Farming the Forest Steppe: Sustainable Land Management in Western Siberia

FARMING THE FOREST STEPPE: SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT IN WESTERN SIBERIA

Results of the SASCHA project, 2011 – 2016

SASCHA: SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE FOR THE WESTERN SIBERIAN GRAIN BELT

Project results 2011 – 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

9 Western Siberia: a hotspot of global change 10 Sustainable land management in Western Siberia 11 The changing fortunes of Siberian agriculture

14 Cultural landscapes at a crossroads

17 Climate and land-use change: closely connected

19 Biodiversity: animals and plants respond to change

21 Testing solutions to challenges in land management

23 Where there is muck there is brass:

Improving manure management

27 Alternative futures: Scenario planning for sustainability

Scenario 1: Intensify at any cost

Scenario 2: Making ends meet in the green

Scenario 3: The certified among the poor

Scenario 4: Rethinking the goals

32 What will last?

33 Further reading: Scientific articles onsascha project results

Previous page: Siberia's mires – a globally important soil carbon reservoir (Tim Wertebach).

8 WESTERN SIBERIA: A HOTSPOT OF GLOBAL CHANGE region, but also in the humus layers of the Black Earth soils. When carbon is released, First-time visitors often expect little for example by drainage or cultivation for more from Siberia than freezing tempera- agriculture, it turns into CO2 and acceler- tures and perhaps polar bears. Of course, ates global warming. Land management Siberia is much more than the European in Western Siberia has thus a vital role in stereotypes might suggest. Stretching mitigating global climate change. across several climatic zones and eco-regions, it has breath-taking landscapes, di- Sparsely populated, Western Siberia verse peoples and culture, and even vast has also been a safe haven for biodiversity: areas under agricultural use. Populations of plants and animals that are being depleted across Europe due to Western Siberia, situated between the intensive land use and the expansion of Ural Mountains and the Yenisei River, is urban conglomerations thrive here, reach- of global significance in several respects. ing a diversity and abundance that is long It supplies a good deal of the world's en- gone from many Western European coun- ergy through its leading role in exploiting tries. large resources of fossil fuels – the West- ern Siberian gas and oil fields stretch over However, as in many other parts of the an area half the size of Europe. The south- world, the tides are changing. Production ern parts of Western Siberia, the so-called and intensity of land use are increasing. Western Siberian grain belt, makes an People abandon the traditional villag- important contribution to global food sees and move to the cities. Fast growth is Omsk curity: the fertile Chernozem (Black Earth) observed in the exploitation of natural soils bear rich crops for human consump- resources. The associated infrastructure tion and as livestock fodder. Western Sibe- such as a new road network allows access ria is also globally important from an en- to the last wild corners. While develop- vironmental point of view. The soils in the ment is undoubtedly good news for large area store a large proportion of the global parts of the rural human population, it soil carbon, especially in the mighty peat might also affect the environment – with layers of the huge bogs and mires of the unforeseeable consequences.

Map of the main ecozones of Eastern Europe and Western Siberia. Tyumen province is outlined blue (WWF Ecozones). R U S S II A ¹ U r a l s

!( !( Yaroslavl Perm !( Tyumen Ekaterinburg !( Astana

!( Kazan !( Moscow Ufa !( !(Omsk

Samara !( K A Z A K H S T A N 0 125 250 500 750 1,000 K A Z A K H S T A N km

Forest steppe Taiga Mountain forest and tundra Borders of Tyumen province Mixed forest Hemiboreal forest Steppe Border with Kazakhstan

