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This document addresses the various challenges associated with adapting wheeled vehicles to taiga off-road. Interactions with threshold obstacle of two-axle all-wheel drive wheel machine are considered. The results of calculation of the interaction process with the threshold of a two-axle all-wheel drive machine with geometric parameters characteristic of mini-all-terrain vehicles are presented. An analysis of the movement of the wheeled vehicle in forest off-road conditions was drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers the content of readily soluble salts of technogenic origin and the patterns of their spatial distribution in the soils of oil-contaminated floodplain ecosystems of Western Siberia within the middle taiga subzone. The revealed changes make it possible to assess the ecological state of the studied soils as unsatisfactory. Based on the results of the study of the basic parameters of technogenically saline soils (chemistry, degree of salinity, stock of toxic salts), proposals for the recultivation of technogenic soil salinity have been developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the results of studies of pine plantations of artificial origin in the taiga zone of the Russian Federation. The objects of the study were selected stationary trial areas in the Obozersky forestry of the Arkhangelsk region, starting with their creation since 1970, under the leadership of N.S. Minin (Senior Research Associate, PhD in Agricultural Science, NRIF). The studies have analyzed for by the materials of eight accounts during the observation period 1970-2018-s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diurnal dynamics of blood parameters in animals of forest ecosystems of the taiga North-West of Russia - the common shrew (Sorex araneus) and the European bank vole (Gletrionomis glareolus) - is considered. The capture of animals was carried out in the summer using live traps. In the blood of all animals, the content of leukocytes and lymphocytes was studied; blood levels of IgG and P-proteins were also determined in common shrews, and IgG and IgM in bank voles. Blood sampling was carried out immediately after the capture of animals during the day with a difference of 3 hours: at 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 hours. The results were processed statistically and analyzed. It was revealed that changes in blood parameters in common shrews and bank voles during the day are similar, species differences in the magnitude of daily changes in these parameters are associated with different types of daily activity of shrews and voles. There were no daily changes in humoral resistance factors (the content of immunoglobulins and the level of P-proteins). Probably, the obtained data testify in favor of the greater species-specificity of cellular immunity factors in comparison with humoral ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article presents results of long-term monitoring studies at recutivated areas at ash dump of Nizhneturinskaya Power Plant (Middle Urals, Sverdlovsk region). Positive effect of reclamation measures (seeding+irrigation with wastewater as fertilizer; clay soil application without seeding) on physical and agrochemical properties of ash and on plant phytomass growth generaly was noted. In the area with irrigation, cultivated grasses prevailed in plant community for 10–15 years, which later transformed into a stable reed phytocoenosis. In the first 5–10 years, application of a clay soil layer with a thickness of 2 cm promoted colonization of woody species and, subsequently, formation of a forest phytocoenosis with a high proportion of Pinus sylvestris L., Betula pendula Roth and Populus tremula L. During 15-years period after recultivation, species diversity and proportion of adventive fraction of flora increased significantly on sitess, which further decrease. Dynamics of changes in structure of cenotic groups of forming plant communities is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of studying quantitative indices of deformations of the trunk of young trees of Scotch pine obtained as a result of damage under the influence of negative abiotic and biotic factors. Studies were carried out in young-growth stands of Scotch pine formed on the site of pine cut-over areas of the Middle Ural taiga zone at the Sverdlovsk region. It has been established that trees with trunk deformities are found even in conditions where there is no recreation. It has been shown that even with the appearance of small recreational activity, the proportion of trees without trunk deformations significantly decreases, accordingly, the proportion of trees with trunk deformations of different species increases, the nature of the distribution of deformations along the height of the trunk changes and their number increases by an average of one tree. In the absence of recreational activity, the largest number of injuries occurs at a trunk height of about 30 cm. When signs of recreational activity appear, the area of damage increases to a height of 70 cm and higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a laboratory model experiment, the effect of native pyrochars and modified pyrochars, from which labile organic matter were extracted, on substrate-induced respiration (SIR) was evaluated. Native samples of pyrochars were obtained from the remnants of linden wood at low-temperature (250°C), medium-temperature (450°C) and high-temperature (650°C) pyrolysis. Modified pyrochar samples were obtained by extracting labile fractions with cold water, boiling in hot water and treating with an alkaline solution of Na4P2O7-NaOH. The SIR on the 30th and 60th day of incubation of model mixtures was determined. The results showed that after the addition of native pyrochars, there is a shortterm increase in the intensity of respiration with a further tendency to decrease. The removal of labile fractions leads to an increase of SIR and duration of CO2 emission due to the priming effect associated with an increase in the availability of pores of pyrochar for soil organic matter and microorganisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lake Suturuokha (69'06 "N, 145'23" E) is a unique lake within the Indigirka River basin, which is located on the border of the forest-tundra and taiga in the north of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Formed due to the influence of glaciers of several glaciations in the late Pleistocene, the lake has a large area (69 km²) and comparatively shallow depths (2 - 2.5 m). Because of its unusual genesis and low study, the lake is of great interest to scientists. In August 2015, in the framework of the research expedition, an assessment of the current ecological conditions of Lake Suturuokha was implemented, in the course of which hydro-biological samples were selected from 16 different points located in different biotopes of the lake's water area. According to the research conducted, Lake Suturuokha can be referred to as highly productive due to the active blooming blue-green and green algae and a mass accumulation of effipium of Daphnia middendorffiana (Fischer, 1851), Cladocera. 