LABORATORY OF SYNECOLOGY

The Laboratory studies principles of community organization, mechanisms of biotagenesis and adaptations of organisms to zonal-climatic conditions, and analyzes interspecies relations and the coenotic role of individual species. Research is conducted in various natural zones, but special attention is paid to communities in extreme environments, especially to those formed in marginal detached areas of climatic gradients (Arctic and Subarctic), mountain areas, solonchaks, caves, etc., as well as urbanized landscapes. Unique data obtained on the structure of animal populations in the polar desert zone have shown their origins to be composed of the most ancient (Palaeozoic) animal groups such as nematodes, mites and springtails. Long-term changes in the animal populations in arid regions, Arctic and urban environments are being analyzed. Taxonomic and inventory studies of invertebrates, chiefly arthropods, are also among the most important studies conducted in the Laboratory. Attention is also devoted to conservation research, namely, the development of scientific foundations for environmental monitoring, organization of specially protected areas, and updating the national Red Data Books.