Climate vibrations and ecosystemogenesis of the Ukrainian Society from the Birth of Christ to the formation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Fluctuations in the climate of Eurasia during the Middle Holocene led to various adaptations of agriculture and livestock, which were engaged in the primitive ethnic groups in the current territory of Ukraine. Using the methods of paleogeography, paleoclimatology, paleobiology, the dynamics of landscape ecosystems are reconstructed and presented in the form of verbal and graphic models of the past dynamics. This allows us to understand the nature of agricultural sustainability, climatogenic transformation of landscapes and the peculiarities of the formation of the Ukrainian ethnic group in a dynamic natural environment. We show the decisive role of natural properties of local primary landscape ecosystems in the history of Ukrainian society from the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the small ice age in Ukraine. The dynamics of the global and local climate (mesoclimate) is traced and analyzed and its connection and significant influence on the motivation of tribal movement in Central and Eastern Europe are shown. Migration waves, population outbreaks in some tribes, and the decline and assimilation of others are linked to the biotic, behavioral, and ultimately social and economic adaptation of peoples and the changing natural environment. The most effective and efficient adaptation is determined by the bioethological advantages of aboriginal (indigenous - those formed in the primary ecosystem) human tribal populations, prone to use their own ways of survival in local natural landscapes and often able to assimilate immigrant cultures. customs. According to our conclusions, based on the study of climate history and age dynamics of landscape ecosystems, the agricultural adaptability of primitive ethnic groups was the key to the survival and transformation of tribes into a nation during the Middle Holocene. The relatively stable ten-thousand-year climatic period of the Holocene already had extremes of high temperatures in the Minoan (Trypillia period), Roman warm subperiods (the period of prosperity of the Russian state), which are not yet surpassed. Ending in the middle of the twentieth century. it passes into the Anthropocene, and the climate changes rapidly in the direction of warming. Without an in-depth paleoecological analysis of the dynamics of landscape and biome ecosystems, it will be impossible to develop rational ways to adapt the agro-complex and environmentally safe nature management to the modern transformation of the Earth's climate and mesoclimate.

Organic matter stabilization in reed bed systems: Danish and Italian examples

In this study, results about sludge stabilization in reed bed systems (RBSs) after the entire period of operation in two different systems situated in Denmark (Helsinge 42,000 population equivalent (p.e.) – 10 years) and in Italy (La Fontina, 30,000 p.e. – 6 years) were presented. In order to evaluate the process of sludge stabilization, parameters that highlighted the biochemical and chemico-structural properties of organic sludge matter have been determined. The level of total and soluble nutrients, and enzyme activities, parameters related to overall microbial activity, showed that stabilization of the sludge similarly occurred in both RBSs, even though in different landscape ecosystems. The chemical–structural characterization of sludge organic matter highlighted how the processes of stabilization have occurred satisfactorily in both RBSs; in fact, significant levels of pyrolytic indices for mineralization and humification were reached. The successful stabilization of organic matter occurred in both RBSs and was confirmed by the absence of Escherichia coli, and also by the results of organic compounds (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, linear alkyl benzene sulfonates, nonylphenol ethoxylates, di-2-ethylhexyl-phthalate) and heavy metals.

Management Strategies and Landscape Diversity in Commonly Governed Mountain Pastures: A Case Study from Austrian Alps

The paper explores the relationships between alpine pasture management and pastoral landscape ecosystems, based on research set in the Austrian limestone Alps. The focus of inquiry is laid upon the different management practices employed by pasturing communities. Therefore, the concept of “farming styles”, as introduced by Ploeg (1994) is adapted. Five different types of alpine pasture management could be identified. Those types are investigated further on their impacts on natural environments of vegetation- and landscape patterns, taking diversity of plant communities as an indicator. It is figured out that management strategies as a central factor shaping diversity in mountain pastureland shall be considered in the design of agro-environmental policies and in nature conservation.

NurtureIsNature: Lev Gumilev and the Ecology of Ethnicity

In this article, Mark Bassin explores Lev Gumilev's theory of ethnicity. Developing his ideas in the context of post-Stalinist debates about the relationship of society to the natural world, Gumilev maintained that theetnoswas a wholly natural, quasi-biological entity. Although this naturalism involved an important genetic dimension, Gumilev denied that ethnicity was determined by race and emphasized instead its ecological quality as an organic part of biogeocenoses or natural-landscape ecosystems. Although he remained marginalized in his day by the Soviet ethnographic establishment, his essentialist perspective is powerfully appealing for post-Soviet audiences, who find his “ecology of ethnicity” singularly useful for the purposes of ethnopolitical discourse.

Multifactor classification of forest landscape ecosystems of Jocassee Gorges, southern Appalachian Mountains, South Carolina

Ecosystem classification identifies interrelationships within and among the geomorphology, soils, and vegetation that converge to form ecosystems across forest landscapes. We developed a multifactor ecosystem classification system for a 13 000 ha southern Appalachian landscape acquired in 1998 by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Using a combination of multivariate analyses, we distinguished five ecosystem types ranging from xeric oak (Quercus spp.) to mesic eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière) ecosystems. Ecosystems segregated along geomorphic gradients influencing potential moisture availability, with soil properties such as solum thickness distinguishing among ecosystems occupying similar topographic positions. Our results suggest that different combinations of geomorphic and soil factors interact to form similar ecosystems across the landscape, and a given environmental factor can impact ecosystem development at some constituent sites of an ecosystem type but not at other sites. A regional comparison of ecosystem classifications indicates that environmental variables important for distinguishing ecosystems in the southern Appalachians vary, with Jocassee Gorges characterized by unique suites of environmental complexes. Our study supports the contention that the strengths of ecosystem classification are providing (i) comprehensive information on the interrelationships among ecosystem components, (ii) a foundation from which to develop ecologically based forest management plans, and (iii) an ecological framework in which to conduct future research on specific ecosystem components or processes.