For species to stay temporally tuned to their environment, they use cues such as the accumulation of degree-days. The relationships between the timing of a phenological event in a population and its environmental cue can be described by a population-level reaction norm. Variation in reaction norms along environmental gradients may either intensify the environmental effects on timing (cogradient variation) or attenuate the effects (countergradient variation). To resolve spatial and seasonal variation in species’ response, we use a unique dataset of 91 taxa and 178 phenological events observed across a network of 472 monitoring sites, spread across the nations of the former Soviet Union. We show that compared to local rates of advancement of phenological events with the advancement of temperature-related cues (i.e., variation within site over years), spatial variation in reaction norms tend to accentuate responses in spring (cogradient variation) and attenuate them in autumn (countergradient variation). As a result, among-population variation in the timing of events is greater in spring and less in autumn than if all populations followed the same reaction norm regardless of location. Despite such signs of local adaptation, overall phenotypic plasticity was not sufficient for phenological events to keep exact pace with their cues—the earlier the year, the more did the timing of the phenological event lag behind the timing of the cue. Overall, these patterns suggest that differences in the spatial versus temporal reaction norms will affect species’ response to climate change in opposite ways in spring and autumn.
We present an extensive, large-scale, long-term and multitaxon database on phenological and climatic variation, involving 506,186 observation dates acquired in 471 localities in Russian Federation, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. the data cover the period 1890-2018, with 96% of the data being from 1960 onwards. The database is rich in plants, birds and climatic events, but also includes insects, amphibians, reptiles and fungi. the database includes multiple events per species, such as the onset days of leaf unfolding and leaf fall for plants, and the days for first spring and last autumn occurrences for birds. The data were acquired using standardized methods by permanent staff of national parks and nature reserves (87% of the data) and members of a phenological observation network (13% of the data). The database is valuable for exploring how species respond in their phenology to climate change. Large-scale analyses of spatial variation in phenological response can help to better predict the consequences of species and community responses to climate change. #A full list of authors and their affiliations appears at the end of the paper. Data DeSCRiptOR OpeNScientific Data | (2020) 7:47 | https://doi.
Viable populations of two remarkable Coleoptera species-Cucujus cinnaberinus (Cucujidae) and Metoecus paradoxus (Rhipiphoridae) are reported for the first time from the Republic of Karelia (Russia). Cucujus cinnaberinus is a threatened species in northern Europe while Metoecus paradoxus is a widespread Palaearctic species actively dispersing northwards. Both species were found in the nature protected areas by the local staff. This evidences the importance of such territories for preserving and monitoring the populations of rare and poorly known species.
Nature Conservation Research. Заповедная наука 2016. 1 (3): 78-84 79This study of the spatial distribution and ecology of the flying squirrel during the turn of the 20 th century provides a description of new methods and techniques for detecting and accounting flying squirrels in the forest zone of Eurasia. The flying squirrel population area covers the territory of 61 regions of Russia, including Kamchatsky Krai and Chukotka Autonomous District. The number of flying squirrels in Karelia especially to the east -in the Arkhangelsk region and Western Siberia -significantly exceeds that of Finland, but considerable spatial variability in the number is obvious through all the regions: there are areas where this animal is quite abundant, or inhabits all the territory rather evenly, and there are areas where it is completely absent in vast territories even with seemingly favourable conditions. The flying squirrel is quite difficult to study and the reasons of its absence in obviously favourable areas are still to be explained. Some reasons are: the specificity of favourable landscape, forest coverage pattern, trophic relationships with predators and genetic aspect. A number of hypotheses are supposed to be tested in the nearest future.Key words: accounting, flying squirrel, forest zone, home range, spatial distribution. IntroductionThe Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans L.) is a specialized dendrobiont, adapted to life in the top layers of the forest (Fig. 1), the only member of the family (according to other sources -subfamily) of Old World flying squirrels in the territory of Russia. It is included in the Red Data Book of East Fennoscandia (Hokkanen & Fokin, 1998), the Baltic region (Ingelög et al., 1993), Finland (Rassi et al., 2001, Estonia (Red Data Book of Estonia, 2008), the Republic of Belarus (Grichik, 2006). On the IUCN Red List it has currently the status of LC (Least Concern -Lowest Risk, 2008), in the previous version -LR/NT (Lower Risk / Near Threatened, 1996). Pteromys volans was originally described as Sciurus volans (Linnaeus, 1758) based on a specimen from Sweden. In the first half of the XX century Ognev (1940) distinguished 9 subspecies of P. volans, and referred flying squirrels, common in the north of European Russia and in the Urals, to the subspecies P. v. volans. Despite the great interest of researchers, until recently the ecology of flying squirrels in the wild has been studied quite poorly. This work is to partly fill this gap, as we have accumulated additional material since the release of our latest publication (Ivanter et al., 2009a;Kurhinen et al., 2010). We believe that the lack of data on this species distribution is associated with the complexities of its detection in the wild. The Siberian flying squirrel is a small and extremely agile animal, mainly crepuscular or nocturnal. Meanwhile, techniques suggested here can quite accurately determine the abundance of the species in the investigated territory. Material and MethodsTo study the flying squirrel's spatial distribution we...
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