Fig.1: The vicinity of the EVRAZ tailings dump of the Kachkanarsky mining and processing plant, which was examined by specialists from the Institute of Electrical Ecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.Photo by D.I. Korobushkin. As a result of a comprehensive assessment of biological diversity in the vicinity of the EVRAZ Kachkanarsky mining and processing plant, a high species richness of both flora and fauna in the study area was recorded. The conservation and restoration of biological diversity in areas where mining enterprises are present is one of the priority environmental tasks in Russia. In 2022-2023, specialists from the IEE RAS, at the invitation of EVRAZ KGOK JSC, assessed the state of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the vicinity of the mining and processing plant in order to assess its impact on biodiversity. For a comprehensive assessment, the work was carried out over all four seasons starting with autumn. Unique material was collected on the floristic and faunal diversity of the territory, a retrospective and forecast assessment of the state of ecosystems was carried out in accordance with the original methodology developed at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and a set of metrics was proposed to quantify the degree of impact on biodiversity from the activities of EVRAZ KGOK. Based on the results of the work, recommendations were drawn up for carrying out measures to restore disturbed ecosystems in areas occupied by the plant’s production site. As a result of the research and analysis of stock materials, 271 species of vascular plants, 27 species of mammals, 70 species of birds, 6 species of amphibians and reptiles, 55 species of zooplankton organisms and 34 species of the model group of soil fauna - oribatid mites - were identified. Based on the results of a retrospective and forecast assessment, as well as based on the results of calculating other metrics and indices, the state of the majority of ecosystems in the vicinity of EVRAZ KGOK demonstrates the virtual absence of influence of the plant’s activities on the ecosystems adjacent to its territory. “The biggest challenge in conducting the assessment was separating the impact of EVRAZ KGOK from other sources: the city, other enterprises, as well as past environmental damage associated with active gold mining in the 20th century. After analyzing the modeling results, we were able to identify the real contribution of the enterprise to the total anthropogenic load on natural territorial complexes in the research area and formulate proposals for reducing such impact on nature,” said Andrey Zaitsev, head of the Technology Transfer Center of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who leads the research group in Kachkanar. . The following are proposed as priority areas for the implementation of specific measures to preserve, restore and compensate for losses in biological diversity of EVRAZ KGOK: “smart” reclamation of dumps, based on the principles of integrated ecological restoration of vegetation and soil biodiversity, organization of forest areas, which can serve as natural dust collectors, as well as scientifically based compensation measures for stocking water bodies of the Sverdlovsk region with fish. “Joint work with specialists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences will allow EVRAZ enterprises to more effectively implement the company’s environmental strategy and apply the most advanced knowledge of Russian scientists when planning and implementing measures to preserve and enhance biological diversity,” noted Kirill Necheukhin, head of the EVRAZ environmental management department. Fig.2. Senior Researcher, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ph.D. D.I. Korobushkin conducts route accounting birds and mammals in the vicinity of EVRAZ Kachkanarsky GOK. Photo by A.S. Zaitsev.

Photo: Natalya Sadovskaya Today, February 8, the Russian Academy of Sciences turns 300 years old. On this day in 1724, a Senate decree was published on the establishment of the Academy of Sciences: “The Most Eminent Peter the Great... ordered the establishment of an Academy in which languages, as well as other sciences and noble arts would be taught, and books would be translated.” In his travels throughout Europe, Peter I carefully studied the experience of universities, academies, and scientific societies. At the same time, he formed the idea of ​​creating the Russian Academy of Sciences; the Paris Academy of Sciences, which he visited in 1717, had a particular influence on him. French scientists demonstrated scientific and technical innovations and chemical experiments. From the beginning of the 1720s, the reformer tsar was engaged in the selection of scientific personnel, and foreign scientists became the first academicians. When created, the Academy included three classes of science: mathematics, physics and humanities; the institution also acted as an educational center with its own university and gymnasium. The creation of the Academy of Sciences led to the emergence of a new profession in Russia - scientist. And today we want to congratulate the Russian Academy of Sciences on its 300-year history full of great achievements!

