Land use changes in Russia and their impact on migrating geese

Since the break-up of the USSR in 1991 agriculture in European Russia has been going through sweeping reorganization that resulted in fundamental changes of land use practices. This transformation led a widespread land abandonment which resulted in old-field development on fields formerly used for grain production. These processes take place near stopover sites that are used by migrating greater white-fronted geese. This species uses a vast network of stopover sites across European Russia to rest and to forage on their way from Western Europe to the Russian Arctic and back. With old-field development near stopover sites in European Russia an ever increasing number of them should become unsuitable for migrating geese. This change might potentially reshape the migratory network of greater white-fronted goose across European Russia pushing the species to explore alternative migration routes.</p

Анализ застройки и функционального зонирования городов Заполярья России, выделенных по космическим снимкам

Работа посвящена изучению особенностей застройки и функционального зонирования крупнейших городов российского Заполярья: Апатитов, Воркуты, Мурманска и Норильска. В качестве исходных материалов использованы снимки со спутников SPOT-5 (оптический спектральный диапазон), Landsat 8 (тепловой спектральный диапазон) и генеральные планы изучаемых городов, которые послужили основой для выделения типов застройки. Учёт тепловой структуры городских территорий при анализе их застройки и функционального зонирования позволяет выявить черты городского пространства, не видные на снимках в оптическом диапазоне, важные для оценки благоприятности городской среды для жизни людей

Comprehensive Hydrological Survey of Glukhoye Lake, a Typical Forest Lake on Kunashir Island (Kuril Islands)

In order to study a typical forest lake on Kunashir Island, which is Glukhoye Lake, a bathymetric mapping was conducted using a Lowrance echo sounder, during which 25 transects and 3 longitudinal tacks were measured. According to the results of bathymetric mapping, 5 points of hydrological and hydrochemical synchronous survey were carried out, within the framework of which hydrochemical indicators were measured and 9 water samples were taken for further analysis. At the same locations, 5 sediment samples were collected and described during the ground survey. Based on these studies, a comprehensive hydrological characterization of Glukhoye Lake, a typical forest lake on Kunshir Island, has been formulated. It is located in a forested area between the hills, has a shallow basin, few tributaries and slow water exchange. The lake is characterized by very little variability in hydrochemical parameters in depth and in plan. The predominance of hydrocarbonate and sodium ions is quite typical for surface water bodies of volcanic massifs. The hypothesis of a continuing close link between the lake and the ocean has not been confirmed

Abandoned field succession in Russia and its potential effect on Corncrake Crex crex habitats

At the end of the 1980s, the former USSR went through major economic and political changes. Sweeping reorganisation of the Russian agriculture resulted in widespread land abandonment and development of secondary forest. Here we report on this old field succession in northern European Russia where the majority of Corncrakes breed. After selecting sites through remote sensing, we ground-truthed 96 sites by collecting data on vegetation cover and composition. Combined with our knowledge of the local economy, we identified five stages of old field devel-opment from early abandonment to young forest. We recorded 22 calling Corncrakes in these abandoned fields, where total area under cultivation dropped below 50 % and number of cattle dropped below 25 % of their original 1990 levels. In contrast to early concerns about intensifi-cation of Russian agriculture and their negative effects on Corncrakes, our research discloses the opposite. Downscaling of agriculture and land abandonment lead to development of more abandoned fields which resulted in more potential habitat for breeding Corncrakes. We advise to address abandoned field succession in the breeding area when designing new bird surveys in Russia and other East European countries

Simultaneous assessment of the summer urban heat island in Moscow megacity based on <i>in situ</i> observations, thermal satellite images and mesoscale modeling

This study compares three popular approaches to quantify the urban heat island (UHI) effect in Moscow megacity in a summer season (June-August 2015). The first approach uses the measurements of the near-surface air temperature obtained from weather stations, the second is based on remote sensing from thermal imagery of MODIS satellites, and the third is based on the numerical simulations with the mesoscale atmospheric model COSMO-CLM coupled with the urban canopy scheme TERRA_URB. The first approach allows studying the canopy-layer UHI (CLUHI, or anomaly of a near- surface air temperature), while the second allows studying the surface UHI (SUHI, or anomaly of a land surface temperature), and both types of the UHI could be simulated by the atmospheric model. These approaches were compared in the daytime, evening and nighttime conditions. The results of the study highlight a substantial difference between the SUHI and CLUHI in terms of the diurnal variation and spatial structure. The strongest differences are found at the daytime, at which the SUHI reaches the maximal intensity (up to 10°С) whereas the CLUHI reaches the minimum intensity (1.5°С). However, there is a stronger consistency between CLUHU and SUHI at night, when their intensities converge to 5–6°С. In addition, the nighttime CLUHI and SUHI have similar monocentric spatial structure with a temperature maximum in the city center. The presented findings should be taken into account when interpreting and comparing the results of UHI studies, based on the different approaches. The mesoscale model reproduces the CLUHI-SUHI relationships and provides good agreement with in situ observations on the CLUHI spatiotemporal variations (with near-zero biases for daytime and nighttime CLUHI intensity and correlation coefficients more than 0.8 for CLUHI spatial patterns). However, the agreement of the simulated SUHI with the remote sensing data is lower than agreement of the simulated CLUHI with in situ measurements. Specifically, the model tends to overestimate the daytime SUHI intensity. These results indicate a need for further in-depth investigation of the model behavior and SUHI–CLUHI relationships in general