9 SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGE- MENT IN WESTERN SIBERIA When Russian and German land-use researchers first met in 2009, they were Concerns about ‘unsustainable’ deve- quick in agreeing that there are ma- lopments are mounting in many regions jor knowledge gaps. How has land use of the world, and Western Siberia is no changed since the break-up of the Soviet exception. Future land use across the Union in 1991, and how will it change in Western Siberian grain belt needs to be the future? What does this change mean sustainable to minimize environmental for the Siberian ecosystems and biodiver- impacts. Sustainability, defined as the sity, for agricultural business and for the property of biological systems to remain people of the region? Will local change diverse and produce indefinitely, entails contribute to global climate change? Re- several components. Environmental sus- searchers and students from two Russian tainability in our case would mean the and five German universities and -a Ger maintenance of important ecosystem man remote-sensing enterprise teamed functions, such as climate regulation or up to answer these questions. soil fertility, and the conservation of West- ern Siberia's unique biodiversity. Eco- As study region, the forest steppe in nomical sustainability would be achieved the south of Russia's Tyumen province if profitability in agriculture and other was selected, a landscape characterized land uses was guaranteed on the long by a mosaic of birch forests, grassland run. Social sustainability would be met and cropfields, and part of the massive if the living standard of the rural human Western Siberian grain belt. population stayed stable or increased rather than deteriorated.

Mosaic of grassland and forest is typical for the Western Siberian forest steppe. In rural areas, people still use the landscape in diverse ways, such as these villagers who harvest wild strawberries (Immo Kämpf).

10 SIBERIAN AGRICULTURESIBERIAN FORTUNES OF CHANGING THE eye: Inmanyareas, derelict livestocksta omy and society. The Russian economy formerEastern ed tomanyotherparts of agricultural productionof inthe Western far-reach influence to knowledge erated cians were approached withtheagglom ground started, inorder todevelopfarm questions were answered, theproject and fodder, andthesurpluswasexport and decisionmakers. Siberian grain belt were varied over the potential future developmentswere set province today, change strike the signs of past decades:InSoviettimes, state-run sustainable landusein Western Siberia. sively by Moscow market-oriented system. Farms were pri republics, resulted indisorder inecon theSovietUnioninto independent up of men province, despitetheharshclimate up and discussed widely with the public make landusemore sustainable. Politi you totheresearch results, andtoillus vatized andare nolongeraffected exclu lc Mlin o ctl ad he were sheep and cattle of Millions Bloc. farms produced grain large quantitiesof ing decisions. Different scenarios of ing techniqueswithlocalenterprisesto bles are visible, each hosting hundreds by global markets and demand kept formeat anddairyproduction. with a short growing season. The fortunes travelling the countryside of travelling thecountrysideof Tyumen transitioned from acentrally plannedtoa trate potentialfuture pathways tomore team didnotrest. Hands-onworkonthe The aim of thisbrochureThe aimof istointroduce Agriculture hasalong history in Tyu

Political1991,break-in the change with However, whenthemainresearch ' s policies, but nowalso 1 . When ------Tyumen province: Declines of up to 60 to up Tyumen of Declines province: villagers ascommunal pasture (ImmoKämpf). Following page: Abandoned cropfield, nowused bythe (Tyumen Statistics Office 2016). in Tyumen province, fortheperiod1990–2015 Trends inthearea sownforcrops andlivestocknumbers of animals. of cowsinSoviettimes.of Livestockbreed tt fr sse i te 90, n the and 1990s, the in system farm state number of cattle andsheepcrashednumber of in ing was hit hard by the collapse of the ing was hit hard by the collapse of were recorded Animals Animals*1000 *1000 Area (*1000Area ha) (*1000 ha)

0 2000 400200 600400 800600 800 0 0500 5001000 10001500 1500 1990 1990 1990 1990 1995 1995 1995 1995 2 : hundreds of thousands : hundreds of 2000 2000 2000 2000 2005 2005 2005 2005 F F Subsistence All cattle Subsistence All cattle To To 2010 2010 2010 2010 odder crops odder crops tal s tal s ow ow n n 2015 2015 2015 2015

11 % -

Soviet-time machinery is increasingly replaced with new tractors for the large Siberian fields (Insa Kühling).

