Armoured catfish in the net During the last decade, non-native armoured catfish (Siluriformes: Loricariidae: Pterygoplichthys) have successfully occupied many freshwater ecosystems in Vietnam. Compared to other non-native fish, loricariids have a wide tolerance for habitat heterogeneity, which allows them to spread successfully into new bodies of water. Fish of this genus has a highly protective body to prevent predation. Armoured catfish exhibit parental care, nest-building behavior, produce large eggs, and have high fecundity rates, all of which contribute to their successful reproduction into new habitat. In Indo-Pacific region, these fish are not commonly targeted as a fishing resource and often damage gill nets. Currently, loricariids hold the potential to spread and occupy new aquatic ecosystems. Monitoring their density is important for the social-economic situation in Vietnam. Armoured catfish abandoned by fishermen The invasion process is not determined solely by the high plasticity of the genus. It is known that the possibility of successful spreading increases in disturbed bodies of water under high artificial pressure and modification. Most rivers in Vietnam are regulated by dams. The density of armored catfish could increase significantly due to heightened competition with native fish in the reservoirs. Vietnamese and Russian scientists estimated the number and biomass of armoured catfish and Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in the Suoi Trau Reservoir (Khanh Hoa province) as part of the Ecolan 3.2 project (Research Coordinator: Efim D. Pavlov) of the Joint Vietnam-Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center. For three weeks of study, we used fishing gill nets at nine sampling locations, targeting both near-surface and near-bottom areas of the Suoi Trau Reservoir. The fishing took place during the dry season when the water level in the reservoir was low, which could lead to high intra- and interspecific competition. Catch per unit effort, as well as the ratios of the number and biomass of non-native and native fish species, were recorded at each sampling location. Fishing areas in the Suoi Trau reservoir In the year 2019, thirty-four native species and three non-native species were identified: the African catfish Clarias gariepinus (first recorded in the reservoir), Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, and loricariids Pterygoplichthys spp. Five years later, in 2024, were captured only eleven native fish species, as well as non-native Nile tilapia and armoured catfish. We observed that loricariids frequently occupied areas in the reservoir along with native fish, and their numbers positively correlated with the numbers of native fish. However, the high occurrence of Nile tilapia did not correspond with a high occurrence of native fish in the reservoir. The total biomass of the two non-native species constituted 19% of the total biomass of all captured native fish in Suoi Trau reservoir, and the biomass of armoured catfish highly dominated in four of the nine sampled locations. The loricariids are gradually could replace the native ichthyofauna in the reservoir. We hypothesize that similar trends of replacement could be exhibited not only in lentic but also in lotic water ecosystems. Article (Dien et al. 2025) was published in BioInvasions Records journal, Volume 14, Issue 1, pp 123-139, Tran Duc Dien, Ekaterina V. Ganzha, Nguyen Trinh Duc Hieu and Efim D. Pavlov, Non-native and native fish occurrence and distribution in the Suoi Trau reservoir (Central Vietnam).

