Siberia : Ecology, Diversity and Environmental Impact

This book discusses the ecology, diversity and environmental impact of Siberia. Chapter One discusses cultural interaction and mutual influence of the civilizations of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages: China, Japan, Korea, Iran, Central Asian nomadic empires, Turkic Khanate, Byzantium, Russian kingdoms, the Ottoman Empire and the Arab Caliphate to Siberia and the Urals. Chapter Two presents issues regarding the current state of soil resources in the world, and focuses on agricultural development of Siberian land within Russia and the world and its hidden productive potential, which in the process of time will have greater economic importance. Chapter Three reviews the impact of recent climate changes and technogenic contamination with fluorides emitted by aluminum smelters on the microbial transformation of carbon, the regimes of functioning, and the state of agroecosystems on gray forest soils (Luvic Greyzemic Phaeozems) in the forest-steppe zone of the Baikal region on the basis of data of the long-term agroecological monitoring. Chapter Four studies the ecological interactions that take place within the vast region of Siberia among the avian reservoir hosts and viral populations, and the environment they utilize. Chapter Five presents the results of hydro-chemical research conducted in the spring of 2013 and end of August of 2014 in the northern part of Western Siberia. Chapter Six presents the results of research on selected terrestrial surface waters in the arctic tundra of Western Siberia conducted during the Spring of 2013, Fall of 2014, and Winter of 2015.