Russia's livestock industry is only slow- stock breeding has been modernized, ly recovering, and beef is still imported with most cattle now kept in stables year- from Brazil and other countries despite round and fed with grain and fodder the large land resources that could be crops produced on the fields. used for grazing free-ranging herds. Sim- ilarly, many crop fields of the Soviet era are not in use anymore, especially those that are too unproductive under the new CULTURAL LANDSCAPES market conditions, or are situated in ar- AT A CROSSROADS eas difficult to access with heavy tractors such as waterlogged depressions3. It is not only the large-scale, industri- According to official land use statistics al farming enterprises that satisfy local about 400 000 ha of crop fields were food demand. The rural communities in abandoned across the province after Tyumen province grow more potatoes in 19912, 3 – a huge land reserve. their village backyards than all big agricultural enterprises together2. Half of the However, during the last decade, ag- livestock is owned by the villagers, who riculture in Tyumen province has gained keep cattle and sheep for meat and dairy momentum again2: Crop production products2. Subsistence agriculture still concentrates now in the highest-yield- plays an important role in the agricultural ing areas, Soviet-period machinery is economy in Russia. gradually replaced with the latest brands allowing to farm much more efficient- The forest steppe, this mosaic of ly, and fertilizer application is also more small birch groves, wetlands and intensive leading to higher output per fields, has been shaped by man for hectare. Tendencies to recultivate aban- thousands of years. And it still is: The doned cropland become obvious from cattle of the villages are grazed on the official government statistics. -Live communal pastures, shepherded in a

14 Every evening, the cattle is herded back to the village stables by a shepherd on horseback (Immo Kämpf).

Surplus milk is collected in the villages (Immo Kämpf).

15 A remote village in the autumnal forest steppe – how long will it still exist (Johannes Kamp)?

rotational community system or by pro- and their inhabitants is uncertain. Just fessional ‘cowboys’. The long and cold as in many other parts of the world, the Siberian winter demands that all animals call of the comfortable city life does not are kept in stables between October and go unheard. Many of the villages have March, fed mostly with hay. While some lost inhabitants and some are now com- hay is bought from the big agricultural pletely abandoned. It is now so costly enterprises (that produce commercially), to support the remaining infrastructure many families still cut their own winter in remote villages that with continuing storage on small meadows in the forest outmigration, some will not persist. This steppe4. Firewood comes from the birch will in turn lead to a decline in small- forests, and berries are collected in large scale, low-input agriculture: pastures and quantities to be sold on the local mar- hay meadows will either overgrow with kets, contributing to the income of the shrub and slowly turn in forest, or will be rural population. However, the future for claimed for more intensive agriculture, the picturesque wooden village houses by big enterprises5.

16 CLIMATE AND LAND-USE CHANGE: CLOSELY CONNECTED in earlier times. In contrast, villagers and farmers across the southern part of Tyu- The global climate is changing fast. men province complain about dry years Temperatures increase, precipitation pat- and resulting lower crop yields. System- terns change, ‘extreme’ weather events, atic research6, based on the climate data such as droughts and storms, become collected at a large number of weather more frequent. Siberia, with its blistering stations across Western Siberia for a pe- cold temperatures in winter, and blazing riod of 30 years, confirmed these impres- hot summers has been identified as a sions. A prediction of climate trends into global hotspot of climate change. And the future suggests that the growing sea- indeed, changes are already felt. son will increase north of Tyumen, while agriculture will become riskier in the for- Talking to people on the streets of est steppe as it gets drier. This will have Tyumen City, situated in the hemi-boreal implications for human wellbeing, infra- climate zone, many suggest that there is structure and land use. There is already now less snow in winter. Summers be- significant financial loss among farmers came seemingly cooler and rainier than in our study region: between 2008 and

17 2012, droughts resulted in yields some- cipitation might lead to more streamflow times 80 % below expectation, and in in the Siberian rivers and tributaries10. 2008, one big producer lost grain worth As 90 % of the water runs off just after more than a million dollars. On the other snowmelt11, this will probably lead to hand, extremely cold and wet summers more and longer inundation of the Sibe- in recent years made the crops grow very rian lowlands. Farmers rely on access to slowly, and much grain was not ripe be- their field in this period – this will become fore the first snow and could thus not be increasingly difficult when soils remain harvested in time7. waterlogged until May.

