In mid-July, the next release of Caucasian leopards, which are traditionally called snow leopards in the Caucasus, is planned on the territory of North Ossetia-Alania. Among them are two females and one male, which will replenish the group of leopards that is being formed here. In April 2022, a group of animal behavior specialists from four organizations (IEE RAS, IEGT RAS, World Fund for Nature and the Moscow Zoo) assessed the readiness of these animals for life in nature using special behavioral tests. Behavioral tests for these purposes were developed by IEE RAS staff back in 2016, then refined with the participation of animal welfare specialists from the Moscow Zoo, who have gained invaluable and unique experience, and are used to evaluate all leopards before release. “The principle of such a test of leopards is to create a situation for them that provokes the animal to make the wrong decision (for example, in the case of testing the reaction of a leopard to a human, to become interested in them). If the animal does not succumb to provocation and fear of a human keeps the animal from wanting to take an interest in a new object, then this decision will contribute to its survival in nature. Experts evaluate not only the reaction of the animal and its behavior in the situation itself, but also what decision the leopard makes after the situation is resolved: whether it goes to the place where the human was, whether it is interested in the direction where the human went. It is also very important to understand that in nature a leopard will not follow a man,” says Anna Yachmennikova. The check showed that all three leopards (females Khosta and Laura and male Leo) are ready for release.

A three-week expedition of the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences to study the Sea of ​​Okhotsk gray whales in the protected waters of the Pacific Ocean has concluded. Further, scientific research in Olga Bay will be continued by employees of the Kronotsky Reserve. During the expedition, scientists identified 62 gray whales, of which half of the animals were encountered off the coast of Sakhalin in previous years. “We registered only 3 mother-calf pairs. This is quite a small amount, but not a problem, since the main feeding area for female gray whales with calves is still the Piltun area on Sakhalin. Kamchatka for them is only a part of the migratory route. As I said, at the very beginning of the feeding season, many individuals look noticeably emaciated. The observations, which will be continued by the staff of the reserve in July and August, will show how successfully the animals were able to fatten. Interestingly, active molting was observed in several individuals. Most likely, this is due to strong water freshening near the coast in places where the whales feed. Basically, they stayed at depths of 6-10 meters,” said Matvey Mamaev, expedition leader, leading engineer of the IEE RAS. Recall that it was the shore of the Olga Bay, near which the red-listed marine giants feed annually during migration, that became the first facility where the accumulated environmental damage was eliminated under the federal program. Work was going on in 2015. 1,300 tons of solid waste and scrap metal were removed from the protected coast, including 5,000 barrels with fuel residues.

From December 7 to April 6, the 87th voyage of the research vessel "Akademik Mstislav Keldysh" took place. During the voyage, the “Integrated Expeditionary Program for Performing Krill Resource Research and Research on the Ecosystem of the Southern Ocean (Antarctic Atlantic Sector)” was carried out, within the framework of which observations of marine mammals and birds were carried out. The starting point of the voyage was the port of Kaliningrad, where the expedition returned upon completion of their studies. The expedition consisted of scientists from the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS Pavel Chukmasov, Andrey Tretyakov, Larisa Tretyakova. Anton Chernetsky., the researcher of the IO RAS, Ph.D., also took part in the observations. For more than 1,400 hours, scientists observed mammals and birds during the expedition, including more than 420 hours in Antarctica. A total of 29 species of marine mammals were recorded during the observation period. 28 bird species have been recorded in Antarctica, 58 bird species have been recorded at the Atlantic crossing.

Russian scientists have established that glaciations, which occurred repeatedly in the Pleistocene, significantly affected the modern ranges of freshwater daphnia. These crustaceans colonized the waters where they can still be found today from a small number of lakes in Beringia, the land bridge between Eurasia and North America. The data obtained will help in the development of a complete biogeographic zoning of Northern Eurasia. The results of the study, supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), are published in the journal Water. Cladocerans of the genus Daphnia are one of the most common planktonic organisms in fresh water. They play an important role in ecosystems, in particular, many species of fish feed on them. Daphnia are widespread in many climatic zones, but due to the harsh climate, their diversity in the Arctic and subarctic regions is significantly reduced. At the same time, in the course of the historical development of the Earth, there were several periods of freezing, when the temperatures on its surface were much lower than now. This greatly affected the habitats of living organisms, including crustaceans. For example, during the Pleistocene glaciations, many representatives of the Daphnia genus inhabited the Bering region, including Beringia itself, a wide land bridge connecting Eurasia and North America.

