Abstract Rice crop residues are one of the recalcitrant agricultural wastes in arid conditions. A laboratory experiment was conducted to decompose rice straw with woodlice and millipedes living in the dry steppes of Kalmykia in Russia. Five individuals of two species of woodlice (Armadillidium vulgare and Protracheoniscus kryszanovskii) or two species of millipedes (Brachydesmus assimilis and Cylindroiulus

Abstract Land cover change has direct effects on ecological functions and processes of landscape and natural resources. Forest degradation affects watershed processes and biochemical cycles and leads to soil erosion and water shortage; therefore it is necessary that the spatial dimensions of land use and land cover are identified regularly so that the policy makers and researcher are enabled to make

Abstract The study is based on an analysis of the dynamics of the air temperature, the precipitation, and the hydrothermal coefficient of Selyaninov for the period of 1966–2017 based on data from the Yashkul meteorological station (Republic of Kalmykia). The construction and analysis of difference integral curves made it possible to identify periods with increased (in comparison with the average) and

Abstract Observations of the course of natural restoration of vegetation were repeated at nine sites of the Arshan–Zelmensky Scientific Station with the same methodology after 10 years on similar dates in May. The land-reclamation works lasted 20 years and was stopped almost 50 years ago. Comparison of the data from field work in the two observation periods (2008 and 2018) showed that the changes made

Abstract A comparative analysis and an evaluation of the structure of variability have been carried out for eight (dimensional, numerical, weight, and index) seed productivity traits of two populations of Mongolian milkvetch (Astragalus fissuralis Alexeenko (Fabaceae)) growing at two different altitudes (1100 and 1750 m above sea level) in the middle mountain belt of the Inland Mountain Dagestan. This

Abstract The water availability in dry steppes during various active growing seasons is analyzed for the first time. Climatic fluctuations are examined, and their specific features are determined. Contrary to the popular opinion that the maximum precipitation in the steppe zone occurs during the summer period and that this is a distinctive feature of the steppe zone that is applicable to all its subzones

Abstract The article analyzes the role of the landscape structure of the northeastern Caspian region in the development of geoecological processes. The goal of the study was to conduct geoecological zoning of the northeastern Caspian based on a study of the main factors determining the nature and intensity of the development of modern landscapes and the main geoecological processes: the altitudinal

Abstract The article assesses the state of the ontogenetic structure of some rare species (Rosa laxa Retz., Crataegus korolkowii L. Henry, Artemisia terrae-albae Krasch. and Salsola arbusculiformis Drob.) growing on the Karakalpak part of Ustyurt. The study shows that the studied cenopopulations are normal and mostly incomplete under the ecological and cenotic conditions of Ustyurt. The ontogenetic

Abstract The article describes the vegetation cover that formed at three crash sites of launch vehicles fueled by toxic unsymmetric dimethylhydrazine 4–12 years after the accident. A launch-vehicle crash is accompanied by chemical, mechanical, and thermal (or pyrogenic) effects on the vegetation cover that extend out from the impact site to different distances, thereby forming characteristic, technogenically

Abstract The assessment of the situation of global desertification emphasizes the need for information characterizing the global progress of arid degradation and the damage caused by it. Amid the current climate warming, more regions will be affected by droughts, which compromise the sustainability of degrading lands. Concurrently, the drought frequency intensely increases in arid regions. The efforts

Abstract The concentrations of macrocomponents (Na, K, Mg, Ca, and P) and trace elements (Rb, Cs, Be, Sr, Ba, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ag, Sn, Sb, Al, Ga, rare earth elements, Ti, Zr, Hf, Th, U, Nb, Ta, B, V, Cr, Ge, As, Mo, and W) were measured in 12 macrophyte species selected in the freshwater part of the Volga mouth area. Close correlations between the average specific contents were established:

Abstract Work on the study and adaption of the concept and methodological basis of land degradation neutrality (LDN) in the Kyrgyz Republic was launched in 2016 as part of a corresponding project. The Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) provided the country with a comprehensive set of indicators and information derived from an analysis of global satellite

Abstract The article provides material on the monitoring and analysis of the state and dynamics of the development of erosion processes of agricultural land over a 16-year (2000–2016) period in the districts of Stavropol krai. Currently, the spontaneous decline in agricultural production, which is primarily associated with the agricultural crop, not only contributes to the restoration of natural biological

Abstract Analysis of the dynamics of modern desertification of the Northwestern Caspian with the use of geoinformation technologies and aerospace data showed that the area of degraded and desertified lands in the region increases due to an increase in the anthropogenic factor (pasture load). With a relatively stable number of animals, the role of climatic factors increases, which leads to an increase

Abstract The Republic of Kalmykia is located in the European part of the arid belt of the Russian Federation, in which the desertification of a significant part (up to 80%) of its territory is a serious environmental and socioeconomic problem. Thus, of the 6 264 000 ha of agricultural land, 77.9% are subject to various types of degradation, of which 93 960 ha are waterlogged, 526 180 ha are eroded