Climate change is closely connected with changes in land use. The greenhouse gas emissions heating up the atmosphere are not only caused by burn- ing fossil fuels in industry and transport: Where natural vegetation is converted into cropland, carbon is released as CO2 into the atmosphere. We could show that converting currently unused grassland into new cereal fields would clearly lead to more CO2 being blown into the atmosphere: Ploughing turns greenhouse gas ‘sinks’ into sources8. We know now, how much we would lose: stores of up to 15 tons of pure carbon have built up per each hectare abandoned farmland across Tyumen province, which would largely be released after recultivation9.

With the consolidation and recent growth in the agricultural sector in Tyu- men province, a future expansion of cropland into currently unused areas seems likely. Farmers might exploit abandoned fields, but also convert new areas of natural vegetation in the north of the region that might become suitable for farming due to the longer growing season. This would result in emissions and depleted carbons stocks. A vicious feedback cycle – agricultural expansion due to climate change could lead to more climate change.

Future changes in climate will also affect water availability for agriculture: water will be scarce in drier summers Mighty black layers rich in carbon characterize the and soils dry out, increased winter pre- Siberian Black Soils (Tim Wertebach).

18 A project member at an installation to measure greenhouse gas fluxes (Insa Kühling).

Following page: The water retreats from the inundated floodplain of the Tura river and reveals productive hay meadows (Steffen Kämpfer).

BIODIVERSITY: ANIMALS AND PLANTS RESPOND TO CHANGE The land-use changes that were trig- gered by the break-up of the Soviet Un- Western Siberia is a biodiversity hot- ion had strong, but varying impacts on spot: A large number of plants and ani- species communities. After the abandon- mal species occurs together, as the tem- ment of cropland, wild nature recovered: perate forests of Europe, the southern through a return of the native vegetation, Russian Taiga and the dry Central Asian many former wheat fields now resemble steppes meet in a transition ecozone, the the original meadow-steppe swards12. forest steppe. Richness and abundance Similar patterns were observed in butter- could be preserved until recently as pres- fly, grasshopper and bird populations13 – sure from land use was relatively low. Pas- abandoned cropland was quickly colo- tures and hay meadows are not worked nized even by species that have become very intensively. No fertilizer is applied, rare or are declining elsewhere. Respons- and there is only one cut late in the year. es to a cessation of grassland manage- Livestock densities decline as one moves ment, such as grazing and haymaking, away from the villages. This creates a va- were mixed: Butterflies and grasshopper riety of grasslands with different vegeta- communities are similarly species-rich tion characteristics. and abundant in pristine and abandoned

A Silver-washed Fritillary on a Turk's cap lily (Sarah Weking).

22 grassland13, 14, but might gradually dis- tence agriculture – producing most of the appear as biomass accumulates, and food you need on your own land. More swards get denser and cooler. Most birds abandonment and habitat loss is likely were losers in this game: Especially rare if the trend of rural outmigration contin- and threatened meadow birds, such as ues, with negative consequences for the Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank prefer unique grassland biodiversity of the re- a short-grazed lawn full of dung piles that gion. attract many insects (a rich food resource) to a tall and dense meadow, with no view However, the future is not all bleak for of approaching foxes and other predators. biodiversity: A warming climate opens up new niches for a number of animals, sascha research also revealed that it is and some are able to significantly ex- not the large, contiguous fields managed tend their ranges: Even during the rela- by large agricultural enterprises that host tive short project period of five years, we a high number and variety of species, but were able to document a movement to the grasslands intermingled with birch the north in several insect species15. Such woods4. These mosaic landscapes are ‘range shifts’ will become more frequent mostly managed by villagers for subsis- with ongoing global warming.