In 2023, as part of the joint work of the scientific department of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve and the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the ichthyofauna of the lake system in the upper reaches of the Avacha River was studied. They are located in the state nature reserve of regional significance "Timonovsky". The research results will help obtain new data on the mechanisms of evolutionary processes occurring on Earth. The system that ichthyologists studied consists of two conjugate lakes: Lake Medvezhye is located on top. A 5-kilometer-long river flows out of it and into Lake Verkhne-Avachinskoye. These lakes, like many others in Kamchatka, are inhabited by sockeye salmon and malmoid char. Loaches are of greatest interest to researchers. In both lakes, three groups of char were found, living in different parts of the ecosystem: in the water column, in the coastal part and at depth. It is most likely that they occurred during adaptation to the lake lifestyle from a common ancestor - the Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma), which is found in large numbers in the Avacha River. Photo: Nikolai Melnick Lake char differ in the number of gill rakers, the nature of the parasitic fauna and body shape. Judging by the differences in the stage of maturity, they spawn separately and, in fact, represent independent biological species. The combination of differences indicates that they have a high degree of specialization in nutrition. Char living in the water column feeds on young sockeye salmon, while coastal and deep-sea char feed on invertebrates of different depths. At the same time, the char of the Verkhne-Avacha lakes in their lifestyle and anatomy are very similar to the long-headed, big-nosed and small-mouthed char from Lake Kronotskoye (listed in the Red Book of Kamchatka). Photo: Nikolai Melnick “The emergence of specific lake forms from common Dolly Varden was described earlier in the Kronotsky and Kuril lakes. This case is unique in that similar forms exist in parallel in connected lakes. We have to determine the degree of relationship between the groups, the timing and stages of their separation,” explained Nikolai Melnik, a researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Photo: Nikolai Melnick If scientists manage to discover that the division of char into different forms occurred independently in two lakes (Medvezhye and Verkhne-Avachinsky), this will become a unique example of parallel evolution. Moreover, this will allow us to focus on studying the mechanisms of response modification of body structure, methods of nutrition and reproduction to environmental conditions. Related materials: AiF - Kamchatka: "Studies of the evolution of the char of the Upper Avacha lakes in Kamchatka" BeZFormat: "Scientists are unraveling the mystery of the origin of the char of the Upper Avacha Lakes" Fisherman of Kamchatka: "The Mystery of the Loaches of the Upper Avacha Lakes" Kamchatka-Inform: "Scientists are unraveling the mystery of the origin of the char of the Upper Avacha Lakes" Kamchatka Territory - United Kamchatka: “Scientists in Kamchatka intend to unravel the mystery of parallel evolution” Kamchatka Peninsula: “Kamchatka scientists are solving the mystery of parallel evolution”

Fig.1: Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Rozhnov. Photo by Elena Librik / Scientific Russia The nerpa (the Baikal seal) is the largest endemic of Lake Baikal. But you can meet this amazing seal in other Russian water bodies. How are they different from each other? Why is their study so important for scientists? What information can be inferred from them? Academician Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Rozhnov, chief researcher at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, head of the laboratory of behavior and behavioral ecology of mammals, scientific director of environmental and environmental projects and international programs, answers these questions. ― Vyacheslav Vladimirovich, today I would like to talk about one of the areas that you are working on: the Baikal seal, endemic to Lake Baikal. I recently visited these parts, but I was only able to see a seal in the nerpinarium. Are they not showing up in the wild now? - They can also be seen in the wild. In 2020, we formed a program to study the Baikal seal, and we are working within the framework of this program. The seal can be seen on the Ushkan Islands (ushkan was an old name for hare), it loves these places, it roosts there, on the rocks in the summer and on the ice in the winter. - Why did it become necessary to create a special program for the study of the Baikal seal? - The fact is that this program is only part of a larger one for the study of aquatic mammals. We have a program for studying seals in closed water bodies - the Caspian Sea, Lake Ladoga, Baikal. These are places where seals live in closed habitats. We were very interested in the biology of these species, their adaptation to their habitats. Baikal, Ladoga - fresh water, Caspian Sea - saltwater. Where did they come from? How did they adapt, how is their population structure different? The Ladoga seal is in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, the Caspian seal is also, and the Baikal seal is a commercial species, however, there is no need for it now. - Why are these two species in the Red Book, but the Baikal species is not? - Because their living conditions are very different. Baikal is a wonderful lake, it is protected, although it has its own problems, which also affect the Baikal seal. The Caspian Sea is a very complex body of water where oil, gas and fish are harvested. Moreover, it is surrounded by five states and their citizens live on the shores of this sea. The situation there is quite complicated, especially considering that this is a place of volcanic activity, seismic activity, where gas and oil are naturally released, and our military flotilla is stationed there, and there is a large natural fishery. Naturally, all this is reflected in the Caspian Sea. Ladoga is also a very interesting place, there is only fishing there. How the seal got there is unknown, but it is believed that it is supposedly a competitor of fishermen in catching fish, that is, it also has its own problems. For us, all these seals in three reservoirs are the highest link in terms of trophism, and everything that happens in these reservoirs should affect them. For us, these species are indicators of the condition of these reservoirs. We are studying them all in this regard, although we do not have stable funding for this. - How do you work then? - There is a wonderful organization - the Lake Baikal Foundation, which supports the study of the Baikal seal. They have invested a lot of money in the work we are doing. In the Caspian, paradoxically, we work for Kazakh money; they have good companies that understand that they need to take care of the Caspian. We haven’t gotten to Ladoga - we couldn’t find anyone who could support us. Sometimes we go there with our savings and collect something. - Did you manage to figure out where the nerpa came from in Baikal? - Just like in the Caspian Sea and Ladoga, it is completely unclear where the seals came from there. I’ll start with Ladoga: it connects with the Baltic, and