Abstract Rostov oblast, which is located in southwestern European Russia, is characterized by a temperate continental climate with unstable moisture, dry and hot summers, relatively little snowy winters, and constant winds. The climatic and geomorphological features of the territory, as well as the high agricultural development of land resources, result in the development of a number of degradation

Abstract Two biogeochemical simulation models describing carbon turnover in soil, the DeNitrification–DeComposition (DNDC) model and the Rothamsted Long-Term Field Experiment Carbon (RothC) model, have been parameterized in accordance with the conditions of arable leached chernozems of Kursk region and validated based on soil СО2 emission measurement data at Kursk Biosphere Station, Institute of Geography

Abstract The results of the application of the concept of land degradation neutrality (LDN) and the methodology to assess LDN indicators for arid regions of Russia are presented for the first time. It is shown that the LDN state has not been achieved in any of the arid regions of our country, since the proportion of degraded lands is positive everywhere and ranges from 9 to 67%. The concept of the

Abstract Climate change and anthropogenic activity in the Republic of Buryatia aggravate the processes of desertification and land degradation. The territory of Buryatia was zoned according to the aridity index based on ENVIREM climate data with a high spatial resolution. Long-term changes in the vegetation cover in arid and humid zones are quantitatively assessed based on a combined study of the time

Abstract The article describes the existing climate trends for western Siberia and Altai krai; Forecasts based on two global climate models are made up to 2030. The dynamics of arable and forested areas in Altai krai under conditions of climate siccation (aridization) is analyzed based on the results of the processing of remote-sensing data and official statistics. The trends in the development of

Abstract The average concentrations of 17 microelements and their variation ranges have been determined in chestnut soils (Kastanozems) and the vegetation of steppe arid ecosystems in the western Transbaikal region. The average concentrations of Li, B, Al, Cr, Fe, Co, Zn, and Zr in the soils are consistent with their clarke values, which are accepted as environmental–geochemical standards. The concentrations

Abstract This paper addresses a large-scale problem: the degradation of protective forest plantings on arid lands in southern Russia. The degradation is primarily caused by a drastic reduction in the scope of forest-maintenance works carried out by forestry authorities due to cutbacks in funding and changes in ownership rights to lands with field-sheltering forest belts. The deterioration of forest

Abstract Analysis of data from meteorological observations near the Kursk Biosphere Station, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, for the past 40 years shows a steady increase in temperature against the background of an increasing deficit of precipitation in this area. At the same time, the precipitation is characterized by a high instability and a contrast distribution by year, as

Abstract The evolution of agricultural technologies in the development of human civilization is considered. Based on this example, it is shown that a new stage in soil cultivation technology began in the 20th century. It is associated with the transition from extensive “gray” technologies for the management of natural resources, which are strictly oriented only by momentary economic feasibility, to

Abstract The article discusses the time frame and the role of the anthropogenic factor in the solonetz process in soils of the desert–steppe zone of the southeastern Russian Plain. Based on the study of soils of different ages buried under the mounds of the Bronze and Middle Ages (6200–700 years ago) within the Salsko–Manych ridge, it was established that the soils of the region did not bear signs

Juniperus polycarpos L. is one of the most threatened and livelihood plant species of the Himalayan region. The present study provides information about monitoring of its populations and proliferation rate in high altitude regions of Trans-Himalaya. The survey revealed comprehensive information on J. polycarpos such as distribution range, habitat characteristics, composition, structural pattern, population

Abstract The study object is represented by the dominant soil types of different bioclimatic landscape zones of Azerbaijan. The main research methods were comparative soil-biological. The mean annual assimilation of hydrocarbon contaminants in soils of various bioclimatic landscape zones of Azerbaijan is evaluated for the first time. The results of the studies show that it is possible and necessary

Abstract Soil microorganisms are an integral part of the soil. Almost all of the processes taking place in it are associated to some degree with the vital activity of microorganisms. Therefore, the characteristics of the microbial community are among the most important diagnostic indicators reflecting the conditions of soil formation. Paleosols retain a number of properties from the moment of burial

Abstract Belgorod oblast is a region of ancient economic development with the highest level of agricultural land use in Russia and, accordingly, the highest level of anthropogenic transformation of zonal vegetation and soils (chernozems). Despite all of the efforts of recent years to improve the conservation of territorial nature in the region, all categories of specially protected territories make

Abstract The spatial distribution of halophilic microbial communities of saline soils and highly mineralized lakes in the arid regions of the Caspian Depression been studied. It is shown that the main components of microbial flora of the Terek-Kumskaya and Terek-Sulakskaya provinces are chemoorganotrophic bacteria of the genera Virgibacillus, Bacillus, Halomonas, and Salimicrobium from the phyla Firmicutes

Abstract Studies were carried out on four stationary transects laid in the Volga–Akhtuba floodplain by the Caspian expedition of Moscow State University in 1954—1955. The transects were reexamined in 1982 and in 2008–2013. The occurrence of the most common plant species in each of the three study periods was assessed. It was established that xerophytization and ruderalization of the flora occurred