Eating While the Eating’s Good: How Fire Creates a Magnet for Grazing Animals

Tallgrass prairie is disappearing because farming and development have replaced it. This ecosystem is home to a unique group of plants, animals, and microbial life. The processes of fire, grazing by animals, and drought are important to the tallgrass prairie. They can influence each other and prairie life. For example, pyric-herbivory is the interaction of fire and grazing on the landscape. Burned areas attract herbivores (plant eaters) like a magnet. After fires, plant growth is nutritious and easy to find. Herbivores prefer grazing recently burned areas, creating patches of different habitats that support many other wildlife species, too. You can see pyric-herbivory in action at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, where fire, cattle, and bison are a part of the preserve’s management team! Healthy tallgrass prairie needs both fire and grazing.

Emergence potential of mosquito-borne arboviruses from the Florida Everglades

The Greater Everglades Region of South Florida is one of the largest natural wetlands and the only subtropical ecosystem found in the continental United States. Mosquitoes are seasonally abundant in the Everglades where several potentially pathogenic mosquito-borne arboviruses are maintained in natural transmission cycles involving vector-competent mosquitoes and reservoir-competent vertebrate hosts. The fragile nature of this ecosystem is vulnerable to many sources of environmental change, including a wetlands restoration project, climate change, invasive species and residential development. In this study, we obtained baseline data on the distribution and abundance of both mosquitos and arboviruses occurring in the southern Everglades region during the summer months of 2013, when water levels were high, and in 2014, when water levels were low. A total of 367,060 mosquitoes were collected with CO2-baited CDC light traps at 105 collection sites stratified among the major landscape features found in Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Fakahatchee State Park Preserve and Picayune State Forest, an area already undergoing restoration. A total of 2,010 pools of taxonomically identified mosquitoes were cultured for arbovirus isolation and identification. Seven vertebrate arboviruses were isolated: Everglades virus, Tensaw virus, Shark River virus, Gumbo Limbo virus, Mahogany Hammock virus, Keystone virus, and St. Louis encephalitis virus. Except for Tensaw virus, which was absent in 2013, the remaining viruses were found to be most prevalent in hardwood hammocks and in Fakahatchee, less prevalent in mangroves and pinelands, and absent in cypress and sawgrass. In contrast, in the summer of 2014 when water levels were lower, these arboviruses were far less prevalent and only found in hardwood hammocks, but Tensaw virus was present in cypress, sawgrass, pinelands, and a recently burned site. Major environmental changes are anticipated in the Everglades, many of which will result in increased water levels. How these might lead to the emergence of arboviruses potentially pathogenic to both humans and wildlife is discussed.

FORMATION OF CONSOLIDATED DOCUMENTARY AND INFORMATION RESOURCES OF THE SHEVCHENKO NATIONAL RESERVE BY MEANS OF PROJECT ACTIVITY

The purpose of the article is to study the world experience of forming consolidated museum, library, and archival documentary and information resources, analysis of opportunities and prospects of Shevchenko National Reserve to create an informative socio-communicative representative online environment by means of project activities and determination of phasing of outlined steps. The methodology of the research is based on the complexity of the general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, formal logic, federal consolidation of information resources, methods of analytical Internet monitoring, and visualization of the results of the research. Scientific Novelty. Prospects and expediency of forming a consolidated database of documentary and information resources of the Shevchenko National Reserve as an informative socio-communicative rep­resentative environment of the reserve in the world information space are substantiated, and the main ap­proaches and stages of this project are outlined. Conclusions. As a result of the realized study was found that the project approach to the formation of a single database of documentary and information resources of the Shevchenko National Reserve and their integration into a single information space is optimal for solving the problem, which requires a step-by-step solution and fully meets the requirements of the time. The creation of an informative and communicative representative environment of the Shevchenko National Reserve will help to reach a wide target audience, establish business communication, enter a single information space as an institution with a powerful documentary and information resource potential attractive for both the world and national community. Keywords: Shevchenko National Preserve, project activities, consolidated documentary and informa­tional resources, general informational space.

The Great Pechersk Church’ Mural Paintings of the Late 19th Century as the Interpretation of Its Old Russian Image

The purpose of the article is to discover the mural paintings of the Great Pechersk Church as the version of theology and academic sacred mural painting of the late 19th century. The research methodology is based on complex using historical and cultural analysis, art study analysis, and biographical method. Scientific novelty. It is determined that the process of creating the Old Russian image in the Great Pechersk Church (the Dormition Cathedral) began in 1880. The photo of the drawing of the ancient part of the Church made by the order of A. Prakhov in 1893, has been introduced into scientific circulation. The author studied the painting decoration as a synthesis of the academic theological thought and academic sacred mural painting, discovered its implementation in choosing topics, plots, and placement of compositions. The author gave a characteristic of the source corps on the paintings from the collection of the National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”. The author researched the transformation of painting preliminary design and Byzantine Canon of the 11–12th centuries on behalf of the Holy Mother of God theme and observed the connection of the composition “Ascension of Panagia” on the tradition of monastic life in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The topical and plotlines have been improved namely Christianize Old Russian is determined by one more leading topic. Conclusions. The process of creating a new mural painting in the Great Pechersk Church began still yet 1880. The detection of the ancient part of the Church contributed to the change in its painting decoration. This change was the result of the academic theological program implemented by means of academic sacred mural painting. The tradition of previous painting decoration preserved in the preliminary design end reflected one of the traditions of monastic life in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The witness in Pechersk Paterikon of the compositions in the Great Church has been implemented in mural paintings. However, the academic theological opinion of the late 19th century was subordinated to the canon of 11–12th centuries not complete. The theme of the introduction of Christianity was presented in mural painting as one of the leading topics.