those seals that live on Ladoga are quite different from the Baltic seal in color, size, etc. But it turned out that they easily traverse the Neva back and forth. - Can this be seen? Are you walking along the Neva, and suddenly a black head pops out? - Not often, this is not some thoroughfare, but nevertheless, the connection between Ladoga and the Baltic exists and sometimes Ladoga seals end up at the mouth of the Neva. For us now, one of the main tasks on Ladoga is to trace the genetic connections of seals. As for the Caspian Sea, it is a completely isolated body of water and where the seal came from is also unclear. We have to research the same thing as my brother, paleontologist academician Sergei Vladimirovich Rozhnov. We have to study, among other things, how the Caspian Sea was formed and what connections it has with the Arctic Ocean. In general, the Arctic Ocean is the place where ringed seals live. They belong to the same genus as the Ladoga, Caspian, and Baikal seals. But we are taking a different path: we are studying not the origin of these lakes, but the genetic connections of these animals. - And what are they telling you? - These connections indicate that the Baikal seal is the youngest of those I named. It appeared in this closed reservoir relatively recently, apparently, this is due to glaciations, when the reservoirs were connected with each other. We believe that they made their way from the Arctic Ocean to Baikal and stayed there. - The fact that the seal is called an endemic of Baikal obviously means that it has changed a lot while living in this lake, acquiring features that it did not have before. What are these features? - All these species were described by morphology: size, color, etc. Yes, the color varies - the Baikal seal is black and the smallest. That is why we study genetics, to trace formative connections that provide much more information than just color or size. From the point of view of morphological adaptation, they are all adapted to the aquatic environment. - It is said that the Baikal seal is a champion in diving depth and holds its breath longer than all other seals. - To hold your breath, you don’t have to dive deep, you can just swim longer. The Caspian seal can also dive as deep as possible in the Caspian Sea and swim for a long time. The Ladoga seal is exactly the same. And the ringed seal can generally dive deep and swim deep. Today we do not have much technology that would allow us to estimate the time an animal spends under water. Although the Japanese did wonderful work on Lake Baikal: they installed video cameras and sensors on these animals to find out how long they were in the water. But no one installed anything on the Caspian seal, nor on the Ladoga seal. It's difficult for us to compare. - What then is the difference between the Baikal seal and all the others? - The fact is that, unlike the Caspian seal, it lives in fresh water; it is completely isolated from all other bodies of water, unlike the Ladoga seal, which has some connections with the Baltic Sea and with the Baltic seal that lives there. These differences are from the point of view of location. It is smaller in size than all the other seals we work with, which could be an adaptation to life on Lake Baikal. This difference is morphological. As for adaptations, we are currently working on these things, but we cannot yet draw definite conclusions. Nevertheless, we are collecting data and, when we study it in more detail, we will be able to talk about adaptations. - Your laboratory focuses on animal behavior. What can you say about the character of the Baikal seal? I heard that it is very friendly, unlike its relatives living in other bodies of water. - This is a matter of appearances. In general, I have not heard of seals belonging to the genus Pusa having an aggressive attitude towards humans. They are afraid of them. But if you create such a wonderful center as in Irkutsk or in the Moskvarium (the Baltic seal also lives there), then they are easily tamed, like other marine mammals, and behave in a much more friendly manner. If the Caspian seal is tamed, it will also be friendly. I don’t see much difference in the nature of the attitude towards humans: they, in my opinion, are equally friendly if a person treats them the same way. But in the wild, they are all afraid of humans and swim away from them. Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Rozhnov. Photo by Elena Librik - Do they keep their distance because they feel threatened? - Yes, because the nerpa has always been a game species - both in the Caspian Sea, in the Baltic Sea, and on Lake Baikal, where it continues to be a commercial species, but not prominent anymore. Previously, fur, fat, and meat were in great demand, but now the demand is very small, but the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), or rather its Baikal branch, specifically continues to study seals in order to assess the state of the seal population. To do this, they take a so-called commercial sample to see how many males, females, how many females are pregnant. This is a common practice for game species. - You say that by studying these animals, you try to understand something about these bodies of water, they become an indicator of information for you. What important things did you learn, in particular, about Lake Baikal? - We discovered it has its own problems. The main flow into Baikal comes from Mongolia along the Selenge River. It is clear that in Mongolia this river is actively used in different directions: either they wanted to build a power plant there, and this would limit the flow into Baikal, then there the water is taken away for irrigation of the land - also understandable, steppe regions, but the flow, again, is limited. There are various enterprises on the shores that discharge various pollutants, and this flows into Baikal. Of course, all this is reflected in the seal too. This program includes the study of animal movements, nutrition, trophic relationships of seals, and the lipid profile reflecting their nutrition. We also study the level of toxicants in these animals - both organic and heavy metals. - How is this done? ― We take samples from these animals, in particular a biopsy, since a commercial sample is taken from the Baikal seal, samples of various tissues, organs, we send them to the laboratory or we ourselves do tests for pollutants and heavy metals. We have established great cooperation with various institutions. Mercury, for example, is very well determined at the I.D. Papanin Institute of Biology of Inland Waters, there is a wonderful researcher there - Viktor Trofimovich Komov. He and I do this kind of work together. As for persistent organic compounds, we send them to a laboratory in Obninsk, we get results from which we see how much the seal is exposed to these pollutants. We find out that toxicants actually accumulate in seals, and this suggests that the water that comes from the Selenga, among others, and in which they live, is heavily polluted. Pollutants that accumulate in fish - gobies and golomyanka - enter the seal. - How can this information be used to improve the situation? - Our task is to obtain information about what is contained in seals, and to give this information to those authorities that are responsible