Proto: Zooplankton under the microscope. Zooplankton is a key component of the food web in freshwater bodies. Most zooplankton are filter feeders. Therefore, they act as a natural filter that helps to cleanse water bodies. In addition, crustaceans are a valuable food resource for planktivorous fish, containing, in addition to carbon, physiologically important substances that are transferred up the food web and further to terrestrial ecosystems. However, the value of zooplankton depends on the quality of phytoplankton, the main food resource of filter-feeding crustaceans. An increase in the proportion of cyanobacteria in phytoplankton currently poses a huge danger to the functioning of freshwater ecosystems. Cyanobacteria (their outdated name is blue-green algae) are considered a low-quality resource for zooplankton, since they produce toxins and do not contain sterols and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are protectors of cardiovascular diseases. Photo: Algae cultivation. Air was supplied to the algae through a system of tubes. Temperature (20°C) and illumination intensity of 21 µmol m-2 s-1 were maintained at a constant level. "In the twenty-first century, cyanobacteria "blooming" (rapid development) has become a more frequent and large-scale phenomenon due to the combined effects of eutrophication and global warming on aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, cyanobacteria are currently considered a threat to water quality, fisheries and human recreational activities," said Irina Feneva, Doctor of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS). Despite the fact that cyanobacteria have been known to be harmful to zooplankton for 150 years, the mechanisms of their impact on zooplankton have not been sufficiently studied. In order to understand how cyanobacteria affect the species structure of zooplankton communities, work was carried out to study the mechanisms of their influence on the dynamics of crustacean populations and their competitive interactions using two species of daphnia as an example. The main hypothesis put forward was that cyanobacteria would alter the outcome of competition between cladoceran species relative to conditions with higher quality food, thus changing the species structure of the community. Photo: Experiments on competition between species of cladocerans. 400 ml glasses with daphnia were placed in a bath where a constant temperature of 24°C was maintained. All variants of the experiments were carried out in three replicates. A working group of scientists conducted a series of experiments to study the competition between Daphnia longispina and Daphnia magna, which showed that when daphnia were fed high-quality unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas klinobasis, mutual competitive suppression of one species by the other was observed, but both species coexisted. However, in the variant with unicellular cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus, both species developed poorly. The growth rate of D. magna was significantly lower than in the variants with high-quality food. The second species D. longispina generally remained at the level of several individuals per liter. However, the analysis of the results did not confirm competitive suppression of one species by the other in this case. The main driver of population dynamics were cyanobacteria, which significantly restrained the population growth of daphnia due to a lack of sterols in them. It turned out that D. longispina is more sensitive to a lack of sterols than D. magna. For this reason, the growth of this species was not suppressed by another species, but was only greatly slowed down by poor-quality food. It was concluded that in order to increase the growth of daphnia and increase the biodiversity of zooplankton communities, it is necessary to reduce the percentage of cyanobacteria in phytoplankton. A mathematical model was created to predict the dynamics of the abundance of cladocerans under conditions of active development of cyanobacteria. The model, taking into account the main mechanisms of competitive interaction of planktonic crustaceans during cyanobacterial "blooms", will allow developing a system of measures aimed at creating favorable conditions for the development of freshwater zooplankton. The article was published: Feniova I.Yu, Brzeziński T., Bednarska A., Dzialowski A.R., Petrosyan V.G., Zilitinkevich N.S., Dawidowicz P. Effects of cyanobacteria on competitive interactions between different-sized cladoceran species // Water. 2025. Vol. 17 (7). 1014. Related materials: RAS: "Reasons for the negative impact of cyanobacteria on the species structure of zooplankton communities"

Photo: www.rgo.ru Currently, there are 750 Amur tigers in the Russian Far East, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vyacheslav Rozhnov, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and member of the VOOP Scientific Council, told the All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation. According to him, the restoration of the tiger population in the Jewish Autonomous and Amur Regions was carried out virtually from scratch, and the methods were developed by scientists as the work progressed. Programs for the restoration of rare animal species must be carried out on a scientific basis, and they are expensive. They are financed by both the state and some foundations. The work of scientists using modern technologies, such as satellite tagging of animals, genetic, hormonal and other studies, requires constant investment. Every day, humans