Global Litter Invertebrate
Decomposition Experiment
Kursk,
Russia
Site Manager
Dr.
Andrei Pokarzhevskii
Institute of Ecology and Evolution of RAS
Leninsky prospect 33
117071 Moscow
Russia
Telephone: (+7) 0951 359816
Fax: (+7) 0959 545534
Dr.
Olga Beljakova
Central Chernozem Reserve
307028 Kursk
Russia
Telephone/fax: (+7) 0712 577294
Site Description
The Reserve was founded in
1935 as a place for livestock grazing and timber harvesting.
The site has not been used for agriculture. Consequently
it is an area rich in plant species and diversity (up to
80 species per 1 square meter). Current research focuses
on monitoring biodiversity and productivity. Topics vary
from plant diversity, forest production, vertebrate composition,
mammal and bird population dynamics to litter decomposition
studies (soil respiration and proteolysis, entomological
and oribatid mites, soil water regimes, and climatology
studies). Fire suppression is a management priority of
the reserve.
Site Location
The site is located in the
Russian Federation of the Kursk region. Coordinates
are 51°34'N and 36°05'E.
Site Area
The site area is 2500 ha.
Site Elevation
Site elevation is from 230-263
m.
Annual Rainfall
Annual rainfall is 570-600
mm (70% of the total precipitation is rainfall and 30%
is snowfall). (Data)
Annual Temperature
Mean annual temperature is
5.3°C (mean January temperature is -9°C and mean
June temperature is +18.7°C). (Data)
Soil
Soil type is chernozem power
soil, rich in nutrients. Humus content is up to 13%;
nitrogen is 0.54%; available phosphorus is 0.08 mg/kg;
available potassium is 0.13 mg/kg in 40 cm - upper soil
layer; pH under grasslands is 6.4-7.0, under forest is
5.8-6.0.
Native Forest/Vegetation
Types
Native vegetation types are
oak forests and meadow steppes.
Principal
Biome/Ecoregion
Ecoregion is forest-steppe,
bordering between European decidious forests and grasslands.
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