for the use of Baikal, the seal itself on Baikal or in the Caspian Sea. We give them this information: for example, the seal’s fertility has decreased. - Is the seal’s fertility decreasing? - Not yet in the Baikal seal; commercial samples have shown that almost all seals are pregnant. They don’t have a problem getting pregnant, they have a problem surviving, because since the number of offspring decreases, their survival rate decreases. That's the point. - How so? - Including, probably, because of the pollution which manifests itself in the later stages of the baby’s development, when it leaves the mother’s body. They have to be on the ice for some time, and problems also arise with ice. - Because of climate change? - Yes, and not everyone has enough immunity to survive in such conditions. In order to understand the immune aspects of the life of seals, we are studying a special set of genes responsible for immunity, looking at the hormonal state of these animals, developing so-called minimally invasive methods so as not to take blood, but, for example, a piece of fur or whiskers - and from these whiskers to determine what changes took place in the life of the animal. We have a variety of specialists in our group: geneticists, physiologists, zoologists, programmers, those responsible for space research and the operation of technology. We accumulate this data, then provide information about the state of it all, with our interpretation, proposing to change something. - What can be changed? - For example, recommend not to build a station on Selenga, but to sell energy to Mongolia at a lower price, so that they do not build a power plant, so as not to limit the flow of water. You can negotiate with them to use the river differently - this is already international relations. Geoecology is developing very actively in this region. Moreover, we have an expedition exploring the state of the water environment in Lake Baikal, and it began to climb up the Selenga to Mongolia to see what was coming from where. This hydrological expedition worked this year for the first time, now they are collecting data and processing it in order to make any claims to Mongolia if there is damage. We are informing the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources that some measures need to be taken here to limit, for example, the flow of phosphates into Lake Baikal. To do this, it is necessary to build treatment facilities somewhere, and to limit ecotourism in some places, because it is developing at a frantic pace and unsystematically. And behind this are the poisonous spirogyra algae, changes in the level of Baikal from the Angarsk hydroelectric station, a change in the situation with the Baikal omul, which must rise into the rivers and spawn there, and when the water level fluctuates, it has nowhere to do this. We make recommendations on certain aspects: for example, it would be good if the Angarsk hydroelectric power station regulates the flow in such a way that the level of Lake Baikal remains with minimal movements in the water level. - Is anyone listening to you? - Sometimes yes, more often no, and when they listen, they forget. Unfortunately, this is often the case. A typical example is not with the Baikal seal, but with its relative in the Caspian Sea: almost every year in December, dead seals wash ashore in Dagestan. The Dagestan coast is the most famous and accessible place for us to walk along the coast in December, when the storms begin, and collect what the sea throws up. Sometimes it throws out a lot of seals, but they are already dead. Naturally, the first assumption is that humans are to blame: oil, gas, fishing... Right here, without actually discussing it: oil workers are all dangerous, fishermen too, because the seal gets entangled in their nets, dies, etc. But here we see animals that have washed ashore, remarkably well-fed, completely healthy and normal, suddenly dead for unexplained reasons. We started taking biosamples and comparing them with negative human influences. And what? We do not see anywhere that oil influenced such a massive death of the Caspian seal. Nowhere do we see seals thrown out that were caught in the net of poachers or trawlers catching sprat. And these things are very easy to track. We see that the animals died about two weeks before they were washed up, and since we have transmitters on both Baikal and Caspian seals, we know their travel routes quite well. - But not on everyone? - Not on all of them, but about a dozen or so tagged seals are swimming. Moreover, they do not swim alone, they are herd animals and live in large groups. And we know that about two weeks ago they sailed through the middle of the Caspian Sea. We can also find out what was happening there at that time. If we go to a site with data on seismic conditions at this time, we see that seismic events occurred in these places. Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Rozhnov. Photo by Elena Librik - Some kind of underwater earthquakes? - Absolutely true, and this is a common thing: the middle Caspian is the boundary of tectonic plates. These are the same plates that collide with each other, upset the balance, and oil begins to ooze and gas is released. What is a gas emission? It’s not just methane, propane, it’s mixtures, including hydrogen sulfide. When mixed, it is all very poisonous. Moreover, it is quite heavy in terms of volatility. In the middle of the Caspian Sea, after seismic phenomena have occurred, the sea calms down and on this calm and smooth surface there lies a gas cloud, which lies there in the form of a large lens. When a seal swims through this lens, it suffocates and dies. And our seal transmitters show that at this time they are swimming through these places. Then the suffocated seals are carried away by currents and winds - some to the Dagestan coast, others carried past the shores of Turkmenistan, and they swim further to the territory of Kazakhstan, where they are washed up there. But the bulk is washed up in Dagestan - such are the winds and currents. - Are there no such emissions in Baikal? - Fortunately, no. There are generally few seal washups there. I cite the Caspian seal as an example of how our authorities treat their ward species. The Baikal seal is under the jurisdiction of VNIRO, and the Caspian seal is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources; it is a Red Book species. We say: we collected samples, went to the Caspian specifically for this, give us money (we need very little) to carry out analysis in specialized laboratories. They promise but give us nothing. What is the abundance of seals on Lake Baikal? Its numbers. How to calculate it? They counted the Caspian, thank God, they gave us money for this: they flew by plane, identified clusters, then used drones to calculate where these clusters were. Such approaches are the most productive. We do the same on Baikal, but it’s difficult to count on Baikal, because the Baikal seal goes out onto the ice, makes shelter under the snow, gives birth to cubs there, and is not visible. You have to ride a sleigh and count the cubs. - But this is only what you see, and much is not visible. - Yes, that’s absolutely right. But in the summer we use the same unmanned aerial vehicles to count them on the rocks. And on the