For many years, IEE RAS has been successfully cooperating with the Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve, which is included in the UNESCO list of natural sites. The result of cooperation was numerous publications in Russian and foreign editions, dissertations being prepared for defense. In the course of joint work, good business and warm friendly relations have developed between the employees of the Institute and the Reserve. In 2022, the teams of both organizations planned a major expedition to study Lake Kronotskoye, a unique reservoir, the cradle of the richest sympatric salmon complex on the planet in terms of the number of forms. IEE RAS announces with great regret that the work planned for this year, apparently, will not take place, since from July 19, 2022, the reserve is forced to suspend research activities on its territory. The decision of the reserve is connected with the detention of key employees of the organization, accused of embezzlement of funds allocated from the state budget, by the verdict of the city court of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. According to the opinion of the staff of the reserve and the materials presented on the website of the reserve http://kronokiochistka.wildnet.ru/, numerous violations were committed during the proceedings and the actual materials and eyewitness accounts proving the innocence of the convicted employees were not taken into account. In protest, the director of the reserve and a number of his other employees wrote letters of resignation of their own free will, which led to the suspension of all scientific and excursion work on the territory of the reserve.

The researchers analyzed the running movements of the smallest gliding mammal on Earth, the pygmy gliding possum (Acrobates pygmaeus). The specialists of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS (IEE RAS) tested the hypothesis that the smaller the animal, the easier it is for it to master gliding. To do this, they filmed the runs of animals on a wide flat horizontal surface in a spacious enclosure. As a result, data were obtained that can be compared with typical land mammals. In animals, the sequence of setting the legs (gait), speed-time characteristics of running and kinematics (movement in space of individual parts of the body) were studied. When analyzing footage, the researchers found that feathertail gliders use typical mammalian gaits. It is interesting, however, that all types of gaits used were only asymmetrical, i.e. gallop-like. Despite the fact that it is known from the literature that these pygmy gliders use symmetrical gaits on tree branches (similarly to, for example, the lynx and amble), these gaits were not registered in the experiments of Moscow scientists. As a result, a hypothesis was put forward that these pygmy gliders switch to gallop-like gaits if the width of the support along which they move allows them to put their paws at natural width without narrowing their stride.

Scientists have described the species composition of microorganisms in the intestines of the larvae of the emerald ash borer. This insect, native to Asia, is now actively spreading in Europe and North America and destroying ash trees, so it is important to control its population. This, in particular, can be helped by representatives of the intestinal microbiome, since among them the authors found parasitic bacteria potentially dangerous for the beetle. The results of the study, supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), are published in the journal Forests. The spread of invasive species is an acute problem of modern ecology: the lack of adaptability of local organisms to invaders leads to significant damage to the ecosystem. Thus, the narrow-bodied ash emerald borer, which historically inhabited the territory of Korea, China, Japan and the Far East, at the beginning of the 21st century spread to North America and the European part of Russia. Its larvae damage the conductive system of ash trees, preventing the flow of nutrients from leaves to roots, and can also be potentially harmful to olive trees. The introduction of the borer into North America and Europe led to catastrophic consequences: hundreds of millions of trees died. This beetle is included in the list of the 20 most dangerous quarantine pests for the European Union and is actively studied by experts around the world.

On Saturday, July 16, three Caucasian leopards were released into the wild in the Central Caucasus. A male and two females begin to develop the Turmonsky reserve in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. In the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, the third release of leopards, commonly referred to as Caucasian panthers, has been implemented. In 2018, the first pair of leopards, a male Elbrus and a female Volna, were released into the wild in the Alania National Park, and in 2020, a second pair was released in the Turmon Reserve - a male Baksan (Batraz) and a female Aguru (Agunda). On July 16, 2022, a male Leo and two females, Khosta and Laura, were released in the same location.