A mosaic of small hay meadows and birch forests supports especially many plant and animal species (Wanja Mathar).

23 TESTING SOLUTIONS of the ‘conservation agriculture’ magic TO CHALLENGES IN LAND box. Conservation agriculture generally MANAGEMENT means to achieve sustainable and profitable agriculture using three principles, The changes that took place after the minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil fall of the Soviet Union entail both chal- cover and crop rotations. No-till tech- lenges and opportunities. Certainly, the niques avoid deep ploughing of soils collapse of the state farming system had prior to sowing, but rather sow the seeds negative consequences for employment directly into the stubble of the previous in rural areas, and the economical sustain- year. ability of food production. However, as discussed earlier, the widespread aban- But how would we know that no-till donment of cropland had overwhelm- brought really higher yields than conven- ingly positive effects on biodiversity and tional techniques? In cooperation with the restoration of degraded ecosystems. a large local agricultural enterprise and Similarly, the transition of cropland into a German manufacturer of agricultural grasslands was positive for the climate, machinery, a scientific field trial was set as large amounts of carbon (that would up. Two seeding parameters were var- heat up the atmosphere when released ied, namely seeding depth and seeding again) were fixed. Positive effects on wa- rate (number of wheat seeds / ha). Both ter quality and quantity in the landscape options were tested under convention- were also observed.11 al tillage, and no-till seeding, over three seasons. The results were unexpectedly Acknowledging the local realities and clear: Grain yields were more than 10 % employment needs, as well as a globally higher on no-till plots compared to con- increasing demand for food, strategies ventionally worked plots. Furthermore, avoiding new cropland reclamation were the measured soil moisture was on av- therefore desperately needed. Further- erage 42 % higher on no-till plots com- more, it turned out that recultivation was pared to conventional-till plots, and fuel not an option in many areas – too low and labour costs were 73 % less16. were the expected yields that working the land would have been profitable un- Clearly, the technique has potential to der market conditions, and without the increase yields, while saving farmers a lot massive subsidies of the Soviet era2. of money. Increased soil moisture would mean positive news for the adaptation of After prospecting a larger number agriculture to climate change, given that of farms in Tyumen oblast, the sascha future temperature increases and high- agronomists soon realized there was er frequency of summer droughts are room to increase the efficiency of crop expected. The word was spreading fast production. Could an increase in yields among farmers, and an expansion of the on existing cropland perhaps offset the area under no-till is expected in our study production losses caused earlier by land region – just as in neighbouring Kazakh- abandonment? How could such yield in- stan, where no-till wheat cultivation has creases be achieved, without the typical quickly been established recently. harmful consequences of this process known as intensification? We tested solutions to this challenge, namely a farming technique known as ‘no-till’, being part

24 Wheat is sown directly into the stubble of the previous year (‘no-till’-farming, above), and conventional tillage on the sascha experimental plots (below) (Insa Kühling).

25 WHERE THERE IS MUCK tion of water and soil. An economic as- THERE IS BRASS: IMPROVING sessment revealed that using manure MANURE MANAGEMENT on cropfields could substitute significant amounts of mineral fertilizer, thereby The sascha agronomists had calcu- saving the farmers' money, and transfer- lated that, despite the strong decline ring nutrients back to the soil18. It would in animal numbers after 1991, manure also be a measure to increase yields on produced in livestock systems was still existing cropland, thereby reducing the an important source of greenhouse gas need for expansion. However, it seems emissions, namely methane and nitrous important how this organic fertilizer is oxides. The industrial farms, with huge applied – far less environmental prob- numbers of pigs, cattle and chicken in lems are caused if it is distributed in sol- stables, contributed 80 % of these emis- id rather than liquid form (as practiced sions17 – much less came from small- by most households that own cattle, to holder farmers and subsistence livestock fertilize their potato plot). Another op- owners. A reason for high emissions was tion would be to bring more livestock that the manure produced was hardly back to the large areas of pastures that distributed as fertilizer on arable fields, currently lie unused – with positive con- but simply dumped on fields close to sequences for biodiversity, as sascha the farms. This led to local contamina- research showed4.