Ushkany Islands, in particular on Tonky Island, on the shore, there are camera traps photographing everything that happens there. We then count them in photographs, and also develop special methods with artificial intelligence, neural networks, that count this. We launch the quadcopter, it takes photographs. By the way, seals are afraid of a quadcopter if it flies low. - Do they jump into the water? - Yes. Another problem: some of the seals are lying on the rocks, the other part is swimming in the water. Which part? Here we are also helped by the transmitters that we hang on the seals, because when they dive, the contacts of the transmitters in the water are closed, and when they appear above the water, the contacts open. This way we can know how long they spend underwater and how long they spend on the shore. - How do you manage to install these transmitters? - If I say “very easily”, it would be an exaggeration. The seal needs to be caught, but catching it among the stones with a net is quite difficult. Nevertheless, we catch it with a big net and cover it. Or it gets caught in the net. We immobilize it with gloved hands so that it does not bite. We smear the transmitter with special glue, glue it to the shoulder blades, previously it was glued to the back of the head. We wait for it all to dry, and during this time we take all sorts of samples from the seal - blood, a piece of fur, whiskers. - It is clear that after this the seal is afraid of humans. - With the number of seals that we catch - this is ten to fifteen out of hundreds of thousands of seals living on Lake Baikal - this does not affect its timidity. But we know how seals react to tourists. We have now started this work. There are small groups, there are large ones, there are special places where tourists are brought. We look at a number of behavioral signs to see how they react to small and large groups. So, they are much more afraid of tourists than of us. We know how to approach slowly so that we can catch it without causing harm to each other, and cover it with a net. And tourists make noise, talk, and it scares the animals. And we treat them with care. - Some biologists call marine mammals a separate civilization. What do you think about the intellectual capabilities of the seal? - All animals are very smart - even a mouse, even a seal, even a whale, even an elephant. They are all adaptive to the environment in which they live. And this environment develops in them a certain set of behavior: cunning, intelligence. Perhaps this can be called civilization, but what is civilization? Are they building anything? - Civilization is not necessarily technological. In the movie "Avatar", for example, there is also a civilization. - It’s difficult for me to say what civilization is. I am not ready to discuss how applicable this concept is to the animal world. But it’s true that they are smart and have a complex system of relationships. Our colleagues study, for example, the killer whale, such a large dolphin, its acoustic communication - it turns out that different populations have different systems of audial cues similar to languages. But when we say the words “they speak,” we mean a way of communication. This does not mean that they have their own language. They have a communication system. And a person always wants to compare someone with himself - to endow the animal with human traits. - We just have no other options. But there are known cases when animals came to people’s aid and saved them? - There are cases when marine mammals, for example, push animals that are in distress to the surface. In the same way, they push a person out if they are nearby. But why do they do this? When their baby is born, it must take a breath, which is why it is born tail first, so as not to immediately choke, stuck in the mother's body. Animals living in groups push it up so that it floats up as quickly as possible and takes a breath of air and becomes buoyant. - So, they push out a drowning person not because they love people, they just have such an instinct? - Yes, they have this form of behavior towards a sinking object. - Have you ever had to save a seal yourself? - No, I didn’t have this opportunity. We save species not at the individual level, but at the population level. Although we propose to build nurseries and animal rehabilitation centers. If we encounter an injured animal, it is right to send it to a rehabilitation center so that it can be treated and released back. - On Lake Baikal there is a nursery for bear cubs that have lost their mother. ― The main nursery for bears ― in the Tver region, founded by Dr. Valentin Sergeevich Pazhetnov, who developed a technology for rescuing motherless bear cubs. This project served as the basis for our projects. For example, we have created a special technology for raising tiger cubs that were picked up in the wild, otherwise they would have died. We built a special center for them, placed them there and raised them so that they would grow up to fear humans, not hunt domestic animals, and get along with each other, as tigers should. We developed a special preparation procedure and thus restored both in the Jewish Autonomous Region and in the Amur Region the group that once lived there. We are doing exactly the same thing now with the Caucasian leopard, which was almost completely destroyed in the Caucasus. We are restoring it. - Don’t seals require such nurseries? - They do. Vodokanal in St. Petersburg helped build this center to preserve the Baltic and Ladoga seals. There are cases when the cub is left alone and needs to be fed, and for this you need to know the biology of the species well. With the seal it is simpler in this sense: it eats fish. It is fed, grows up, the wounds healed - it can be released back, it will continue to eat fish. It's not as difficult as a tiger, fortunately. There are enthusiasts who have built such a nursery on the shores of the Sea of Japan, in Primorye, where sick seals are actually kept safely, treated, and then released. In the Caspian Sea, in Kazakhstan, in Aterau, a special rehabilitation center for Caspian seals was built. But the thing is that there are very few seals that require attention and rehabilitation. Saving one or two, even ten of these animals will not solve the problem as a whole. If the seals die, then hundreds, thousands of animals will follow. I saw a wounded seal somewhere - I saved it. From the point of view of humanism and education, this is a very good and useful thing; from the point of view of studying the biology of a species kept in captivity, it is also great. From the point of view of saving the species, it meant nothing. - Are you interested in working with seals? - We study seals with great pleasure, be they Caspian, ringed, bearded seals, or any other. We have a special program, and it is much broader than just in closed reservoirs - we study seals in the Sea of Okhotsk, and seals in general, including in the Arctic Ocean. We treat them with great love. In my laboratory in the seal group, for example, there is a girl who works with Baikal seals. She was born on Lake Baikal, in the very north, and since childhood she had a dream of holding a seal in her hands. And her life turned out so well that she moved to Moscow and is now studying them. Dreams come true.

