A. V. Nesterkov and E. L. Vorobeichik
Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences,
ul. Vos’mogo Marta 202, Yekaterinburg, 620144 Russia
e-mail: nesterkov@list.ru
Received October 8, 2008
Abstract—The aboveground phytomass of meadow plants and the density of chortobiont invertebrates in sec-
ondary upland meadows were estimated using a biocenometer in three areas differing in the level of pollution
with emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter (Revda, Sverdlovsk oblast) in 2006 and 2007. As the
smelter is approached, the total amount of phytomass (dry weight) decreases by a factor of 1.3–1.9, with the
proportion of grasses reaching 100%; the total abundance of invertebrates increases two- to threefold due to
sucking phytophages, which account for up to 80% of the invertebrate community. The abundance of gnawing
phytophages near the smelter is reduced, with some taxa entirely missing (e.g., mollusks and phalangiid har-
vestmen). Rearrangements in chortobiont community structure are attributable to changes in the physiological
state of plants and in the species diversity and architecture of the herbaceous layer, with consequent modifica-
tion of hydrothermal conditions in it, as well as by the direct toxic effect of heavy metals.
DOI: 10.1134/S1067413609040109
Key words: chortobiont invertebrates, meadows, herbaceous layer, biocenometer, insects, Hemiptera,
Cicadinea, trophic structure, phytophages, zoophages, density, industrial pollution, copper smelter, heavy met-
als, Middle Urals.
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