invade ecosystems, remove species from them, and destroy functional connections in them. This threatens a catastrophe if it is not controlled by scientists and is not limited by the state. From the very beginning of the creation of the "Permanent Expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the Study of Animals of the Red Book of the Russian Federation and Other Particularly Important Animals of the Fauna of Russia" and to this day, Vyacheslav Rozhnov has been leading the work on the study and restoration of endangered species. Details and particulars can be found in his story. How it began “In 2007, at the very end of his presidential term, V.V. Putin called several people from the Academy of Sciences, including me, and suggested that we work on preserving and restoring rare species. At that time, there were many foreign foundations in the country, and their employees were actively studying certain species. In the Far East, for example, they began studying the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard. And they gave recommendations to Russian government organizations on what they should do. President Putin decided to improve this situation so that our scientists could study these rare species more. That is how the tiger project began. After some time, Vladimir Vladimirovich came to our expedition, watched how we worked. He liked it, and asked who else we would like to study in this way. Serious money was allocated, since the restoration of rare species and their study is a financially demanding task: very expensive space images to study the habitats of animals and satellite collars to study their movements, drugs to immobilize animals, hormonal and genetic analyses... The "Permanent Expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the Study of Animals of the Red Book of the Russian Federation and Other Particularly Important Animals of the Fauna of Russia" was created, it was incorporated into our institute - the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Other projects were launched within the framework of this expedition - on the Far Eastern leopard, on the snow leopard, on the polar bear. They are still ongoing.” How to save an endangered species? “Entry of a species into the Red Book completely excludes it from economic activity: it is forbidden to hunt, it is forbidden to extract it in any form, it is forbidden to sell its derivatives. To understand and propose some measures to preserve a species, it is necessary to study how it lives, what influences it, what leads to its reduction. You can cut down a cedar and not kill a single tiger, and they will die out on their own, because they will have nothing to eat: both wild boars and deer, which are the tiger's food base, feed on cedar nuts. Everyone needs cedar. It is very expensive. Timber trucks one after another took out cedar for sale to foreign companies. Our southeastern neighbors needed tigers to make oriental medicine. Poachers took out not only derivatives of killed tigers, but also frogs, whose fat is used in Chinese pharmaceuticals. Moreover, they took out frogs in sacks, tons.” Photo: www.rgo.ru We restored the tiger in the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Amur Region from scratch, developing a unique technology. It is believed that today there are 750 Amur tigers in our country - this was shown by a census conducted two years ago. Is this a lot or a little? There is the Ussuri taiga, in these forests live so many deer, so many wild boars, so many roe deer - that's what the tiger eats. How many deer does a tiger eat per year? Knowing this, we can calculate how many tigers can live here. In fact, no one has done this kind of work to date, and it is necessary. The Russian Geographical Society supports our project to study tigers, but there is not enough money for all the necessary research. The Amur Tiger Fund has been created in the country. Through it, the normal work of various state environmental organizations in the Far East is financed: the purchase of cars, snowmobiles, equipment for inspectors, salaries. The inspectors brought order to the taiga. As a result, the number of tigers has increased, but so has the occurrence of their conflict situations with humans. It is necessary to calculate the ecological capacity of habitats for the tiger. To do this, it is necessary to support scientific programs, train hunting specialists. Whether you like it or not, you sometimes remember that our country once had the best education system... Photo: Umar Semenov, www.rgo.ru Among other positive news is the restoration of the population of the Caucasian leopard (Persian leopard). It was exterminated in the middle of the last century in the Caucasus. We are currently restoring it. We need to know what habitats it can use today, and model suitable habitats. This requires both space images of the area and "walking on foot" around the Caucasus. We need to assess its food supply, calculate how many leopards can live in this very popular place for people to relax. There must be a scientific basis for everything. Zoos also play a role in the restoration of rare species. In particular, the Moscow Zoo is also involved in the Caucasian leopard program - its employees are involved in assessing the readiness for life in the wild of animals raised in a special center near Sochi. We need to get offspring and raise them correctly: so that these predators avoid humans, so that young leopards eat natural food, not goats and sheep that humans bring them. It's a very complex process - that's what we're doing.