Free-ranging cattle are much more ‘climate-friendly’ (and probably happier) than those kept in stables year-round (Andreas Völker).

26 Depending on the economic development, the arduous work of manual hay cutting and stacking might either disappear or persist in the future (Insa Kühling).

ALTERNATIVE FUTURES: driving forces – political governance and SCENARIO PLANNING FOR profitability – in mind, we tried to assess SUSTAINABILITY potential future development in land management. After five years of interdisciplinary- re search, we have a good understanding The only thing that seemed to be certain of past change – but what will the future was uncertainty – we did simply not know bring? Can we use our knowledge to make what the future would bring. We therefore future land use more sustainable? What used a process called ‘scenario planning’ policies and institutions are needed to to compare potential future developments make the best out of future land use devel- in a systematic framework. We interviewed opments? countless farmers and politicians, and con- ducted role plays with university students We realized that in a centrally planned and employees of the local administration. country, where many decisions are made Using all the information gathered and opin- on provincial or even federal level, deci- ions heard, we developed four ‘scenarios’ – sions of policy makers will have a tremen- short stories of potential future process- dous impact on future land-use options. es and actions that would cause various We also learnt that many current policies changes in the land use system. We did are not ideal to adapt agriculture to a not aim at exact predictions of what the changing climate7, and to trigger devel- future will be, but rather illustrate the pos- opments from which the environment and sible extremes of development and their people alike would benefit. Of similar- im implications, for a period starting now and portance is of course the profitability of ending around the year 2050. Which ele- land use – where measures to improve liv- ments of the scenarios will become reality ing standards or environmental conditions depends on international and national poli- hamper growth and profits they are unlike- cies, but also on the way local people par- ly to be implemented. Keeping these two ticipate in shaping their environment.

27 SCENARIO 1: due to droughts and missing adapta- INTENSIFY AT ANY COST tion to climate change. Large, strongly mechanized agricultural enterprises offer Economic growth and flourishing ex- only a limited number of jobs, and rural ports of gas and oil allow for high agricul- out-migration continues. Environmen- tural subsidies. An increase in agricultural tal-friendly production methods receive production is a chief goal of agricultural little attention. Agricultural intensification policy, regardless of the social and envi- and cropland expansion cause losses ronmental costs. Cropland expands, but of biodiversity and soil organic carbon the region also suffers from low yields stocks.

SCENARIO 2: MAKING ENDS numbers and the small-scale household MEET IN THE GREEN plots increase as most village families produce foods for subsistence. A lot of National and global policies results in farmland is abandoned. The state with- a long economic recession lasting until draws from regulating agriculture, envi- 2050. As the state curbs agricultural sub- ronmental requirements to agriculture sidies, many farms go bankrupt. Big agri- stay low. Biodiversity recovers on former cultural enterprises redirect investments arable land, but many species of the cul- to the oil and gas industry. The region tural landscape are lost. With strong veg- faces massive rural depopulation. The etation succession on abandoned land, remaining small farms organize into mar- carbon stocks build up on a large scale, keting cooperatives to survive. Livestock and water quality increases.

+ conventional sustainable intensification intensification

Intensify at Rethinking any cost the goals

− State regulation for SLM +

Making ends levels Profitability The certified meet in the among the green poor

subsistence low-input agriculture management − A graphic representation of the main drivers (profitability and state regulation in agriculture) of agricultural development and resulting alternative future scenarios (Yuliana Griewald).

