M. Blinnikov Research Pages

Palouse grassland - paleoenvironmental reconstructions
    Main goal is to reconstruct grassland composition during the late Pleistocene (100 ka-10 ka), esp. during Last Glacial Maximum, to understand vegetation role in the Palouse loess deposition. Silica phytoliths from plants and soils are used as the primary proxy. Collaborators include Alan Busacca, David Gaylord and Mark Sweeney at WSU, Charlie Zendler at UC-Irvine and Paul Reyerson at SCSU
[RPP paper 2005 pdf, 820 kb] Also paper in preparation for J. of Biogeography

Paleodistribution of wild rice: detection with phytoliths in Lake Ogechie
    Main goals are (1) establish research protocol of extracting phytoliths from lake sediments and (2) detecting paleodistributions of wild rice (Zizania spp.) with phytoliths across its historic range. The pilot project now in places focuses on Lake Ogechie, MN. Collaborators are Chad Yost (Graduate Student and Research Assistant - see details about his project on his website), Richard Rothaus (SCSU-History) and Matt Julius (SCSU-Biology).

 Modern phytolith analogs - Cedar Creek Natural Area, MN
    Main goal is to find out if different composition of plants on experimental plots of E120 Biodiversity Experiment of Dr. Tilman yield different phytolith assemblages in modern soils. A graduate student is currently needed to finish the project :)

Alpine communities of Teberda, Caucasus
    Main goal is to study biotic and abiotic influences on alpine community composition and function, especially in the context of global climate change. Collaborators are Dr. Vladimir Onipchenko at Moscow State University/Karachaivsk State University and many of his students.

Landscape change -  Greenbelt of Moscow
    The main goal is to assess changes in construction of suburban subdivisions in the Moscow region in the past 15 years and to relate those to observed land use changes from space and on-the-ground biodiversity data from bird and insect surveys. About 20% of forest cover was lost between 1991 and 2001 in the 10 km zone around Moscow outside of the beltway due to construction of housing, commercial retail, warehouses, pavement and parking! Collaborators: Nikolai Sobolev and Lyudmila Volkova, Biodiversity Conservation Center-Moscow; Andrei Shanin, London School of Economics and John Boentje, SCSU. Paper was submitted to special issue of GeoJournal. Another one planned for a landscape ecology journal.

Landscape change -  Central MN sprawl
    Remote sensing analysis of landscape change near Princeton, MN is a pilot project done with Qazi Iqbal. Sprawl was detected and quanitified with LANDSAT imagery from 1989, 1994, and 2001 and compared with US Census data and building permits. Additionally, seven landscape metrics were used to assess landscape level impact of sprawl on landscape structure.

NW Ontario forest fires
    Main goal is to analyze changes in fire patterns and possible reasons behind those  in NW Ontario as resolved by LANDSAT imagery for the past 15 years. Collaborator: Namrata Shrestha, SCSU.

N. Am. Orthodox Church: Changing Geographies
    Orthodox Church (e.g., Greek and Russian Orthodox) is a growing phenomenon in North America of increasingly mixed ethnic and cultural heritage. The emergence of convert-driven church is of great consequences to the geographical expression of the religious landscape. Both country-wide and local examples are studied, e.g., which areas of the country experience fastest growth in Orthodox missions, assimilation of ethnic Orthodox, emergence of convert parishes and travel and pilgrimage patterns. 

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Work in progress... Last updated on 18/04/06