CC BY
18BioClimLand, 2014 No. 1, 25-31
UDC 581.9, 591.9
The regularities of biotic taxa distribution on the territory of the West Siberian Plain
A.A. Коnоvаlоv1, S.N. Gashev2, M.N. Kazantseva1
institute of North Development Problems, SB RAS (Tyumen, Russia) 2Tyumen State University (Tyumen, Russia)
Quantitative regularities of the biotic taxa distribution on the territory of the West Siberian Plain within Tyumen and Omsk regions are analyzed in the article. The article shows their relation with the climate through dryness index, which controls heatmoisture rate on the Earth surface. The nature of distribution of species, genera, families and groups of biota by geographical zones and subzones of the specified region was observed: all ranks of taxa maximum values are observed in the taiga to steppe zone transition area, where dryness index values are 0,95—1,2 (~1). The formula of geographical and hierarchical dependence of quantity of taxa of plants and animals of any rank were determined. The article demonstrates their selfsimilarity, integrity and common (sole) climate dependence.
Keywords: West Siberian Plain, Tyumen and Omsk region, biota, system, dryness index, climate, selfsimilarity.
Introduction (objective and methods)
The most thorough description of vegetation cover and wildlife of the West Siberian Plain (WSP) is provided in the studies [2, 3, 5] which mostly include the description of qualitative characteristics of plant and animal complexes in various natural zones and subzones. In the current article quantitative biota taxa distribution and hierarchy regulations are studied within Tyumen and Omsk region, which occupies the northern and western parts of the West Siberian Plain including ten natural and climatic regions and subzones [3, 5, 7, 9] from the northern tundra to steppe.
Spatial distribution of biota is mainly determined by climate. The objective of this research is to identify quantitative regulations of taxa and climatic indices relation as well as their distribution within geographic zones and ranking levels.
The research subject was the quantity of taxa (T), which were introduced into calculations as logarithms (W=1nT), which allowed us to considerably lessen the uneven function patterns and to easily determine the correlations between the systems and their components.
Results and discussion
Heat provision and water availability indices. All climate elements (CE) are interconnected. The quantifications of these correlations for the conditions of Tyumen and Omsk region [6—9] were found, which allowed determining all the elements based on
any known CE, for instance, the dryness index. The dryness index is calculated according to the formula J = B/qU, where B is radiation balance, U stands for annual precipitation, and q is latent heat vaporization. This index is the most important integrated climate element answerable for heat and moisture distribution near the Earth surface. Its values range from 0 in the arctic desert zone to 3—5 and more in the deserts of subtropical and tropical belts [1]. To determine the heat provision and water availability of the territory in agroclimatic studies they also use Selyaninov hydrothermic index [10] which is calculated according to the following formula Kc = Uo/£o, where Uo and represent annual precipitation (cm) and the sum of air temperatures over warm time of the year. Comparative calculations of J and Kc based on the data from meteorological observing stations showed their correlation by a formula:
K = 1.85J-
1.85 / J.
(1)
According to J values, phytosphere can be classified as northern Jn (cool and humid) and southern Js (hot and droughty). The border between them coincides approximately with the isoline J=1. The conditions of heat and moisture exchange defined by J in the northern and southern phytospheres are logarithmically antisymmetrical. For example, the territory of persistent vegetation existence is restricted in the north by isolines Jn~ 0.2...0.33 (northern tundra), in the south J~ 5... 3 (southern semidesert) [1], from which it is derived J~ 1/ J or l J~ l/(1/ J) ~ l (J).
n ' s n n n v ' s7 nv s
The other indices are also antisymmetrical since expressed in correspondence with J, in particular annual precipitation, group pollen spectra, and phytoproductivity [6, 7]. The curves of these correlations are cycloids, with their maximum (peak) at J~1^1.2. For example, on Diagram 1 there is the correlation of annual precipitation U (cm) and phytoproductivity or annual vegetation cover output Pr (t/ha*year) with J.
Diagram 1. Correlation of U (a) and Pr (6) with J
Geographical and hierarchical dependence of biotic taxa distribution.
Biotic taxa and J average values distribution within natural zones and subzones of the West Siberian Plain are shown in Table 1 [2, 3, 5]. The graphs in Diagram 2 show the correlation of species wealth and phytoproductivity with J (lower horizontal axis) or Kn (higher horizontal axis). Both characteristics are on a logarithmic scale: Wi = lnTp, where Tp is the quantity of plant species in subzone i (according to Table 1), and Wpr = lnPr.
It can be concluded from Table 1 and Diagram 2 that the quantity of taxa under research both floristic and faunal ones change similarly: from north to south at first they increase and then decrease. The vector change happens in the subboreal forest which is the northern foreststeppe, which means that all biota habitation conditions are the most favourable in the transition zone from the taiga to foreststeppe where dryness index J vacillates in the range 1^1.2 [6—9].