Scientists working on the Shantar Islands on a project to study bowhead whales of the Sea of ​​​​Okhotsk population, during observations, observed a female bowhead whale, which passed Wrangel Bay with a calf. In the video, which was filmed with the help of a drone, it can be seen that the whale is still very small, this year of birth. He keeps close to his mother and is not yet able to live independently. Previously, scientists have met young individuals - calves up to a year old and slightly older - in Ulbansky Bay, where whales come to feed and rest. Animals come to Wrangel Bay for socialization and recreation, and also hide in shallow water from the attack of killer whales, which are natural enemies for whales of this population. Observing a female with a calf is a great success, because it is still not known for certain where and when the bowhead whales of the Okhotsk Sea population give birth. At the same time, this fact suggests that even more attention should be paid to the problem of the coexistence of whales from a rare population and humans: there is a tourist base in Wrangel Bay where travelers who want to watch whales stop. During the season (from July to September), the number of tourists can reach 300 people. The project for the conservation and study of the smallest population of the bowhead whale is carried out by the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS in cooperation with the World Fund for Nature. Source materials:

A large-scale experiment to assess the impact of coral bleaching on ​​the composition of fauna living inside coral colonies has begun at the Dambay Marine Research Station of the Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Center (Nha Trang Bay, Vietnam). At a depth of 4 m, carrier frames were installed, on which 400 fragments of Pocillopora coral colonies were planted (Fig. 1-3). During the year, with the help of thermal sensors and photographic recording, observations will be made of the dynamics of water temperature and changes in the color of corals. To control the composition of the fauna, 30 coral colonies will be selected monthly. It is known that when the water temperature rises above 30ᵒС, corals begin to eject intracellular symbionts - zooxanthellae algae, due to which a brightly colored coral loses its appeal and turns from bright green, purple or brown to white. The effect is known as bleaching. Single-celled zooxanthellae are the main food source for hard corals. If the algae disappear or become scarce, the coral starves and produces less slime. And mucus is the main source of food for specialized symbionts - crabs, shrimps, polychaetes and fish, so it is not only the coral that is starving, but also its inhabitants.

During the implementation of the program "Study of the Amur tiger in the Far East of Russia" within the framework of the "Permanent Expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences to study the animals of the Red Book of the Russian Federation and other especially important animals of the fauna of Russia", the staff of IEE RAS carried out work in the Ussuriysky Reserve (NP "Land of the Leopard") in the south of Primorsky Krai. At the end of April 2022, camera traps that had been set up in the forest three months ago were taken down to collect footage. Data from 70 camera traps have been obtained, which will allow the Institute staff to estimate the number of tigers living in the reserve, their population density, and the abundance of their potential prey. This was the first count after the decline in the number of wild boar (the main prey of the tiger) as a result of the epizootic of African swine fever. And it was all the more joyful to note that tigers are not only present on the territory of the reserve, but, apparently, there will be more of them by the summer. The IEE RAS staff obtained unique footage of the courtship of a pair of tigers in late February, which allows us to expect the birth of offspring as early as early June 2022. We hope that next winter they will become the heroes of our photo reports.

The project “Assessing the state of key habitats and developing recommendations for improving conservation measures for stone char, an endangered endemic of the Kamchatka River”, launched in 2021, reached a new level this spring. At the beginning of the new season, its participants - employees of the Kronotsky Reserve and the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution Problem of the Russian Academy of Sciences - assessed the research sites on a snowmobile. During the expedition, water and soil samples will be collected for the subsequent determination of the organic composition. This will allow us to trace the dynamics of the composition of water in known spawning grounds of the fish. The scientists also plan to determine the number of juveniles wintering in the spawning ground and assess the food supply available for fish during the snowy period.

Photo by Svetlana Gorbatykh In December last year, employees of the Biological Resources Protection Service of the YNAO released 15 musk oxen into their natural habitat. Now scientists from the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS (IEE RAS) arrived on site. For the first time, three released animals were fitted with special collars with a GPS sensor. With their help, the movements of the musk oxen will be tracked, as well as the seasonal habitats of animals and their migration routes. "Tagging of animals for observation and study of them has been used for more than 100 years, this allows us to assess the characteristics of the migration of a tagged individual. This work is important because the study of musk oxen is one of the most important tasks in the conservation of unique animal species," said Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher Taras Sipko, researcher at IEE RAS.   Photo by Svetlana Gorbatykh Specialists of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS plan to continue studying the current state of the musk ox in the Ural region. The second phase of the study will begin in the summer-autumn period. The work includes genetic research and a total aerial survey of animals on the territory of the autonomous region and the adjacent mountainous part of the Komi Republic. Recall that at the end of 2021, the second release of musk oxen took place from the Gornokhadatinsky section of the Polar Urals Natural Park. In 2016, 65 individuals were released into the wild.

