The Tselau swamp (Tselaubruсh) in Kaliningrad region is a biogeographically unique swamp in Central Europe which has been formed during Valdai glaciation. It has remained relatively unaltered up to our days. On the basis of fundamental works of German and Russian scientists, as well as field studies of the authors the vegetation and fauna of the Tselau are described. The changes that have occurred during the last century are analyzed.

The characteristics of identified rodent communities and zoogeographic units of various ranks in Western Kazakhstan oblasts, presented on a map in Okulova et al. (2014), are described in this work.

On the basis of almost 100 years of zoological research in Western Kazakhstan, a map and GIS of the rodent community have been created. A hierarchical zoogeographic regionalization has been carried out using cluster analysis.

The actual vegetation in the territory of the Baikonur Cosmodrome (the Republic of Kazakhstan) has been mapped for the first time. The potential resistance of edificators and plant associations to the impact of space-rocket activities has been estimated based on this. Weakly and moderately resistant phytocenoses, comparatively resistant phytocenoses, and resistant ones have been ascertained to occupy 43, 18.5, and 38% of the cosmodrome’s territory.

Data on the influence of a summer drought on the state of vegetation and the period of activity of the yellow ground squirrel in colonies of the Saratov Trans-Volga Yeruslan sands are presented. During the 2009 drought, the flora virtually ceased vegetating and was characterized by low rates of species diversity, projective cover, and height of herbage. Ground squirrels entered hibernation two weeks earlier than in previous years (with normal humidity). The only colony with a long period of activity in that year was near a meadow-reed estuary. The presence of green vegetation in small meadows contributed to a prolongation of the activity of ground squirrels and the usual date of the start of hibernation.

The progression of tall-grass steppes has caused a consequent reduction in the abundance of the little ground squirrel. By the beginning of this century, its population had fallen to zero and was not compensated by other rodent species’ biomass. The little ground squirrel is a biocenotically valuable species for a semidesert terrain, since it participates in the latter’s pedogenesis and is a food source for the steppe eagle. Thus, its disappearance would threaten to significantly disturb the structure of the biocenosis.

At carrier rocket first-stage impact areas in desert landscapes of central Kazakhstan, we evaluate the mechanical transformation of the soil-vegetation cover. We establish that for soil restoration and revegetation, a time period of no less that 15–20 years is necessary, which can be shortened if recultivation measures adapted to desert ecosystems are put into effect.

In April 2002 – 2005, the feeding patterns of Agrionemys horsfieldii were studied in four different landscapes in Uzbekistan. At the four sites, with the combined area no less than 5 ha, 43 plant species from 17 families were recorded as forming the tortoise diet. The proportion of plant species and gill mushrooms consumed by the tortoise at these sites varied from 42 to 59% with highest feeding preferences was given to species from families Brassicaceae, Papaveraceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae. Some tortoises preferred species ( Anisantha tectorum , Hypecoum parviflorum , Leptaleum filifolium ) and these dominated in food in several communities while animals and other non-vegetable objects were rarely consumed (~2%). Spearman’s rank correlation between the level of availability of a plant species in landscapes and the proportion of its consumption by the tortoise was near to 0 in many cases and we are able to prove that the tortoise should be seen as a selective consumer (PSI = 0.22) rather than as a generalist. A number of species dominating in plant communities were not, or rarely, eaten and among these are plants containing alkaloids and ethers, as well as species with harsh fibers and thorny spikes. In each community there were three or five species constituting the base of the diet (63 – 81%) that sustained the population. The base part of the diet constituted the species which had both high availability in the community and a high index of electivity (Jacob’s index > 0.6). The tortoise’s habitat in arid and waterless desert landscapes requires high rates of water consumption which comes from its food: for this reason, tortoises prefer to eat species with high moisture content, even including some poisonous ones. However, it is quite possible that the consumption of poisonous plants also achieves antihelminthic prophylactics.

Results of studies in 1999–2009 of the dynamics of five isolated colonies of the speckled ground squirrel (Spermophilus suslicus) at the northern boundary of the habitat of this species (Zaraiskii area, Moscow oblast) are given. An abrupt decrease in the number of this species in colonies was established, as was a multifold decrease (up to 70–90%) in suitable habitats due to the plowing of meadows and build-up of the area. The fragmentation of the optimum habitat of ground squirrels reached a stage where colonies can no longer exist as a stable autonomous system. The process of their extinction unfolds quickly: the number of animals in some colonies decreased five-six times over the last ten years. To preserve this species, it is necessary to create areas of steppefied meadows with regulated agricultural use.