Assessment of hydrological alterations on wandering beetle assemblages (coleoptera: Carabidae and Tenebrionidae) in coastal wetlands of arid Mediterranean systems

Changes in wandering beetle assemblages (Carabidae and Tenebrionidae) of different habitats situated in coastal wetlands of a Mediterranean arid area (Mar Menor, SE Spain) were analysed in 1984, 1992 and 2003 by pitfall trapping. Over two decades, the increase in irrigated lands at watershed scale led to rising water tables in the Mar Menor wetlands, which affected their beetle communities. These hydrological changes caused an increase in the carabid population, particularly in the sites most affected by flooding, where halobionts and halophiles, which were practically absent in 1984 and 1992, had become dominant by 2003. In contrast, tenebrionid assemblages simplified with time and by 2003 were dominated by one or two generalist species.     

Characteristics of precipitation in northern Mauritania and its links with sea surface temperature

This paper deals with the periodic fluctuation of precipitation at three meteorological stations (Atar, Chenguitti, and Akjoujt) in the Adrar and Inchiri provinces in northern Mauritania and its links with sea surface temperature (SST). Trends for these three meteorological stations were evaluated using the Mann–Kendall (MK) nonparametric test, regression analysis, and autocorrelation for persistence analysis. The MK test showed a significant decreasing trend for Akjoujt and an insignificant trend for the other rainfall time series. However, the decreasing linear regression trends were highly significant for the different time series. On the other hand, persistence analysis indicated the presence of a linear Markov type. The cycles found by power spectrum analysis ranged from 0.5 years to about 11 years. The possibility of a connection between precipitation in this region and sunspot numbers was suggested. SST of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea have significant cross-correlations with precipitation in the study area. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation effect was found to be marginal.     

Patterns of resource use by livestock during and after drought on the commons of Namaqualand, South Africa

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of drought on grazing patterns of livestock in a communal rangeland in Namaqualand. Water points were the foci of almost all grazing routes even after the drought, and the areas away from the water points were less heavily utilized. The mountains could be regarded as key resource areas for livestock since the grazing intensity was higher in the elevated areas of the rangeland than on the surrounding low lying areas during and immediately after drought. Spatial patterns of resource use by livestock on the commons did not differ during the drought and post-drought period. The lengths of the daily grazing routes were similar for both periods. This may be a consequence of the weakness of animals during the drought when forage was scarce which prevented them from walking further. The size of home ranges of the herds did not change during the two monitoring periods. We attribute this to social reasons because herders try to avoid the mixing of herds. In the commons of Namaqualand, herders are also spatially constrained and this restricts their options to adapt to drought, and hence many animals died.     

Factors and characteristics of the spatial correlation of the annual runoff of the Upper Ob basin rivers

The main features of the spatial and temporal oscillations of the annual runoff of the rivers in the Upper Ob basin, which is characterized by various landscape and hydrologic conditions, are discussed. It is found that the coefficients of pair correlation of the annual runoff have been decreasing since the late 1990s-early 2000s. Correlation functions for mountain areas should be constructed separately for river basins ranked according to the prevailing type of river feed. The coefficients of pair correlation can be described by multiple regression equations, which, apart from the distance between the centers of gravity of the basins, may include landscape characteristics such as the difference in their average elevation and forest cover.     

Contents to Volume 47

Volume Contents

Contents to Volume 47     

Glaciation and Permafrost Dynamics on the Antarctic Peninsula in the 21st Century

The results of mass balance observations of the ice dome and measurements of the active layer thickness on the Fildes Peninsula, King George (Waterloo) Island, Western Antarctica are presented for the period of 2007 to 2019. The dynamics of the main meteorological parameters affecting the active layer thickness is determined. The numerical experiments based on the mathematical model are performed to determine the effects of various parameters on the active layer thickness. The calculated and measured values of the active layer thickness are compared. The thermal instability of permafrost in the study area in some years with high (above the means) summer air temperature is demonstrated. The climate cooling which started in the region in the recent years has increased the number of years with the positive ice mass balance. However, the positive ice mass balance has not yet become a dominant factor against a background of the negative balance in the previous years.     

Basin organization of nature management for solving hydroecological problems

Presented are the development of the concept and projects of the basin nature management and the organization of their implementation in the whole region using the basin-administrative approach. Based on the multidimensional analysis and forecast of river runoff variations using the artificial neural networks, the typification of catchments is carried out mainly defined by such factors as its area, order of the river, and degree of anthropogenic load. Depending on the hydrological functioning type, the adapted complexes of Hydroecological activities are determined. The need in the integration of the geodata for each river basin with the inherent morphological and process characteristics as well as of the results of Hydroecological monitoring enables to recommend the structure of the database of the basin organization of nature management in the regions of Russia based on the European experience in the river network monitoring in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive and of the creation of the single infrastructure of the spatial data.