Fig. 1. Lifetime photographs of some species of stone loaches: A) the African loach Afronemacheilus; B) the Tibetan loach Triplophysa; C) the Asian loach Paracobitis. Photographs by S.E. Cherenkov and O.N. Artaev. An international team of scientists has reconstructed the evolutionary history of one of the most diversified families of freshwater fish (Nemacheildae – stone loaches), common in Eurasia and Africa. The work involved the staff of the Laboratory of Ecology of Lower Vertebrates of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) – Senior Researcher A.S. Golubtsov and Leading Researcher B.A. Levin. The study covered 471 fish specimens from 250 species from 37 genera, conducting molecular genetic analysis of 6 DNA markers. The Nemacheildae family was chosen as a model for assessing the evolution of Eurasian freshwater fishes due to its high species diversity (about 840 species) and unusually wide geographic distribution – from Spain to Japan and from Russia to Indonesia. Moreover, the stone loaches even penetrated into East Africa, where they evolved into a separate genus – Afronemacheilus, which lives in the waters of the Ethiopian Highlands. The ecology of stone loach is no less diverse. Among them, there are species adapted to living deep under the surface of the earth in caves and possessing troglomorphic specialization. Thus, the most underground fish species Triplophysa gejiuensis is noted at depths of up to 400 m below the surface of the earth. It is noteworthy that the highest “ascended to the sky” fish species also belongs to this family – this is the high-mountain Tibetan char Triplophysa stolickai, which is noted at altitudes of 5200 m above sea level. Fig. 2. Phylogenetic tree of the family Nemacheilidae, including 471 specimens analyzed by 6 DNA markers (from the published article - https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/101080). The study shed light on the phylogeny, evolutionary history and biogeography of a large group of freshwater fish and, using it as an example, showed which factors contributed to the diversification of the freshwater fauna of this region since the Eocene. In particular, it was shown that the stone loaches originated approximately 45-50 million years ago in the Indochina Peninsula. Diversification into the main large evolutionary lines of the family occurred quite quickly - Southern, Burmese, Sunda, Indochina, Northern and Eastern. "The expansion of the stone loach family was facilitated by tectonic processes, favorable climatic conditions since the Eocene and mountain building processes. In particular, favorable climate and plate tectonics contributed to the dispersal of the Eurasian family to the African continent in the late Miocene," said B.A. Levin, leading researcher at the IEE RAS. Subsequently, the aridization of the Arabian Peninsula led to a significant extinction of aquatic fauna, which created a large gap in the distribution of representatives of the family, but contributed to the genesis of a new line of African loaches of the generic level (Afronemacheilus) - the only representative of the family in Africa. The results of this work will be of interest to evolutionary biologists, ichthyologists, paleontologists and other specialists, as well as biology enthusiasts. The study was published in the prestigious international journal eLife (https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/101080) and supported by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation 24-44-20019 (Fish of the Caspian basin: genetic diversity, evolution and biogeography). Šlechtová, V., Dvořák, T., Freyhof, J., Kottelat, M., Levin, B., Golubtsov, A., Šlechta, V. & Bohlen, J. (2025). Reconstructing the phylogeny and evolutionary history of freshwater fishes (Nemacheilidae) across Eurasia since early Eocene. eLife, 13.

The Russian Science Foundation has announced the results of the competition for projects of fundamental scientific research and exploratory scientific research by individual scientific groups, as well as the competition for extending the deadlines for projects under this event, supported by RSF grants in 2022. In addition, the results of the competition for fundamental scientific research and exploratory scientific research on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation (interdisciplinary projects) have been summed up. Based on the results of the three announced competitions, 843 projects will receive support. In the competition for "Conducting fundamental scientific research and exploratory scientific research by individual scientific groups", the project "Stability or vulnerability - island and marine ecosystems of the Commander-Aleutian island arc in the Holocene" by A.B. Savinetsky was supported. Among the winners in the competition for extending the deadlines for projects under the event "Conducting fundamental scientific research and exploratory scientific research by individual scientific groups", the project of E.A. Galoyan "Reticulate evolution and the role of hybrids in the origin of unisexual and bisexual species of reptiles". Congratulations to our colleagues on their victory! The results of the competition can be found on the RSF site.

On April 1, the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) held an excursion for schoolchildren of grades 6-8. The children learned about the work of scientists, visited a vivarium with laboratory rodents, and visited a historical ecology laboratory. Schoolchildren's reviews of the excursion: Anton R., grade 7C: "I saw a newborn hamster for the first time - I didn't expect it to be so small and defenseless. It was interesting to visit a real vivarium and see the conditions in which scientists work." Vasilisa K., grade 8C: "It was interesting to learn that large species of hamsters live in Moscow!" Dina S., grade 6C: "The hamsters are very nice. It's interesting that some of them are predators." Danila P., grade 8R: "This excursion is a great addition to biology lessons at school." Thanks to such events, children develop a keen interest in science. State Budgetary Educational Institution School No. 2025 expresses its sincere gratitude to Natalya Yuryevna Feoktistova for organizing and conducting an educational excursion to the IEE RAS.

