The Stipa grandis steppe is a type of steppe in the Central Asian sub-region, and it is an important resource for livestock production in China. Mowing is one of the main management methods for this steppe. Verifying the response of the Stipa grandis steppe communities to different mowing frequencies is essential for the rational utilization of pastures and the protection and recovery of natura...

Previous work in climatically similar sagebrush steppe, USA and Patagonian steppe, Argentina suggested that a more intense evolutionary history of grazing in Patagonia selected for graminoids of lower forage quality, resulting in a plant community more resistant to livestock grazing. Here we consider whether subtle abiotic differences might create greater water or nutrient limitation in Patagon...

Aims Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key component of water balance and is closely linked to ecosystem productivity. In arid regions, large proportion of precipitation (PPT) is returned to the atmosphere through ET, with only a small amount available to plants. Our objective was to examine the variability in ET–soil water relationship based on a set of ecosystems that are representative for semi-a...

The potential of insects to cause temporary spatial shifts of the forest-steppe borderline was investigated in a case study in the northern Mongolian mountain taiga, where Larix sibirica forests border on montane meadow steppe. Insect herbivores of L. sibirica in northern Mongolia include gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) and grasshoppers, which defoliate trees. Grasshoppers have (like mice) an add...

The Hustain Nuru region of Mongolia’s Chentai Mountains is one of the country’s most pristine wild areas. Valleys and slopes harbour steppe vegetation such as fescue, brome grass and feathergrasses, while birch woods grow in the upper elevations of this relatively low lying mountainous region. A diverse range of wild fauna including marmots, lemmings, red deer, wild sheep, polecats, Pallas cat,...

By comparing the sex-specifically inheritedX chromosome to the autosomes in ancient genetic samples,we (1) studied sex-specific admixture for two prehistoric migrations. For each migration we used several admixture estimation procedures—including ADMIXTURE model-based clustering (2)—to compare X-chromosomal and autosomal ancestry in contemporaneous Central Europeans and we interpreted greater a...

Spatial variability is a major source of uncertainty in estimating the fluxes of greenhouse gases between steppe and atmosphere. The fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O were carried out between 08:00 and 10:00 h. of the following day during the midsummer period from a transect (area: 5.25×10 ha) in the semiarid steppe of northern China, using the dark static chamber technique and gas chromatography. Tw...

In Inner Mongolia, steppe grasslands face desertification or degradation because of human over activity. One of the reasons for this condition is that croplands have been abandoned after inappropriate agricultural management. The soils in these croplands present heterogeneous environments in which conditions affecting microbial growth and diversity fluctuate widely in space and time. In this st...

A review of the ground beetles of the Ukrainian fauna is given. Almost 750 species from 117 genera of Carabidae are known to occur in the Ukraine. Approximately 450 species of ground beetles are registered in the Carpathian region. No less than 300 species of ground beetles are found in the forest zone. Approximately 400 species of Carabidae present in the forest-steppe zone are relatively simi...