There is the same regularity observed for certain flora types, in particular for herbs and ligneous plants. Most of the herbs on the territory of the West Siberian Plain belong to the families Cyperaceae (sedge family, 297 species) and Poaceae (gramineous family, 285 species); most of ligneous plants belong to Salicaceae (willow family, 73 species), Pinaceae (coniferous family, 38 species), and Betulaceae (birch family, 30 species) [5]. In Table 2 the species quantity of herbs and ligneous plants referring to these families are summarized. As seen from Table 2, their zone distribution is subject to the same law as vegetation on the whole (Table 1).
Table 1. Quantity of animal (birds + mammals) and tracheophyte taxa and average values of J in subzones of the West Siberian Plain
Animals Plants
№ Subzone J species genera families orders species genera families
1 Northern tundra 0.35 73+18 46+15 20+9 7+5 57 35 17
2 Southern tundra 0.6 148+32 79+22 30+11 11+5 126 67 31
3 Forest tundra 0.75 194+42 107+27 39+12 15+5 99 58 28
4 Northern taiga 0.87 207+51 115+33 41+15 16+6 174 86 43
5 Middle taiga 0.96 257+59 136+38 48+17 18+6 247 147 50
6 Southern taiga 1.0 246+60 130+38 47+17 16+6 380 203 73
7 Subboreal forest 1.1 271+67 141+41 54+18 18+6 493 260 74
8 Northern Forest-steppe 1.3 259+63 139+43 50+19 19+6 540 267 64
9 Southern Forest-steppe 1.5 252+67 135+42 48+18 18+6 449 226 54
10 Steppe 1.9 208+58 115+40 45+16 19+6 215 131 36
Table 2. Distribution of herbs (Tp) and ligneous plants (D) of the most widespread on the territory of the West Siberian Plain (subzones are numbered according to Table 1; numerator is species quantity;
denominator is their logarithms)
i D Tp i D Tp
1 5 / 1.61 22 / 3.09 6 27 / 3.27 68 / 4.22
2 12 / 2.48 40 / 3.5 7 28 / 331 95 / 4.55
3 15 / 2.71 30 / 3.4 8 16 / 2.78 121/ 462
4 17 / 2.83 47 / 3.85 9 4 / 1.38 85 / 4.44
5 23 / 3.14 59 / 4.08 10 - 33 / 3.6
The peculiarity of geographic subzones in Table 1 is reflected by their sequential numbers. There was found general formula for the dependence of taxa quantity on the sequential number of the zone:
W=Ai2 +Bi+C, (2)
where W. = ln (T), T stands for the biotic taxa quantity of this rank in the range: order (o) — family (f) — genus (g) — species (s) in geographic subzone i, while A, B and C are empirical constants, which are defined in Table 3.
Table 3. Constants in the formula (2); formula fidelity (R2) for different biota groups: I — tracheophytes, II — birds, III — mammals, IV — birds and mammals
Group Taxa A B C R2
Species -0.042 0.57 2.27 0.87
I genera -0.042 0.45 2.82 0.89
Families -0.047 0.72 3.28 0.9
Species -0.024 0.393 4.01 0.97
II genera -0.021 0.346 3.54 0.98
Families -0.016 0.274 2.76 0.98
Orders -0.014 0.25 1.81 0.93
Species -0.021 0.377 2.52 0.99
III genera -0.015 0.29 2.38 0.99
Families -0.012 0.222 1.88 0.96
Orders -0.003 0.058 1.51 0.8
Species -0.024 0.389 4.21 0.98
IV genera Families -0.02 -0.015 0.332 0.259 3.82 3.11 0.99 0.99
Orders -0.01 0.187 2.35 0.95
Using correspondence among i, J and Kn according to Table 1 and formula (1), value of i in (2) can be changed at once to climatic indices. For the example in Diagram 3 there are graphs of dependence of W on i and its approximation for taxa of plants (I) and birds (II). On the lower horizontal scale of the graph there are i values, while on the higher one the corresponding J values from Table 1; marks represent the quantity of plant and bird species in the subzones on a logarithmic scale.
Diagram 2. Correlations of Wi and WPr on J or K, and their formulas (signs represent the plant species quantity in the subzones)
The analysis has shown that biotic taxa of different ranks in all climatic subzones can be interconnected with W1 (species quantity logarithm):
W = kW1, (3)
where j =1.4 is the sequential number of taxa logarithm (W1 W4) in the series species-genusfamilyorder, k —empirical coefficient, which is defined according to Table 4 as function of j.
Diagram 3. Dependence of W, on i or J and its approximation for plants (I) and birds (II) of the following ranks: species (s), genus (g), family (f), and order (o)
Table 4 as well as other introduced data indicate that there is nearly utmost unity of the biotic taxa system and their relations expressed in terms of k. Thus, the difference of the taxa ratio of floristic to faunal groups on levels speciesgenusfamily does not exceed 5%.
If we put in formula (3) W = ln T and W1= ln T1, then after its rearranging there is a formula which correlates the quantity of genera (T2), families (T3) and orders (T4) of biota with its species (T.) on a common (not logarithmic) scale:
Tj = (T,)k.