Photo by IEE RAS In the summer of 2024, scientists from the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) conducted the fifth expedition to study the Baikal seal. These mammals are endemic to Lake Baikal and a key link in its ecosystem. A special program has been developed to study Baikal seals - it is designed for 2020-2025 and is financed with the support of the Lake Baikal Foundation. Scientists painstakingly and, most importantly, unnoticed by the animal world - study Baikal seals in their natural habitat, trying not to disturb them. The Lake Baikal Foundation shares the results of the research expedition, conducted in July and August 2024. The expedition of scientists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences to study Baikal seals took place at the largest summer rookeries, the shores of the Ushkany Islands archipelago in the middle part of Lake Baikal, and set several tasks at once. Firstly, it was necessary to visually determine the number and assess the condition of the seals by external signs on Tonkiy Island - to establish the presence of injuries and pathologies, as well as the number of seals that had not yet molted, and compare the obtained data with those obtained in previous years. Secondly, scientists had to count the seals on Tonky, Dolgiy, and Krugly Islands using drones. Drones are intended to help in the study primarily because the seal rookeries are difficult to access, but mainly because of the need to in no way disturb the peace and rhythm of life of the seals. The third task that the researchers set for themselves was to collect biological material and assess the influence of tourists on the behavior of the seals, as well as to study the bodies of dead animals, if any are found during the survey. Thanks to the drones, the scientists were able to conduct 16 flights and take 48 videos, with a total duration of more than 4 hours and 45 minutes. Each video was later analyzed frame by frame, the number of seals was counted, the main haulout sites were noted, and the environmental factors that influence the distribution of seals on the islands were determined. In addition, the scientists went on 39 hiking trips around Tonky Island to record the number of seals, the number of wounded, sick, and unmolted individuals. The result of dozens of trips by the researchers was the account of more than 5,000 photographs of the animals, which were later carefully analyzed. During the visual foot counts, it was possible to establish that the number of seals on Tonky Island varied from 2 to 384 individuals. The number of animals in 2024, as in previous years of research, decreased by mid-August, which is probably due to worsening weather conditions, the redistribution of animals between islands, or their departure to other areas of the lake. “The proportion of sick seals, as well as seals that have not molted, is relatively small, and it can be considered that their number is insignificant. The number of animals counted in 2024 is significantly less than the number of animals counted in previous years - 2020 and 2022, but does not differ from the number counted in 2021. This may be due to the increased anthropogenic load observed during field work in 2024. For example, cutters, inflatable boats and yachts were repeatedly noticed approaching animal rookeries,” - the researchers said. In total, during the technological part of the research (using drones), scientists were able to record 13,384 seals, including 5,390 in the water and 7,994 on land (Note: 13,384 is the total number of accounts, including animals counted repeatedly). The maximum number of seals counted at one time was 1,786 in total on three of the four Ushkany Islands (a flyover of Bolshoy Ushkany Island was not conducted due to its remoteness from the other islands). The largest number of seals was recorded on Dolgy Island, the smallest - on Tonky Island. The maximum number of animals registered at one time on Tonky Island is 319, on Dolgiy Island - 1060, on Krugly Island - 813. An interesting conclusion that the researchers came to is that Tonkiy Island has fewer seals than other islands, although it was previously believed that this island had the largest endemic seal rookery. In previous expeditions, the researchers had already observed this pattern, and in 2024 they confirmed it again. Scientists also had to examine dead individuals to collect biological material - four of these were found during the expedition. For example, hair and whisker samples obtained in this way from one individual helped to assess the level of the animal's stress hormone, cortisol. After conducting the research, scientists came to the conclusion that the dead seal did not experience severe stress before its death. It is worth recalling that, according to the results of similar hormonal studies within the framework of the five-year program, the highest values ​​of cortisol concentration were observed in dead animals in 2020, which was characterized by a large number of dead animals found on the shore of Tonkiy Island and early melting of ice in winter. Then these factors could have led to an increased