53 species and forms in species diversity of zooplankton community were revealed; of these, 31 were Rotifera, 12 Cladocera and 11 Copepoda. High frequency indicators belonged to the rotifers Brachionus angularis (Gosse, 1851), Collotheca pelagica (Rousselet, 1893), Kellicotia longispina (Kellicot, 1879), as well as the cladocera Daphnia middendorfiana (Fischer, 1851) and the juvenile Copepoda. 76.6 % of the total zooplankton abundance included rotifers, 21.7 % and 1.7 % of the abundance involved Copepod and Cladocera. The average value of the zooplankton abundance of the lake was 35.10 thousand ind./m³. Biomass of zooplankton of the lake Suturuokha on the average had a value of 295.2 mg/m³. 64.1 % of it were Cladocera, especially large D. middendorfiana. 36.7 % of the biomass contained Copepoda, 1.7 % - of rotifer biomass. Mass clusters of Cladocera efippia, formed primarily by D. middendorphiana, were discovered. Estimators of Shannon's index and saprobity index defined that the lake was located on the border to pure and moderately polluted waters and had oligosaprobic level (the average values 2.57 and 1.47 accordingly). The prevalence of littoral species (44 %) and cosmopolitan species (53 %) in zooplankton was explained by the small depths of the lake. However, quantitatively, the dominant structure of zooplankton was cold-water species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated isotopic signature of methane efflux from soil surface of Siberian arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems in sites in Siberia. In the boreal ecosystem of the Tura site (64°15'N, 100°13'E) the d13C signature of methane (-43‰ for south facing slope and - 35‰ from north facing slope) showed low methane production potential of investigated soils. Two years of monitoring of the d13CCH4 signatures from surface of ice-wedge polygon of Samoylov island (72°22'N, 126°28'E) showed that the d13C signature were different regarding to temperature and precipitation. The mean of d13CCH4 emitted from the polygon wall ranged from 72.5±1.9‰ to -47.3±1.5‰. The same for polygon center ranged from -67.1±2.0‰ to -62.4±1.7‰. Almost no difference between d13CCH4 signature of years observed could mean that conditions for methane production are possibly quite stable. With respect to methane emission both permafrost ecosystems are thus very contrasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In conditions of dangerous interaction of natural processes and human impact, there is a possibility of environmental disaster leading to significant economic losses. The article describes a research devoted to pilot testing of standardized analytic approaches to hazardous natural-climatic phenomena in different spheres of environmental management. On the example of the taiga zone of Western Siberia, an algorithm has been developed, implementing the basic functions of GIS technology for the purposes of current study. Using the ArcGIS 10.1 platform, a comprehensive information database was created, combining digital and cartographic data on natural hazards conditions and dynamics. In the result, a GIS system "Hazardous natural climatic processes in the taiga zone of Western Siberia" was created, and, using the author's proprietary methods, zoning of the territory based on the environment management hazard degree, was performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest and peat bog fires occur almost every summer in several parts of Russian boreal forests due to long rainless and heat periods at summertime. Particulate matter and different gases (CO, CO2, NOx, O3, SO2) in air can be transported thousands of kilometers away from the fire areas. Increased concentrations of the different parameters, like carbon monoxide and aerosol particles were observed on certain days in Southern Finland and even Finnish Lapland during Russian wild fire episodes in summer 2010. During these days the wind direction was from East or Southeast to Finland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of ion-ion recombination in new particle formation is still unclear. In this work, we present a new method to estimate the size distribution of recombination products from atmospheric measurements. By applying our method to size distributions of charged and neutral clusters measured in Hyytia¨la¨, Finland, we show that only a minor fraction of all sub-2nm neutral clusters originate from ion-ion recombination in boreal forest conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term atmospheric dataset including aerosol field measurement and back trajectories was used to investigate the impact of temperature to the production of secondary organic aerosols from biogenic monoterpene emissions among boreal forest area. Temperature was equally divided into five bins ranging from 0 to 20 °C in this study, and all parameters were classified into the corresponding temperature bins. Own results suggest that increase in temperature causing an increase in MT emission will not necessarily result in the increase of secondary organic aerosol production. Therefore, to predict the aerosol production potential in the future with rising temperature, a simple extrapolation cannot be applied between the total aerosol production and temperature. In addition, the climatic feedback due to the increase in aerosol production to buffer the warming over boreal forest area may be less significant as previously expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]