Readings in memory of Academician Vladimir Evgenievich Sokolov are held at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences annually. Both leading well-known scientists and young researchers take part in them. Traditionally, the Readings are led by the scientific director of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences Dmitry Sergeevich Pavlov. He made an opening speech and said that Vladimir Evgenievich Sokolov was a major organizer of science who created new institutes, laboratories and biological stations. Vladimir Evgenievich led our institute for 30 years. He was also an outstanding scientist, zoologist and ecologist, who received recognition from the scientific community. Also, Vladimir Evgenievich is a talented teacher who trained a galaxy of students and zoologists. They work not only in our country, but all over the world. The name of Vladimir Evgenievich is forever inscribed in the history of science. The first report was made by Nikita Sevirovich Chernetsov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Director of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The topic of his speech: “The role of magnetic maps in the navigation system of migratory birds.” The second report is “Evolutionary and ecological aspects of sleep in mammals.” He was joined by V.M. Kovalzon, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Daniil Sergeevich Kostin, Candidate of Biological Sciences, researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, made a report “The use of genomic approaches in solving problems of microevolution of mammals.” The final report was given by Anna Nikolaevna Neretina, candidate of biological sciences, researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The topic of her speech is “Hunting the invisible: rules, techniques, art.” Traditionally, at the end of the Readings, a ceremonial award ceremony for the laureates of the Academician V.E. Prize took place. Sokolova for 2023. The laureates were Vadim Vitalievich Mamkin, Galina Sergeevna Alekseeva, Marina Vladimirovna Kholodova. Congratulations on your well-deserved awards!

Fig.1. Satellite sensors that scientists installed on female bustards helped to determine the birds' migration routes. / from the Oparins’ archive Scientists from the Saratov branch of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution  RAS Olga and Mikhail Oparin have been studying the Red Book bird for many years. According to biologists, over the past decades the bustard population in the Volga region has decreased by five to six times. An eye in the field The amazing creature has lived in the Volga steppes for thousands of years - the world's largest flying bird, the bustard. Unlike many inhabitants of the steppes, it managed to adapt to human activity. When the steppes were plowed up, these birds learned to make nests and hatch chicks in the fields. Only for the spring flow the bustard chooses untouched areas of virgin soil. Just a couple of centuries ago, large herds of bustards fed throughout the vast Eurasian steppes from the Iberian Peninsula to Manchuria. To our time, they have survived only in separate isolated areas of the steppe. As Olga Oparina says, bustards are very careful and do not let people get close to them. Scientists most often observe their lives from a distance of one or two kilometers from the nearest forest belt, using strong optics. It usually takes many hours to monitor a field where bustards are thought to live. “Suddenly you see through the lens that an eye is looking at you, you begin to observe this place and after some time you notice how the bird’s head has risen and is looking around,” says Olga Sergeevna. If the next day they manage to spot the bird in the same place, it means that scientists are lucky and have found a female sitting on the nest. Many clutches of eggs are destroyed when machinery starts working in the fields. Following the tractors are rooks and crows, for whom eggs in a nest abandoned by a bustard are tasty prey. At the beginning of summer, chicks hatch in the nests. For the first two weeks, the bustard feeds its offspring exclusively with insects, then the grown chicks switch to plant foods. Bustards do not cause damage to agricultural crops, but they themselves destroy weeds, insects and small rodents. Unlike their European counterparts, who live in the same place - the mild climate allows it, bustards from the Volga region fly south for the winter. At the end of the 90s of the last century, scientists in the Saratov region conducted a complex experiment - they installed satellite transmitters on several specially captured bustard females to find out their migration routes. As it turned out, bustards from the banks of the Volga fly to spend their winters in the Black Sea region: to the Crimea, to the Kerch Peninsula, to the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Birds cover a distance of a thousand kilometers in five to eight days. At the same time, as ornithologists say, bustards are very attached to the area where they were born. “We thought that after suffering stress, the bustards would not return to the field where they were caught the next year, but we were mistaken, and one of the females flew to this field for three years in a row,” says Olga Oparina. Reserve with no bustards Scientists have been monitoring the number of bustards that nest on the so-called “model site” - the territory of nine Trans-Volga districts of the Saratov region - for many years. At the end of the last century, about three thousand birds lived here, and in total there are about 8-10 thousand bustards in the Volga region. The bustard population on the Volga was considered the second largest in the world, and the largest number of bustards lived in Spain. Male bustards in their natural habitat / from the Oparins’ archive The situation with the numbers of the Red Book bird was relatively stable in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when many spring crops were sown, and some fields were not cultivated. However, since the beginning of the 2010s, the situation in agriculture has changed. All fallow lands were plowed, most farmers and agricultural enterprises began to use three-field crop rotation: winter crops, sunflowers, fallows. This regime is unfavorable for bustards. The main thing is that chemicalization in agriculture has sharply increased, and the use of pesticides has increased. As a result, there were fewer pests and weeds in the fields, but at the same time the bustards were left without their food. In addition, due to the excessive use of pesticides, chicks and sometimes adult birds began to die out. According to observations over the past few years, the number of bustards in the territory where more than three thousand previously lived has decreased to 500-600 birds, that is, it has