28 SCENARIO 3: THE CERTIFIED scale. Around 2040, a sudden econom- AMONG THE POOR ic crisis breaks out and transitions into a long-term recession. As subsidies are Until 2040 Russia sees a stable eco- cut, many farms collapse. After an initial nomic growth. The environmental aware- stabilization, the rural population starts ness of the population increases. The leaving the countryside. Only those pro- potential of the region for free-ranging ducers remain afloat who are already part livestock systems is realized, and live- of certification schemes for low-input stock numbers recover. Certification management and have well-established schemes for low-input livestock manage- contacts abroad. Biodiversity thrives in ment and organic farming are developed the first phase, as low-input livestock and organic meat is exported on a large management creates a lot of habitat.

SCENARIO 4: and ‘Climate's Best Friend’ replace the RETHINKING THE GOALS ‘Fastest Harvester’ competitions. Policy acknowledges the mosaic of arable land, Economic growth and thriving interna- grassland, and forests as an indispensa- tional cooperation lead to the inclusion ble component of the traditional Western of environmental issues in agricultural Siberian landscape. Conservation agri- policy. Agricultural subsidies are in place, culture measures such as no-till farming and farms' environmental performance and prudent manure management be- becomes one of the subsidy criteria. come established on a broad scale. The Improvements of rural infrastructure Tyumen region annually achieves climate and job opportunities slow down rural and biodiversity goals and becomes out-migration. State-organized compe- a role model among crop-producing titions such as ‘Best Biodiversity Saver’ Russian regions.

Following page: Black cows or shiny churches? Contrast between rural and urban life illustrated in Tobolsk city (Johannes Kamp).

WHAT WILL LAST? both countries profited from new -view After five years of joint fieldwork, count- points and updates on the latest research less workshops and student trainings methodologies, scientific literature and both in Russia and Germany, virtually all standards in the Russian and Western researchers and students involved would systems. Equally (or perhaps even more) agree that working in Russian-German important that the scientific achievements teams was a rewarding experience. The seems the mutual cultural understanding German researchers were given the that resulted from the sascha project – an unique opportunity to broaden their ho- acquaintance of new language skills, both rizon in the untouched wilderness and in- literally and in the cultural sense. This has tact cultural landscapes of Siberia – land- formed a basis for future stable collabora- scapes that had been lost over large parts tion and new bilateral projects are already of Europe centuries ago. Researchers of developed.

Russian and German students attending a joint field course organized by thesascha project (Johannes Kamp).

32 FURTHER READING: 10 Sada, R., Schmalz, B., Kiesel, J. & Fohrer, SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES ON N. Probable changes in climate and hydrological re- SASCHA PROJECT RESULTS gimes of the Western Siberian Lowlands. (Submitted.)

1 Griewald, Y. Institutional economics of 11 Schmalz, B., Kruse, M., Kiesel, J., Müller, grain marketing in Russia: Insights from the Tyumen F. & Fohrer, N. Water-related ecosystem services in region. Journal of Rural Studies 47, 21 – 30 (2016). Western Siberian lowland basins—Analysing and mapping spatial and seasonal effects on regulat- 2 Kühling, I., Broll, G. & Trautz, D. Spa- ing services based on ecohydrological modelling tio-temporal analysis of agricultural land-use inten- results. Ecological Indicators 71, 55 – 65 (2016). sity across the Western Siberian grain belt. Science of the Total Environment 544, 271 – 280 (2016). 12 Kämpf, I., Mathar, W., Kuzmin, I., Hölzel, N. & Kiehl, K. Post-Soviet recovery of grassland veg- 3 Nguyen, H., Kamp, J., Völker, A. & Höl- etation on abandoned fields in the forest steppe zel, N. Determinants of cropland abandonment in zone of Western Siberia. Biodiversity and Conserva- Western-Siberia after the collapse of the USSR. (In tion 25, 2563 – 2580 (2016). preparation.) 13 Weking, S., Kämpf, I., Mathar, W. & Höl- 4 Mathar, W. P. et al. Floristic diversity of zel, N. Effects of land use and landscape patterns meadow steppes in the Western Siberian Plain: on Orthoptera communities in the Western Sibe- effects of abiotic site conditions, management and rian forest steppe. Biodiversity and Conservation, landscape structure. Biodiversity and Conservation 1 – 19 (2016). 25, 2361 – 2379 (2016). 14 Trappe, J., Kunz, F., Weking, S. & Kamp, 5 Griewald, Y. et al. Developing scenarios J. Grassland butterfly communities of the Western for sustainable land management in Western Sibe- Siberian forest steppe in the light of post-Soviet ria. (Submitted.) land abandonment. (Submitted.)