Optical microscopy image of Chydorus sphaericus taken by Alexey Kotov Russian scientists have discovered that microscopic crustaceans of the genus Chydorus, common in fresh water bodies of southern Australia, arrived there from the Northern Hemisphere. Biologists associated such an amazing expansion of the range with bird migrations and human activities. The discovery forces us to rethink the scale of the "travel" of microscopic animals. The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) and published in the journal Water. The ranges of many species of animals and plants on Earth are quite dynamic. At the same time, when developing new territories, living organisms are included in food webs and, since native species may not withstand competition, they are able to modify local ecosystems. For invertebrates, in particular microscopic crustaceans, such an expansion of the range has become common due to the intensity of human economic activity, which unintentionally moves resting eggs over considerable distances. Scientists from the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), together with colleagues from foreign countries, studied cladocerans of the genus Chydorus and found that all their populations in Australia appeared as a result of a drift from the Northern Hemisphere.

Observations of changes in the abundance of one group of insects tell very little about how other insect species behave, even in the same ecosystem. Different groups of insects may show similar trends in one location, but different trends in other locations. These are the results of a new meta-analysis of years of insect data from more than 900 localities around the world. The study, published in Biology Letters, was conducted by a team of researchers from the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Helmholtz Center for Ecological Research and the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS. It highlights the importance of monitoring multiple species simultaneously to provide guidelines for insect conservation policy. Insect declines became the subject of global debate in 2017 when scientists reported a loss of three-quarters of the biomass of flying insects from West German nature reserves in 30 years, showing a trend of general decrease in insect biomass around the world. Since then, many studies have appeared from around the world, often showing significant declines in numbers, giving rise to hundreds of popular papers on the problem of insect decline.

Russian scientists have developed a new set of primers for DNA identification of non-native fish species in the Volga-Kama basin. Using these primers, they traced the genetic variability in 31 fish species and compiled a reference library containing marker sequences of the region's invaders. Under natural conditions, the dispersal of animals is limited by their radius of individual activity, and for most species this radius is relatively small. Hydrobionts use waterways for settlement. Human activity strongly influences the movement of aquatic organisms, contributing to biological invasions. A team of scientists from the Institute of Inland Water Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Ecology and Evolution Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences have optimized a method for identifying alien fish species in the Volga and Kama rivers. Work published in Water. The Volga River was involved in a colossal hydro-construction program. There are nine large reservoirs on the Volga. Kama suffered less - there are only three large reservoirs on it. This is naturally reflected in the share of alien species: at present, the share of alien fish species in the Volga reservoirs ranges from 8% to 32%, for the Kama reservoirs it is 2–16%. Alien species can upset the balance of an ecosystem, so one of the key tasks in monitoring biological invasions is the rapid and accurate identification of the invader. DNA identification methods are best suited for solving this problem.

For fish from lakes of high latitudes, the formation of pairs of sympatric forms is characteristic, which separate the resources of the bottom and the water column. The fish begin to feed on pelagic plankton (its consumers) or benthic invertebrates, form a specific adaptive morphology, and disperse according to spawning sites (terms). As a result, reproductive isolation rapidly develops between sympatric forms, and inherited differences begin to accumulate. Similar pairs of nascent species have been found in abundance among salmon and whitefish from post-glacial lakes.

Scientists of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS (IEE RAS) and Moscow State University for the first time evaluated the role of arthropods falling from trees to the soil surface, finding out that they account for up to 7% of the flow of organic matter from the forest canopy. The data obtained will make it possible to better predict the stability of terrestrial ecosystems, the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science writes. The results of the study were published by the scientific journal Scientific Reports.  A significant part of the invertebrates living in the tree crowns, due to various reasons, falls on the soil surface. This phenomenon is called "arthropod rain". Fallen invertebrates are consumed by organisms living on the soil surface. Thus, the detrital, that is, located in the soil, the food web receives an additional source of energy. "According to the estimates obtained, in the forests of the temperate zone, up to 7% of the flow of organic matter from the forest canopy is "arthropod rain". And, apparently, this amount is enough to feed, for example, such a large group as spiders.<...> Thus, "arthropod rain" makes a significant contribution to maintaining the functional unity of soil food webs and maintains the diversity of soil inhabitants in forest ecosystems.