decreased by five to six times. ...At the end of March and beginning of April, birds return from wintering to their homeland, and almost immediately impressive bustard currents begin in the steppe. According to experts, this is the best time to count the number of bustards. Later, within a radius of approximately ten kilometers from the current site, the birds build their nests. Over the past twenty years, the number of bustard leks in the Volga region has decreased by half. Now in the territory monitored by scientists, there are only 9-10 of them left. In the early 80s of the last century, the Saratov Nature Reserve was created on the territory of the Fedorovsky district to protect steppe animals, mainly the bustard (Otis tarda) and little bustard (tetrax tetrax). “There is a reserve, but there are no bustards there,” says Mikhail Oparin. Previously, one of the bustard leks was located within the boundaries of the reserve, but now it has disappeared. Last spring, scientists noticed only two displaying males in this territory, which, apparently, flew there by accident. On the territory of the reserve, the bustard can be protected from poachers, but they are not now the main threat to the population. The main problem is that agricultural work on the territory of the reserve is also not regulated in any way. - The number of bustards is declining due to changes in human economic activity. In order to preserve it, we need interaction between scientists, farmers, and environmental structures, as well as changes to legislation, explains Olga Oparina. "Mothers" with a pipette In Europe, where bustards disappeared earlier than in Russia, scientists became concerned about restoring the population of this bird more than half a century ago. At first they tried to rely on incubating eggs and artificial breeding. But, as it turned out, bustards reproduce in captivity with great difficulty. In the Saratov region, eggs were also incubated at a biological station in the village of Dyakovka. Now five females and two male bustards live here. - The chicks are fed with tweezers for the first weeks, and watered with pipettes every hour. In terms of the complexity of care, this can be compared to caring for a premature baby,” says the scientist. An even more difficult problem is how to adapt the chicks raised in captivity to their natural environment. Even in European countries, where enormous funds have been allocated to restore the population of this bird, the survival rate of released bustards is low. Although, for example, in a national park in Hungary, young bustards are first released into a giant enclosure of 400 hectares, fenced with an electrified fence to protect from predators. After many years of searches and mistakes in a number of countries, the main direction was to create conditions directly in nature suitable for bustards. Now they successfully use a mechanism where farmers take on certain obligations: they sow only certain agricultural crops - spring crops, legumes and do not treat the crops with chemicals, and do not make hay in the meadows until the bustards hatch their chicks. For this, agricultural producers receive substantial compensation from the budget. As a result, the number of bustards in some Central European countries has increased significantly in recent years. For example, in Hungary the population increased from several hundred to 2.7 thousand birds. And Germany, where the bustard had practically disappeared, only a few dozen individuals remained in the wild; now houses more than five hundred birds. Russian scientists have repeatedly made proposals to provide for the possibility of compensation payments to agricultural producers in our legislation, but so far their proposals have not been heard. “There are still a lot of declarations about the need to preserve the bustard, but so far nothing has been done for this,” says Mikhail Oparin. Related materials: NIA Ecology: "The world's largest flying bird is endangered"

The interactive exposition of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science as part of the International Exhibition and Forum “Russia” has been replenished with new exhibits. 25 new objects have been added to the exhibition, which has been running since November, including models of the NICA accelerator complex, the Arctic bus "Arktika", the expeditionary research vessel "Professor Molchanov" and others. The exhibition demonstrates the changes that have occurred over the past 20 years in Russian science and shows the opportunities for self-realization of young people in the field of research and development. 14 thematic halls of the exhibition are dedicated to modern Russian achievements in the field of science, technology and higher education. Visitors can find out what results of Russian scientists are already being applied in medicine, construction, energy and agriculture, what Russian researchers are working on today, how in the near future, thanks to this work, the quality of life of Russian citizens may change, what prospects await young people who decide to connect their life with science. There is a “Personal Track” system for exhibition visitors: everyone at the entrance can receive a bracelet with an RFID tag, which can be used to answer questions posted in the thematic halls. At the end of the exhibition - when the information is finally read from the bracelet - the algorithm generates personal recommendations for building a career in science. In total, the exhibition features more than 60 exhibits, including unique solutions: robotic medical system and manipulator for 3D bioprinting;small spacecraft “Yarilo” No. 5 for analyzing the chemical composition of the atmosphere;unmanned aerial system "Kontur" for autonomous continuous monitoring of a given territory in order to detect regime violations;optical module of the detector of the BaikalGVD deep-sea neutrino telescope;manual autonomous complex of two-component bioprinting for the treatment of wound surfaces “Tissue Gun”;mock-ups of megascience class installations NICA and SILA and much more. Also at the exhibition there is a unique scientific laboratory from the “NASHA LABA” (our laboratory) project. It houses unique research equipment produced in Russia and Belarus, and regularly conducts demonstrations and experiments. The laboratory's topics change monthly. In January, the biological and agricultural laboratory is presented, in February - the physical and engineering laboratory. The exhibition “A Decade of Science and Technology” is located in pavilion No. 57 at VDNKh. University weeks are regularly held here, where representatives of higher education and research institutes from different regions of Russia give lectures and talk about the achievements of domestic scientists. Visitors can also learn more about and participate in the Decade's initiatives.