6 Degefie, D. T. et al. Climate extremes in 15 Stolbov, V., Kuzmin, I., Ivanov, S. & Kamp, South Western Siberia: past and future. Stochastic J. Northward shift of arthropod distribution ranges Environmental Research and Risk Assessment 28, in the Tyumen and Kurgan provinces of Russia. Eur- 2161 – 2173 (2014). asian Entomological Journal 15, 99 – 103 (2016).

7 Stupak, N. Adaptation of Russian ag- 16 Kühling, I., Redozubov, D., Broll, G. & riculture to climatic variability: The role of federal Trautz, D. Impact of tillage, seeding rate and seed- and provincial policies. Environmental Science & ing depth on soil moisture and dryland spring Policy 68, 10 – 19 (2017). wheat yield in Western Siberia. Soil and Tillage Re- search 170, 43 – 52 (2017). 8 Fleischer, E., Khashimov, I., Hölzel, N. & Klemm, O. Carbon exchange fluxes over peatlands 17 Störrle, M., Brauckmann, H. & Broll, G. in Western Siberia: Possible feedback between Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock manure land-use change and climate change. Science of management in southwestern Siberia, Russia. Sus- the total Environment 545, 424 – 433 (2016). tainable Agriculture Research 6, 66 – 80 (2017).

9 Wertebach, T. M. et al. Soil carbon se- 18 Störrle, M., Hagedorn, L., Yurtaev, A., questration due to post-Soviet land abandonment: Brauckmann, H. & Broll, G. Livestock manure man- Estimates from a large-scale SOC field inventory. agement in agroecosystems of southwestern Sibe- Global Change Biology, doi:10.1111/gcb.13650 (2017). ria, Russia. Geo-Öko 36, 133 – 154 (2015).

33 TEXT: Johannes Kamp, with contributions by Yuliana Griewald, e-mail: [email protected]

CONTACT GERMANY: sascha project, c /o Prof. Dr. Norbert Hölzel, Institute for Landscape Ecology, Heisenbergstr. 2, 48149 Münster, Germany, e-mail: [email protected]

CONTACT RUSSIA: Prof. Dr. Andrey Tolstikov, Tyumen State University, Semakova Str. 10, Tyumen 625003, Russia, e-mail: [email protected]

WEB: http://www.uni-muenster.de/sascha/en/index.html

LAYOUT & TYPESETTING: Stephan Kamp, e-mail: [email protected]

PRINT: Druckerei Hugo Hamann, Kiel

This booklet presents the findings from an interdisciplinary research project that involved Russian and German partners from academia, policy-making and agriculture. How can we meet the challenges of global food production for Siberia's agriculture in a changing climate? How can we maintain the wildlife and important ecosystems of Siberia's forest steppe under rapidly changing socio-economic conditions? A group of more than 30 researchers and students from both countries addressed these questions between 2011 and 2016. Ecologists, climatologists and agricultural scientists teamed up to test solutions for more sustainable agriculture in the forest steppe. A scenario planning exercise builds on the research results and illustrates alternative future development. The results are encouraging: environmental sustainability can go hand in hand with high levels of profitability and rural development in Siberia, when all local actors pull together.

FUNDED BY: