kg of waste on meter sample plots; (ii) we weighed the "technical sand" by 100 g, packed it in non-woven material and buried it in the soil to a depth of 7-10 cm. Two years later, we dug up the bags with waste and weighed them. The analyses were performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using Elan-9000 ICP mass spectrometer. As a result of the research, it was found that waste loses 11% mass over 2 years of being in forest soils. The content of Zn, As, Cd, and Se changes most strongly. The difference in the degree of element migration from the "technical sand" to the brown forest soils of the two forest types and clear-cuttings was revealed. The study of the effect of technogenic waste on the dominant and diagnostic species of grassy vegetation in the selected forest ecosystems of the Middle Urals was carried out. There was no negative effect on the qualitative composition of the grassy layer of two forest types and their clear-cuttings after 1 year after a single surface application of mineral waste at a concentration of 1 kg/m2.

Soil invertebrates occurrences in European North-East of Russia.

BACKGROUND: The 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 INFORMATION: Data 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.

Low Cost and Compact FMCW 24 GHz Radar Applications for Snowpack and Ice Thickness Measurements.

Monitoring the evolution of snow on the ground and lake ice-two of the most important components of the changing northern environment-is essential. In this paper, we describe a lightweight, compact and autonomous 24 GHz frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar system for freshwater ice thickness and snow mass (snow water equivalent, SWE) measurements. Although FMCW radars have a long-established history, the novelty of this research lies in that we take advantage the availability of a new generation of low cost and low power requirement units that facilitates the monitoring of snow and ice at remote locations. Test performance (accuracy and limitations) is presented for five different applications, all using an automatic operating mode with improved signal processing: (1) In situ lake ice thickness measurements giving 2 cm accuracy up to ≈1 m ice thickness and a radar resolution of 4 cm; (2) remotely piloted aircraft-based lake ice thickness from low-altitude flight at 5 m; (3) in situ dry SWE measurements based on known snow depth, giving 13% accuracy (RMSE 20%) over boreal forest, subarctic taiga and Arctic tundra, with a measurement capability of up to 3 m in snowpack thickness; (4) continuous monitoring of surface snow density under particular Antarctic conditions; (5) continuous SWE monitoring through the winter with a synchronized and collocated snow depth sensor (ultrasonic or LiDAR sensor), giving 13.5% bias and 25 mm root mean square difference (RMSD) (10%) for dry snow. The need for detection processing for wet snow, which strongly absorbs radar signals, is discussed. An appendix provides 24 GHz simulated effective refractive index and penetration depth as a function of a wide range of density, temperature and wetness for ice and snow.