Large-Scale Reduction in the Extent of Agriculture around Stopover Sites of Migratory Geese in European Russia between 1990 and 2015

Stopover sites are vital to the state of the population of many migratory bird species. The greater white-fronted goose Anser albifrons is the most numerous Eurasian goose species, and migrates on a broad front over European Russia. Stopover and staging sites have specific habitat requirements. They are located near open water, have nearby (<5 km) foraging areas, must be open, and lie at least 500 m from the nearest woodland. Extensive agricultural land abandonment in European Russia since 1990 is leading to widespread land cover changes, and may be lowering the availability and perhaps the suitability of stopover sites for greater white-fronted geese. To measure the extent of land cover change, we compiled Landsat images of three areas in European Russia over which geese migrate. The images were taken May 1990, 2002 and 2014, and used to create a scene that covered completely each area in each of these years. We classified each pixel into one of six land cover classes (LCCs: urban, water, arable, grass, peat bog and forest), and tallied the number changing LCC between the successive maps. For ground truthing, we made field visits in June 2014 to 150 locations chosen randomly in advance, and among them, 64 identified as stopover sites recently used by geese. At each, we assessed vegetation composition and cover, successional stage and the duration (in years) since agriculture on the site had been abandoned. The extent of arable land that changed to another classification 1990–2014 was 56%, and was matched closely by the increase in the extent of the ‘grassland’ and ‘forest’ categories, as expected if agricultural abandonment allows vegetation succession to proceed. The magnitude of change around identified stopover sites was similar to that in the areas as a whole. The extent of land cover change in the northern part of European Russia is making migration by greater white-fronted geese more challenging, which is consistent with the documented southward shift in stopover site usage. This could lead to abandonment of the route across northern European Russia altogether, in favour of a longer migration around the expanding boreal forest, which is inhospitable for goose species

Hydrological surveys of the Lake Peschanoe and the Sernovodsky isthmus of Kunashir island (Greater Kuril сhain)

The article is devoted to the study of the largest lake of the island of Kunashir – the lake Peschanoe (means Sandy) – and the adjacent sections of the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Despite its considerable size and relatively easy transport accessibility, the lake still remains relatively poorly explored. The topography of its bottom was studied, in particular, the maximum depth of the lake (23 m) was measured; hydrological and hydrobiological surveys of the lake were conducted; the influence of the wind on the intensity of mixing of the lake’s waters was assessed; lagoon origin of the lake was proven; the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk in the vicinity of the lake was examined. It was revealed that the lake lost connection with the sea long enough so that there are no signs of salt in its water, but not so long enough that it stopped being inhabited by mesohalobiotic crustaceans. The influence of typhoons on the mixing of the lake’s waters is very great that is surprising for such a large lake. This is facilitated by its geographical position on the Sernovodsky isthmus, due to which it is open to both winds blowing from east and west

Land use change and the migration geography of Greater White-fronted geese in European Russia

Large areas of agricultural land have been abandoned in European Russia since 1991, triggering succession toward more wooded landscapes, especially in northern regions where conditions for agriculture are more challenging. We hypothesize that this process has contributed to a southward shift by migratory Atlantic Greater White-fronted geese, as stopover sites in northern Russia became progressively less suitable. To test this hypothesis, we located stopover sites from information contained in 2976 ring recoveries and sightings of neck-collared geese. These records were divided into three time periods, chosen to reflect major changes in the economy and land use of European Russia: 1960–1990, 1991–2000, and 2001–2013. We used a kernel density estimator grid to delineate areas surrounding 300 putative stopover sites, and statistically evaluated the effects of latitude, distance to nearest waterbody, settlement, and period on stopover site usage by geese. Our results show that over the three periods, usage of the stopover sites has shifted southward, indicating that Greater White-fronted geese have shifted their migration pathway, with the greatest shift in the most recent period. This shift was confirmed by a highly significant squared latitude term and significant interaction term between periods. The nearest settlements showed no significant effect on stopover site usage while the nearest waterbody term was negative, suggesting higher waterbody densities contributed to higher densities of stopover sites. We attribute the shift to the successional reforestation of the Russian landscape that has followed widespread land abandonment, especially that following the break-up of the former USSR.</p