On January 24-26, 2024, as part of the International Agro-Industrial Exhibition of Technologies for Agricultural Professionals “AGROS2024expo”, the International Exhibition of Technologies for the Production and Processing of Potatoes and Vegetables “Potatoes and Vegetables 2024 AGROTECH EXPO” was held. The exhibition brought together in one place innovative solutions for all stages of production, processing and marketing of both potatoes and vegetables. The exhibition was attended by investors, enterprise managers and specialists from Russia and neighboring countries involved in the production and processing of potatoes and vegetables. Deputy Director of the Center for Parasitology of the IEE RAS, Mikhail Viktorovich Pridannikov took part in the exhibition program with a report “The importance of certain groups of parasitic plant nematodes in modern industrial potato production” as part of the Round Table “Science for Potatoes and Vegetables” on January 24, 2024. The report highlighted issues related to the history of the study of parasitic plant nematodes, which can damage potatoes and cause great losses when growing them. It was noted that in various historical periods the economic importance of some nematodes on potatoes decreased, while the importance of other species increased significantly due to changes in growing technologies and production structure, the introduction of new varieties, new plant protection products and other factors. In the current period, three most harmful groups of nematodes on potatoes have been identified, causing particular concern due to their wide distribution and high harmfulness: potato stem nematodes of the genus Ditylenchus; cyst nematodes of the genus Globodera; root-knot nematodes of the genus Meloidogyne. It is these three groups of nematodes that now require close attention. Three groups of nematodes have also been identified, the harmfulness of which manifests itself only in rare cases, but it is necessary to monitor the spread of these groups of nematodes, especially in farms specializing in the production of seed potatoes. In his report, Pridannikov M.V. pointed out that reducing the risks of damage to potatoes and other vegetable crops is impossible without the involvement of specialists in the field of phytopathology and agricultural nematology, and invited all interested parties to cooperate.

Rosneft, together with the non-state development institute Innopraktika, as part of the series “Ecological Atlases of the Seas of Russia”, released the atlas “Marine Mammals of Russia”. Among the co-authors of the atlas are employees of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Dmitry Glazov, Maria Solovyova, Natalya Kryukova, Daria Kuznetsova, Svetlana Artemyeva, Ilya Mordvintsev, Nikita Platonov. The ecological atlas introduces readers to marine mammals living in inland waters and seas of Russia. The publication presents scientific data on 47 species of marine mammals found in the described water areas. In addition, it contains information about the climatic and oceanographic features of the seas, the history of study, problems of protecting marine mammals and the main methods of their research. The book provides an opportunity to obtain up-to-date information about the characteristics of biology, population structure, natural and anthropogenic threats to the described species. The publication contains more than 60 maps, unique artistic illustrations, and photographs from the Company's expeditions. The atlas reflects the results of the Company’s many years of work on studying marine mammals – the polar bear and the walrus, which were carried out as part of the corporate program for the conservation of biological diversity. The goal of the program is to study and preserve the population of rare animal species, the state of which can be used to judge the balance of Arctic ecosystems. The results of the Company’s research can be found in a special section of the atlas. The atlas was developed by specialists from the Arctic Scientific Center of the Company and leading scientific institutes of Russia: P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Pacific Institute of Oceanology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Murmansk Marine Biological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, All-Russian Research Institute for Environmental Protection and the RPO "Council on Marine Mammals". The publication “Marine Mammals of Russia” will be of interest not only to the professional community, but also to everyone who is interested in environmental conservation issues. The atlas is available for free download: Atlas “Marine Mammals of Russia”.

Evgeniy Burgov, an employee of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, took part in the RIA Novosti podcast and spoke about the fact that today there are more than 10,000 species of ants and only one species of human living on Earth. Despite this difference in diversity, we have a lot in common: we live in families and build houses, take care of our offspring and share labor, study and fight. How can animals with a very distant common ancestor be so similar? The RIA Novosti podcast with a lecture by Evgeniy Burgov can be found at the link. Related materials: Soundstream: “An ant is the same person, but smaller and different. Comparing ants and people"