concentration of cortisol in animals during the molting period. To analyze the seals' behavior, scientists processed 575 time slices (a time slice is a series of 3 photographs of a seal rookery, taken every 10 minutes from 6:00 to 12:00), on each of which the type of behavior of each individual was determined, as well as the duration of stay on the stone (by the degree of dryness). The types of behavior were then combined into two categories - calm and agitated. When analyzing the seals' behavior, not only the external natural environment (wind strength and direction, cloudiness, lake agitation level, etc.) was taken into account, but also anthropogenic factors - the number of tourists on the observation deck and their behavior. “19 days of behavioral observations were conducted, during which 626 time slices were obtained. For each time slice, weather conditions and the number of tourists on the observation deck and their behavior were noted for further assessment of the influence of these factors on the behavior of seals,” - the IEE RAS researchers shared. Thus, cases of mass migration of seals were analyzed, and four scenarios of rookery restoration were identified: "rapid return" (5 cases), "long-term return" (1 case), "return with a decrease in the total number of seals" (9 cases), "no return" (2 cases). The most optimal scenario is "rapid return", in which the number of seals on the rock is restored on average in 1 hour 22 minutes. “We assume that an important condition for a quick return is the presence of a small number of seals on the rock after the mass exodus. Both natural and anthropogenic causes of the animals leaving the rock were observed, for example, active actions of tourists at the haulout (sticking out from behind the wall), passage of watercraft in front of the haulout. Complete abandonment of the haulout occurred for both natural and anthropogenic reasons, and led to a longer recovery of the haulout,” - the study says. It is important to note that the worst-case scenario, when seals may not return to the rocks for a very long time, for example, until the end of the day, is associated with humans, namely, with watercrafts moving near the locations of seal groups. Scientists emphasize that these cases are unacceptable and require immediate measures to prevent them in the future. Work on studying Baikal seals is carried out in cooperation with the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Zapovednoye Podlemorye". In 2024, the project was implemented with the support of private donors of the Lake Baikal Foundation and a charitable donation from the World Around You Foundation to the Siberian Wellness company. Related materials Filin 38: "The study showed" Siberian Wellness: "How many seals are there on Lake Baikal? Siberian Wellness supported the census of the lake's endemics" Dalekaya Okraina: "The number of seals on Lake Baikal has decreased" Sibirsky Novosti: "The number of Baikal seals is decreasing: scientists are sounding the alarm" People of Baikal: "Scientists have counted fewer Baikal seals" NIA Ecology: "The number of seals on Lake Baikal has decreased" Babr24: "The Baikal seal is under threat: what did the scientists' expedition show?" BuryadUnen: "RAS scientists have counted seals on Lake Baikal using drones"

This volume of archival materials continues the first collection of memoirs about the people and events of the Badkhyz Reserve, published in the summer of 2021. The first volume of the "Badkhyz Archives" was published on the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the reserve (1941) and on the 90th anniversary of the birth of Yuri Konstantinovich Gorelov (1931-2018). The authors of many memoirs agreed that without Gorelov, the history of the Badkhyz Reserve is unthinkable in the brightest and most interesting years of its existence, in the "Gorelov" period, which coincided with the Khrushchev-Brezhnev era in the USSR. For scientific intellectuals of the short periods of the "thaw" and "detente" (1960-70s), Gorelov's name was a symbol and synonym for Badkhyz. Chance and fate brought this amazingly free and fearless man, the son of a Wrangel officer who grew up in Bulgaria and a student of the famous emigrant zoologist V. E. Martino, to the southernmost edge of the decrepit empire in 1956. This volume contains a new biographical article by the famous historian of science Evg. Shergalin, which summarizes information about Vladimir Emmanuilovich Martino (1890-1961) and a number of additional materials. Brief information and essays about the workers of the Badkhyz Reserve, starting from the 1940s, are provided. The volume also includes rare materials, including one of the first articles about Badkhyz by G. I. Ishunin and E. P. Korovin (Priroda magazine, 1945); an annotated list of Badkhyz plants. We also included the article by M. Cherkasova about Badkhyz from the magazine “Knowledge is Power” (1973) and a number of rare publications by Yu. K. Gorelov. The book is intended for anyone interested in the history of science and environmental protection in Central Asia and the USSR. You can download the book from the link.