(4)
For example, for the southern tundra k equals 0.89; quantity of species: mammals TB = 32 (look at Table 1), mammals + birds — TB = 180; the same of genera: mammals Tp = 22, mammals + birds Tp = 101. Calculation according to formula (4) gives the following results: Tp = 23 and Tp = 106, which nearly coincides with the factual data.
Table 4. Values of Wj and k in formula (3) for plants (I) and birds (II), mammals (III) and birds + mammals (IV)
№ j W. j k № j W. j k
1 5.4 1 1 4 1
I 2 4.7 0. 88 III 2 3.6 0.9
3 3.8 0.7 3 2.8 0.69
4 4 1.8 0.45
II
5.3 4.7 3.7 2.7
1
0.89 0.7 0.51
IV
5.7
5.1
4.2 3.1
1
0.89 0.73 0.55
As known, many systems under certain mathematical representation are fractal or selfsimilar on all districts of their habitat and lifetime. B. Mandelbrot who introduced the notion of fractality for scientific use gave it quite a general definition (according to [4]): "... fractal is a structure which consists of parts similar to the whole". An example of such a structure is a tree crown, a river basin and its affluent, a hemal system, etc. System hierarchies can also be considered fractal including biotic ones: species — genus — family — order. Such hierarchies usually represent geometric progressions with approximately fixed factor, i.e. multiplier reflecting conformity of its components.
Let us consider the hierarchy of values of mn coefficient, which equals ratio of the previous component W=ln N to the following W.+ 1 =ln N+1 in sequence: 1) species; 2) genus; 3) family; 4) order (i.e. j = 1, 2, 3, 4):
WJ W2 ^ W2/ W3 ^ W3 / W4. (5)
In Table 5 there are values of mn coefficient for the taxa of the main groups of biota (according to Table 4). The analysis of Table 6 demonstrates that the ratio of hierarchy components (5) is described by the formula:
mn = KP11 , (6)
where n is the sequential number of the ratio in the hierarchy (5). The correlations in (6) are denoted by one letter m with indices pointing out taxa numbers in the row: 1) species. 4) order. The first correlation is (Wt/ W2) = (m12)1, the second one is (W2 / W3) = (mt 2)2, and the third one is (W3 / W4) = (mt 2)3.
Table 5. Factual and calculated values of m1.2 . m2.3 and m3.4
Groups Values Factual value of m12 — m3 Calculated 4 value of m12 — m34
I m1,2 m2,3 1.13 1.26 1.13 1.27
m1,2 1.13 1.13
II m 2,3 1.27 1.27
m3,4 1.37 1.44
m1,2 1.11 1.11
III m 2,3 1.29 1.24
m3,4 1.53 1.37
IV m1,2 m 2,3 1.11 1.23 1.11 1.23
It can be concluded out of formula (6) that the hierarchy components (5) are fractal, notably, the coefficient of a similitude (fractal dimension) for the all taxa of groups under study (I...IV), both animals and plants, equals Wt/ W2 = m12 - 1.12.
Now we can approximately estimate the third hierarchy component which is missing (5), i.e. correlation between orders and families of plants m 3.4, and the quantity of orders as such: W3/ W4 = m 34= (m 12)3= 1.4; further on, according to Table 4 we find: W3 = ln N3 =3.8; from where we get: W4= 3.8/1.4=2.7, while the quantity of orders — N4=exp(2.7) -15. We can also calculate even theoretically the correlations between the following biotic hierarchy components: classes, phyla, etc. Then when n equals 4, there is W4/ W5 = (m j 2)4= 1.57, from which we get W5 = 2.7/1.57=1.71, and N5=exp(W5) - 6, etc. The value of mn in the formula (6) approximates 1, when n increases, and that corresponds to the top of biotic taxonomy, i.e. biosphere.
Conclusion
The quantity of biotic taxa depends on their hierarchal rank and geographic location. The maximal values of taxa which corresponded to ideal existence conditions are observed in the subboreal forest or northern foreststeppe. The taxa quantity decreases in the north and in the south of the region due to the lack of heat in the north and its abundance in the south. We were derived the formulas of the dependence of taxa quantity of both plants and animals of any rank on the dryness index that is a complex climatic variable showing the correlation between heat and moisture in a certain area.
We determined selfsimilarity (fractality) of biotic taxa in hierarchal system species ...
order, when on a logarithmic scale.
On the whole, the obtained results demonstrate integrity and interdependence of
plants and animals existence and their shared climate dependence.
References
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[8] Konovalov, A.A., 2011, Deformation Model of Ecogeosystems Development. (Novosibirsk: GEO).
[9] Konovalov, A.A., 2013, Nature of Dependence of Annual Ring Width on Climate. Agrarnaya Ros-siya, 2, 2431.
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About
Konovalov Aleksandr A. - Dr, PhD, chief researcher, Institute of North Development Problems, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Tyumen, Russia. E-mail: [email protected]
Gashev Sergey N. — Dr, Professor, head of Zoology and evolutionary animal ecology department, Tyumen State University, Tyumen, Russia. E-mail: [email protected]
Kazantseva Maria N. — Dr, senior researcher, Institute of North Development Problems, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Tyumen, Russia. E-mail: [email protected]
