No abstract

Globally, grasslands are shaped by grazing and fire, and grassland plants are adapted to these disturbances. However, temperate grasslands have been hotspots of land‐use change, and how such changes affect interrelations between herbivory, fire and vegetation are poorly understood. Such land‐use changes are widespread on the Eurasian steppe, where the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 triggered the abandonment of cropland and pasture on globally relevant scales. Thus, to determine how relationships between plant functional composition, grazing and fire patterns changed after the Soviet Union dissolved, we studied a 358,000 km2 region in the dry steppe of Kazakhstan, combining a large field dataset on plant functional traits with multi‐scale satellite data. We found that increases in burned area corresponded to decreases in livestock grazing across large areas. Furthermore, fires occurred more often with high cover of grasses with high leaf dry matter content and thus higher flammability, whereas higher grazing pressure favoured grazing‐tolerant woody forbs and ruderal plants with high specific leaf area. The current situation of low grazing pressure represents a historically exceptional, potentially non‐analogue state. We suggest that the dissolution of the Soviet Union caused the disturbance regime to shift from grazer to fire control. As grazing and fire each result in different plant functional compositions, we propose that this led to widespread increases in grasses and associated changes in steppe plant community structure. These changes have potentially occurred across an area of more than 2 million km2, representing much of the world's largest temperate grassland area, with globally relevant, yet poorly understood implications for biodiversity and ecosystem functions such as carbon cycling. Additionally, future steppe management must also consider positive implications of abandonment (‘rewilding’) because reverting the regime shift in disturbance and associated changes in vegetation would require grazing animals to be reintroduced across vast areas.

The abundant centre hypothesis predicts that changing environmental conditions are detrimental to a species’ abundance and performance towards the periphery of its range. We tested these predictions for the perennial grass Stipa capillata, a species that is commonly found in steppes of Asia but is rare at its north‐western range edge, in central Europe. We compared 21 populations in dry grassland fragments in central Europe and 20 populations in steppe habitats of Kazakhstan. We studied 15 plant performance traits both in situ and under laboratory and common greenhouse conditions, including local density, plant size and biomass production, seed size, weight and viability. To assess environmental conditions, we assembled data on topography, soil properties and climatic parameters. Using variance components analysis and multivariate methods we analyzed whether plant performance and environmental attributes differed more, as predicted, between the core and peripheral regions or whether they differed more among their subregions or populations. Additionally, we tested whether performance was affected by the same set of environmental predictors in each region. Contrary to our expectations, plant performance traits were virtually unchanged between the range periphery and centre. As expected, macroclimatic conditions showed a significant difference between the two regions (annual mean temperature, annual precipitation). The only other measured environmental variable that differed significantly between the two regions was soil pH, which was lower in core‐range populations. Our findings thus do not support the notion of reduced performance at the range edge. Instead, our data lend support to earlier theories of relative habitat constancy, suggesting that peripheral populations can shift to other habitats through plasticity or adaptation.

The research objective includes theoretical and empirical justification of efficiency of virtual teacher-parents interaction in digital educational environment. The authors classify virtual forms of family-school interaction, analyse the existing digital tools and reveal relevant problems of distance communication between teachers and parents. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that relying on the conducted theoretical and applied research, the authors have identified the most efficient forms of virtual teacher-parents interaction considered as an additional communication channel, revealed the existing problems of virtual family-school communication. The conducted empirical research justifies importance of interaction with parents, including virtual interaction, which allows improving information competence of a teacher and parents and helps to overcome typical problems of distance learning.

It’s not easy to parents of schoolchildren in the modern conditions of lack of time and understanding, that’s why the school today must engage actively in parental enlightenment. The parent club represents as interactive form of acquiring psychological and pedagogical knowledge and enriching the parents’ educational experience. The research purpose is to study the impact of interruptions of parent-child relationships on the development of the child’s personality and to show how to prevent them. The program, which is implemented in the Lyceum No. 8 of the Pskov city, is based on the statement that children growing up in an atmosphere of love and understanding have fewer problems related to health, communication with peers, education, etc. The club’s work includes: discussion meetings, evenings of "Questions and Answers", trainings, playing problem situations, questioning, game exercises, games - relaxation, games - dramatization.