Different approaches were applied to assess soil moisture optima and tolerance of the ecological niche temporal projection of terrestrial invertebrates within an experimental polygon created to investigate the reclamation processes after deep underground hard-rock mining in the Ukrainian steppe drylands. Sampling was carried out in 2013–2015 on a variant of artificial soil (technosols). To investigate the spatiotemporal variation in the abundance, species richness and species composition of invertebrate assemblages the animals were sampled using pitfall traps. The readily available water for plants, precipitation, wind speed, atmospheric temperature, atmospheric humidity, and atmospheric pressure were used as environmental predictors. The two-dimension geographic coordinates of the sampling locations were used to generate a set of orthogonal eigenvector-based spatial variables. Time series of sampling dates were used to generate a set of orthogonal eigenvector-based temporal variables. Weighted averaging, generalized linear mixed models, Huisman-Olff-Fresco models expanded by Jansen-Oksanen, correspondence analysis, and constrained correspondence analysis were used to estimate soil moisture species optima and tolerance. The moisture content in the technosols was revealed to be the most important factor determining the temporal dynamics of terrestrial invertebrate community in conditions of semi-arid climate and the ecosystem which formed as a result of the reclamation process. The species response to the soil water content is affected not only by the soil water content but also by the complex of the other environmental, temporal, and spatial factors. The effect of other factors on the species response must be extracted previously to find real estimations of the species optima and tolerance.

The restoration of a stable and productive ecosystem after drastic disturbances to the natural environment due to mining and open-cast mining may be achieved by means of reclamation. Investigation of the hydrological budget of technosols is important task in developing adequate approaches to reclamation. Sod lithogenic soils on red-brown clay, on grey-green clay were chosen as the objects of the investigation. The simulation of moisture content in Nikopol Manganese Ore Basin technosols was performed using the Penman-Monteith approach and evaluated the role of the dependence of soils’ surface albedo on the humidity in the intensity of evapotranspiration. The research was conducted during 2013–2015 at the station for research on reclaimed land within the Nikopol Manganese Ore Basin (city Pokrov, Ukraine). The experimental area for the study of optimal modes of agricultural reclamation was created in 1968–1970. Precipitation in the investigated area was found to fall very unevenly in time. In 2013, the duration of the rainless period was 259 days, in 2014 – 264 days, in 2015 – 261 days. The maximum daily rainfall varies within 18–49 mm. There are significant interannual differences in the intensity of rainfall. The minimum total annual precipitation in 2014 was due to a decrease in atypical rainfall in late winter and early winter. The maximum annual rainfall in 2015 was caused by intense rainfall both in the spring and in mid-summer and late autumn. The average annual temperature was 11.1 ºC and the annual totals did not statistically significantly vary within the study period. The average wind speed and average atmospheric humidity are statistically significantly different from year to year. The technosols’ colour properties and surface albedo varied depending on the moisture content. There is a linear relationship between the moisture content in the soil and albedo of the soil surface. The evaluation of readily available water content was carried out based on the Penman-Monteith model taking into account meteorological data, the water-physical properties of the technosols and the dependence of soil surface albedo on soil humidity. The distribution of this index for different teсhnosols is characterized by a high level of similarity of shape due to the fact that the overall climate factors are crucial in shaping the dynamics of moisture. A complex mixture of normal distributions is the best model for representing the experimental data. The readily available water content distribution can best be represented as a mixture of two normal distributions. The relatively high moisture level is characterized for winter and spring periods. Water content in sod-lithogenic soils on red-brown clay over the period of research never reached the value of the permanent wilting point. In 2013, the period when the moisture content was less than the value of the permanent wilting point lasted 23 days, and in 2014 this period lasted 39 days. Thus, you can always expect the phenomenon of drought under typical climatic conditions for the technosols on grey-green clay. It was found that monitoring water supplies before the start of the growing season can provide valuable information necessary for the selection of crops for cultivation in the current year. The results indicate the urgency of measures to save the winter rainfall on the fields.

The research was carried out at the Research Centre of the Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University in Pokrov city. Sampling was carried out in 2013–2015 on a variant of artificial soil (technosols) formed on loess-like loam, red-brown clay, green-grey clay, technological mixture of rocks, and also formed on loess-like loam with a humus-rich 70 cm top soil layer. To investigate the spatiotemporal variation in the abundance, species richness and species composition of invertebrate assemblages within the experimental polygon, the animals were sampled using pitfall traps. In total, 60 pitfall traps were operated simultaneously during each sampling period. Each year the pitfalls were emptied 26 times every 7–9 days. Invertebrates (Arthropoda and Mollusca) of 6 classes, 13 orders, 50 families and 202 species or parataxonomic units were recorded. Diplopoda was most abundant taxonomic group, though it was represented by only one species Rossiulus kessleri (Lohmander, 1927). Coleoptera and Araneae were the most numerous taxonomic groups. Readily available water for plants, precipitation, wind speed, atmospheric temperature (daily minimum, daily maximum, daily mean), atmospheric humidity and atmospheric pressure were used as environmental predictors. Two dimension geographic coordinates of the sampling locations were used to generate a set of orthogonal eigenvector-based spatial variables. Time series of sampling dates were used to generate a set of orthogonal eigenvector-based temporal variables. The moisture content in the technosols was revealed to be the most important factor determining the temporal dynamics of the terrestrial invertebrate community in conditions of semi-arid climate and the ecosystem which formed as a result of the reclamation process. Following soil moisture, the factor most strongly affecting invertebrates in the technosols was temperature. From the total set of the invertebrates, two relatively homogeneous species groups in terms of thermal preferences were extracted: the microtemperature and mesotemperature groups. The microtemperature species are more tolerant to the thermal factor, and the mesotemperature species are more sensitive. The Huisman-Olff-Fresco approach expanded by Jansen-Oksanen provides a wide set of ecologically relevant models which are able to explain species response. The species response to temperature is affected by a complex of other environmental, temporal and spatial factors. The effect of other factors on the species response must be previously extracted to find real estimations of the species temperature optima and tolerance. The approaches to solving this problem may be the object of future investigation.

