Cyanobacterial diversity in soil crusts has been extensively studied in arid lands of temperate regions, particularly semi-arid steppes and warm deserts. Nevertheless, Arctic soil crusts have received far less attention than their temperate counterparts. Here, we describe the cyanobacterial communities from various types of soil crusts from Svalbard, High Arctic. Four soil crusts at different d...

Abstract This special issue is a collection of articles about the conservation, restoration and biodiversity Palaearctic grasslands was initiated by Eurasian Dry Grassland Group at 15th Conference (EDGC), held Graz, Austria in 2019. The papers this cover range grassland habitats from montane dry to lowland sandy grasslands, feathergrass steppes meadow steppes, focus on values, conservation issu...

Habitat fragmentation threatens terrestrial arthropod biodiversity, and thereby also leads to alterations of ecosystem functioning stability. Predation on insects seeds by arthropods are two very important ecological functions because their community-structuring effects. We addressed the effect fragment connectivity, size, edge insect seed predation arthropods. studied 60 natural fragments gras...

Loxodontomys micropus (Waterhouse, 1837) is a cricetid commonly called the southern pericote. A moderately large, heavy-bodied rodent, it is 1 of the 2 species in the genus Loxodontomys. This cricetid occurs in southern Chile and southwestern Argentina. It prefers humid, dense grasslands, meadows, shrubby steppes, and mixed or open-canopied Nothofagus forests. L. micropus is categorized as of l...

The paper is aimed to assess the effect of anthropogenic fragmentation on biodiversity plants in northern meadow steppes located southeast Nizhny Novgorod region. were chosen as a model group. A quantitative analysis dependence number species area habitats was carried out according data collected at 158 sites and steppe meadows with total 10752 ha. For each surveyed, area, proportion, covered c...

The effect of natural fires on the vegetation cover steppe and forest-steppe zones in south-east European Russia (the middle course Volga River) has been evaluated. research used methods studying biosystems at organism, species, population cenotic levels. study revealed possibility regrowth aboveground plant parts after fires, changes structure resistance populations zonal communities to effect...

Milk represents the essential source of nourishment of mammals during the neonatal period. Mare’s milk represents the essential source of nourishment of foals during the first months of life. Around 30 million people consume mare milk regularly throughout the world. In areas of central Asia steppes: Turks, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Kyrygyz, Mongols, Yakuts and Uzbeks a lactic-alcoholic beverage called...

Nitrous oxide emissions during freeze/thaw periods contribute significantly to annual soil N2O emissions budgets in middle- and high-latitude areas; however, the freeze/thaw-related N2O emissions from waterlogged soils have hardly been studied in the Hulunber Grassland, Inner Mongolia. For this study, the effects of changes in land use/cover types on N2O emissions during freeze-thaw cycles were...

BACKGROUND Livestock grazing is the most prevalent land use of grasslands worldwide. The effects of grazing on plant C, N, P contents and stoichiometry across hierarchical levels, however, have rarely been studied; particularly whether the effects are mediated by resource availability and the underpinning mechanisms remain largely unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using a multi-organiza...