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Acute shortage of water resources and high unproductive water losses are the key problems of irrigated agriculture in arid regions. One of the possible solutions is to optimize soil water retention using natural and synthetic polymer water absorbers. Our approach uses the HYDRUS-1D design to optimize the placement of organic water absorbents such as peat and composite hydrogels in the soil profile in the form of water-storing capillary barriers. Field testing of the approach used a water balance greenhouse experiment with the cultivation of butternut squash (butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata (Duchesne, 1786)) under sprinkler irrigation with measurement of the soil moisture profile and unproductive water losses in the form of lysimetric water outflow. In addition, the biodegradation rate of organic water absorbents was studied at the soil surface and at a depth of 20 cm. Organic capillary barriers reduced unproductive water losses by 40–70%, retaining water in the topsoil and increasing evapotranspiration by 70–130% with a corresponding increase in plant biomass and fruit yield. The deepening of organic soil modifiers to the calculated depth not only allowed capillary barriers to form, but also prevented their biodegradation. The best results in soil water retention, plant growth and yield according to the "dose-effect" criterion were obtained for a composite superabsorbent with peat filling of an acrylic polymer matrix. The study showed good compliance between the HYDRUS design and the actual efficiency of capillary barriers as an innovative technology for irrigated agriculture using natural and synthetic water absorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The publication features a brief summary and results of the 4th International Congress on the Medieval Archaeology of Eurasian Steppes held on September 16-21, 2019 in Ulan-Ude (the Republic of Buryatia). The congress agenda included 229 reports by scientists from various countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, France, Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, India, Kyrgyzstan, China, Japan and Mongolia. The congress participants presented reports covering a wide range of issues related to the study of the cultural and historical space of the steppe zone of Eurasia. The congress included the opening of the exhibition “The Huns. Empire of the Steppes”(The Huns. Secrets of Lost Civilizations).

The publication contains a brief summary and results of the 4th International Magyar Symposium held on October 15-19, 2018 in the Kazan and Bolgar (the Republic of Tatarstan). The symposium was dedicated to the current issues of the history and culture of ancient Hungarians, and was attended by scientists from Russia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine. It features a round table discussion of the results of anthropological and paleogenetic studies of Early Medieval ethnic groups. Symposium participants presented their reports on the issues of the origin and history of the Magyars reflecting the results of archaeological, linguistic, socio-anthropological and natural scientific research. The work of the symposium included the opening of the exhibition “Ugro-Magyars in the Volga-Ural Region: Legacy of the Past” at the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, which presents the materials obtained as a result of long-term research of Early Medieval Ugro-Magyar sites.

"Blue carbon", apart from marine humus, includes the carbon (C) stock of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrass meadows, which have been overlooked until recently. Information about the role of coastal wetlands in C sequestration and providing other ecosystem services is still insufficient. In the present study, we assessed the C reserves of soils and vegetation biomass in two complex coastal landscapes (tombolos) located on the coasts of the White and Baltic seas. The soil and plant C stocks were slightly higher at the plot on the Baltic Sea (93.4 ± 46.7 Mg C·ha−1 and 5.22 ± 2.51 Mg C·ha−1, respectively) than at the plot on the White Sea (71.4 ± 38.2 Mg C·ha−1 and 3.95 ± 2.42 Mg C·ha−1, respectively). We attributed the higher values of the C reserved to a warmer climate and less saline water at the plot on the Baltic Sea. Both soil and plant C showed high heterogeneity due to geomorphological complexity and differences in vegetative communities. The Phragmites australis community showed the highest plant biomass and, in some places, high soil C reserves. Allochthonous C contributed to the soil C stock at the site on the White Sea. Though P. australis sequestered more C than other communities, its effect on ecosystem services was mostly negative because the invasion of reeds reduced the biological diversity of the marshes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]