The article demonstrates how the variability of water content in technosols affects the temporal dynamics of terrestrial invertebrates and finds the properties of species response curves to soil water content. The hypothesis that the effects of soil moisture on terrestrial invertebrate populations and communities depend both directly on soil water content and on other environmental factors and spatial and temporal variables was tested. It has been shown that in order to determine the real values of the optimum and tolerance of species, it is necessary to first extract the influence of other factors on their response. The study was conducted at the research center of the Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University (Pokrovsk, Ukraine). To study the spatial and temporal variability of abundance, species richness and species composition of invertebrate communities at the experimental site, animals were collected using Barber traps. The range of moisture available to plants, precipitation, wind speed, air temperature (daily minimum, daily maximum, mean daily temperature), atmospheric humidity, and atmospheric pressure were used as environmental predictors of the invertebrate ecological niche. Two-dimensional geographic coordinates of sampling points were used to create a set of orthogonal spatial variables based on eigenvectors. Each of the vectors represents a paternoster of a certain scale within the sampling area. Similarly, only a one-dimensional series of dates during which sampling was conducted was used to create a set of temporal variables based on eigenvectors. Each of the vectors represents a paternoster of a certain scale within the time period under study. Spatial and temporal variables are used as spatial and temporal predictors of species recall. 257437 invertebrates (Arthropoda and Mollusca) were collected from 6 classes, 13 series, 50 families, and 202 species or parata xonomic units. The distribution of moisture content indicators available to plants, weighted by animal abundance, is polymodal and can be represented as a mixture of three normal distributions. Fractionation of community variability in relation to meteorological data, spatial and temporal predictors, and type of technozem was performed based on two ordination methods (CCA and RDA). The fractionation of community variation based on the CCA-procedure indicates the grea test role of complex factors that result from the interaction of temporal and spatial predictors as well as temporal, spatial and meteorological factors. The results based on the RDA-procedure also indicate a significant role in the interaction of meteorological and temporal factors. These results indicate the need to isolate the role of soil moisture factor interaction with other factors to assess the effect of soil moisture on invertebrate community dynamics.

The simulation of moisture content in Nikopol manganese ore basin technosols was performed using the Penman-Monteith approach and evaluate the role of the dependence of soils surface albedo from the humidity in the intensity of evapotranspiration. The sod lithogenic soils on loess-like loam and pedozem were chosen as the objects of the investigation. The research was conducted during 2012-2014 years at the investigation station of the remediation within Nikopol manganese ore basin (city Pokrov, Ukraine). The evapotranspiration from the soil surface was calculated by means of Penman-Monteith equation. Root zone moisture depletion is evaluated as the difference between soil water content at field capacity (pF = 2.3) and actual soil water content. The Ks value which is a water stress factor equals 1.0 as long as soil water content is higher than readily available water. If soil water content is lower than readily available water, Ks decreases linearly from one to zero according to total available soil water consumed. The soil water balance is performed in ISAREG with a daily time. The evaluation of readily available water content was carried out based on Penman-Monteith model taking into account meteorological data, technosols water-physical properties and the dependence of soil surface albedo on soil humidity. The color of the surface of the sod-lithogenic soil on the loess-like loam varies from yellow (2.5Y 4/2) in wet condition to yellow-red (10YR 6/5) in the dry condition. Albedo of this soil depended on the humidity varies in the range 0.17-0.31. The surface color of the pedozem varies from very dark gray (10YR 3/1) in wet condition to light-gray (2.5YR 6/2) in the dry condition. Albedo of this soil depended on the humidity varies in the range 0.10-0.31. There is a linear relationship between the moisture content in the soil and albedo of the soil surface. Albedo changes along with the humidity are most significant in the sod-lithogenic soils on loess-like loams. This is confirmed by the greatest regression coefficient. Albedo changes along with the moisture content are least significant in the pedozem. The distributionі of this index for different teсhnosols are characterized by a high level of similarity of shape due to the fact that the overall climate factors are crucial in shaping the dynamics of moisture. The distributions can be most good represented as a complex mixture of normal distributions. It was found that water supplies monitoring before the start of the growing season can provide valuable information necessary for the selection of crops for cultivation in the current year. The results indicate the urgency of measures to save the winter rainfall on the fields.