Mass-loss rates from decomposition of plant residues in spruce forests near the northern tree line subject to strong air pollution.

Mass-loss rates during the early phase of decomposition of plant residues were studied for a period of 3 years in Norway spruce forests subjected to air pollution by Cu-Ni smelters on the Kola Peninsula, northwest Russia. Litterbags were deployed in two main patches of forests at the northern tree line, between and below the crowns of spruce trees older than 100 years. The study results demonstrated the dependence of the decomposition rates on the initial concentrations of nutrients and the C/N and lignin/N ratios in plant residues. Lower rates of mass loss in forests subject to air pollution may be related to low quality of plant residues, i.e. high concentrations of heavy metals, low concentrations of nutrients, and high lignin/N and C/N ratios. The increased losses of Ca, Mg, K, and Mn from plant residues in these forests compared to the reference were, probably, related to leaching of their compounds from the residues. The relatively high rates of heavy metal accumulation in the residues were most likely related to uptake of pollutants from the atmosphere, as well as to the lower mass-loss rates. The present study results demonstrate that the forest patchiness should be taken into account in assessment and predictions of decomposition rates in Norway spruce forests. Mass-loss rates of plant residues below the crowns of old spruce trees were significantly lower than those in the patches between the crowns. This was explained by the high C/N and lignin/N ratios in the residues of evergreens which contribute significantly to litterfall below the crowns and by lower soil temperature during winter and spring below the crowns. In addition, a lower amount of precipitation reaching the forest floor below the dense, long crowns of old Norway spruce trees may result in considerably lower washing out of the organic compounds from the residues. Lower mass-loss rates below the crowns of old spruce trees may be part of the evidence that the old-growth spruce forests can continue to accumulate carbon in soil.

The variety of vertebrate mechanisms of sex determination.

The review deals with features of sex determination in vertebrates. The mechanisms of sex determination are compared between fishes, amphibians, reptilians, birds, and mammals. We focus on structural and functional differences in the role of sex-determining genes in different vertebrates. Special attention is paid to the role of estrogens in sex determination in nonmammalian vertebrates.

Interstitial (TTAGGG)(n) sequences are not hot spots of recombination in the chicken lampbrush macrochromosomes 1-3.

To study the role of telomere (TTAGGG)(n) sequences in promoting of crossing over in chicken female meiosis, we have localized telomere repeats by FISH and studied the distribution of chiasmata in the giant diplotene bivalents, the chicken lampbrush macrochromosomes 1--3. We show that all interstitial clusters of the (TTAGGG)(n) repeat in these chromosomes do not coincide with hot spots of genetic recombination (crossing over) in the chicken female. Moreover, terminal TTAGGG-positive chromomeres also are not chiasma hot spots. We conclude that, at least in chicken macrochromosomes in female meiosis, a role for canonical telomere sequences in promoting of crossing over is not confirmed.