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 Annual research and educational
Soil-Ecological Excursion across southern part of
West Siberia
since 1995
Since 1995 regular field trips have taken place around the southern part of Western Siberia. The excursion covers all latitude bio-climatic zones from taiga to southern forest steppe including steppe ecosytems on West Siberian Plain and all altitude belts from tundra to steppe and also Central Asian semi-desert zone in the Altai mountain region (right near Mongolia frontier). Novosibirsk is a starting and finishing point. Total length of the excursion is more than 3900 km. The route frequently follows the route taken by Alexander von Humboldt on his little-known research journey around Russia and Siberia in 1829. 
The field trip is aimed at demonstrating the real potential of ecosystems undisturbed by human activities as reference objects for ecological research in the developed countries to solve current problems on long-term development of the biosphere. The main focus is soil formation processes resulting from the interaction between climate, vegetation and geological substrata, interesting geographical conditions and experimental sites, not to mention research projects in various regions. You can see specifics of soil formation and ecosystem succession under continental climate conditions as well as the impressive wealth of unaltered or virtually untouched landscapes of great beauty compared with agricultural and forest lands. During the trip you can encounter a lot of soil types. Most of these soils are presented by unique local varieties and have different signs of cryogenic processes.
One of the complimentary aims of the excursion is to enable an interdisciplinary exchange of experience and knowledge, to get beyond the language barrier and to promote scientific co-operation with the Russian colleagues.
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There will be 2 groups in 2006
- 1st group in July: from 3 to 27
- 2nd group in August: from 6 to 30
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The maximal number of participants is limited to 30 for a group.
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