Fig.1: Marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus), Author: A.O. Svinin A new study conducted by scientists from various research organizations in Russia under the leadership of PhD E.P. Simonov from the Laboratory of Mammalian Microevolution at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) has for the first time revealed the widespread distribution of ranaviruses in green frogs (genus Pelophylax) in Russia. Ranaviruses are capable of causing mass mortality of amphibians and are considered one of the main threats to amphibian biodiversity worldwide. In addition, ranaviruses also affect other ectothermic vertebrates – reptiles and fish. The scientists analyzed DNA extracted from 853 samples collected between 2006 and 2016, of which 590 were obtained from frogs directly at the capture site or immediately after, and 263 from individuals kept in laboratories after capture for various studies. The results showed that 8.8% of "wild" frogs and 27% of those kept in captivity were infected with ranavirus. However, the frogs in captivity had a significantly higher viral load, which may be due to increased stress and crowding in laboratory conditions. Ranaviruses were detected in 18 of the 94 locations studied, including the basins of Europe's largest rivers — the Volga, Dnieper, and Don. The scientists paid special attention to invasive populations of the marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) from the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia. Ranaviruses were also detected in five of the nine invasive populations studied, indicating the potential role of the marsh frog in the spread of the virus. At the same time, invasive populations of the species from Kamchatka were not infected. Sequencing of the DNA sequence of the major capsid protein (MCP) gene revealed six different ranavirus haplotypes, all belonging to the CMTV (common midwife toad virus) lineage. Together with literature data on the spread of CMTV-like ranaviruses in Western and Central Europe, the new data indicate the spread of this ranavirus lineage across the continent. Previously, ranaviruses were found only in two locations on the map of Russia - in the Moscow region and the environs of Tyumen. Thus, the study emphasizes the importance of monitoring and controlling the spread of ranaviruses, especially in the context of climate change and active movement of animals by humans. The work was published in the journal EcoHealth: Lisachova L.S., Lisachov A.P., Ermakov O.A., Svinin A.O., Chernigova P.I., Lyapkov S.M., Zamaletdinov R.I., Pavlov A.V, Zaks S.S., Fayzulin A.I., Korzikov V.A., Simonov E. (2025) Continent-Wide Distribution of CMTV-Like Ranavirus, from the Urals to the Atlantic Ocean. EcoHealth Related materials: Ecology of Russia: "A Mortal Threat Looms Over Russia's Marsh Frogs"

Fig.1: Common Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) Photo: Sergey Lapa It would seem that fewer mosquitoes and flies are only a plus. But in fact, this is a serious threat to ecosystems and even to you and me. Why are insects disappearing and what is the danger? Kommersant discussed this with Konstantin Gongalsky, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Deputy Director for Science at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. — Is there really a risk that one day children will not understand a single line from the song “Mosquito go away”? Are insects really disappearing? — When we interned at the Zvenigorod Biological Station of Moscow State University in the mid-1990s — I am an entomologist by education — we saw a huge number of different insects in the floodplain of the Moscow River. For example, large barbels, green and bright, were common there. And now I come with students at the same time, in early June, and there are none. Over 30 years of my observations alone, colossal changes are visible. — This is personal experience, but is there any scientific evidence to support this? — An analysis of long-term studies shows that the number of land insects in the world is indeed declining. On average, the global decline is 0.92% per year, which is approximately 24% over 30 years. This is according to the results of the largest study to date on changes in insect numbers, published in the journal Science. It included 1,676 points around the world. A continuation of this work was published in the journal Nature, where it is shown that mainly mass species are disappearing. FIg.2: Longhorned beetle (Aromia moschata) Photo: Philip Byzov — Why is this happening? — There are many reasons. The main factor is the degradation of ecosystems. We are converting more and more land into urban development and agricultural land, using a huge amount of chemicals on them. The second important factor is chemical pollution from industrial enterprises and transport. Heavy metals accumulate, that is, an ever-increasing level of toxic load on the ecosystem is achieved. The amount of chemicals that people pour into nature is off the scale. Each of us is trying to protect ourselves from unpleasant insects. The industry produces repellents by tens of thousands of tons. All of them are washed into the soil, get on vegetation. And while they repel ticks and mosquitoes from us, it causes a negative effect on nature. Just the other day, an article was published about the fact that the repellents that people use on dogs are one of the main factors contributing to the disappearance of birds in city parks. Light pollution is also very critical for insects. Recently there was news that Moscow was among the top three cities in the world in terms of artificial lighting. When you drive, for example, on the metro bridge at the Vorobyovy Gory station in Moscow, you can see how illuminated the park is. Every path is illuminated, multi-colored lanterns hang in the forest. Insects fly towards the light, lose orientation, fall to the ground and die. There are studies that show that cities work like exhaust pumps that filter insects out of the environment, and in gigantic quantities. In Germany, for example, about 100 billion insects die from artificial lighting in one summer. — Can we say that some groups of insects suffer especially badly? — Hymenoptera and butterflies are very vulnerable. In general, this largely depends on where they feed and what food objects they have. So, due to the fact that flowering plants, mainly meadows, disappear, bumblebees and bees do not find a place to feed and die. Wild bees are currently attracting the closest attention of ecologists because they play a very important role in the ecosystem, and they are disappearing at a tremendous rate. The number of ants is also decreasing very sharply. In one of the latest issues of the journal Science there was an article about the decrease in the number of butterflies in the USA in the 21st century alone by 22%. And these processes are happening in all countries, including ours. Fig.3: A Melitaea athalia butterfly Photo: Fedor Demin — Okay, so there will be fewer mosquitoes and flies — what's wrong with that? — Insects are organisms that perform many functions in nature. Pollination of a very large number of plants occurs through insects. In addition to the fact that we get honey as a product, insects pollinate many plants, supporting their reproduction process. There is a very high level of symbiosis. For example, only a certain type of bumblebee pollinates labiate plants. If there are no such bumblebees, there will be no plants. Many insectivorous birds do not find enough resources for food. And their numbers are also decreasing. The processes of organic decomposition are also largely associated with insects. Insect larvae spend their lives in the soil, decompose plant litter and support the cycle of elements in ecosystems, that is, they return carbon in the form of carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere, and nutrients to the soil, increasing their fertility. In general, if you take any ecosystem function and start to analyze it, then at some point insects will definitely make an appearance. Fig.4: Pond damselfly (Coenagrionidae) Photo: Sergey Lapa — What will happen if, say, all ants disappear? — There is such a cliche about them: "Ants are the orderlies of the forest." In addition to the fact that they live on the surface, they also control outbreaks of parasites that harm trees. Ants also participate in the processes of transferring and transforming litter and in general in the entire ecosystem cycle. But mainly, of course, this is a phytosanitary function. — Let's talk about mosquitoes and flies? It is clear that birds feed on them, frogs love them. And is there anything useful for the ecosystem in them? — From my point of view, this is already enough for their significance. But many of them also perform the functions of transferring some substances. Some even turn out to be useful for humans from a completely unexpected side. For example, there is such a popular fly - the black soldier fly. It was recently added to the list of agricultural animals. Now there are regulations on how to grow the black soldier fly. This is a fly that is used to process, for example, food industry waste when it cannot be sorted. There are now large factories for growing black soldier flies on industrial waste. Its larvae grow quickly on cleanings, gain biomass, they are sorted and used to produce protein flour, which contains many nutrients. This type of insect was studied because it was found to have useful properties, it is now actively used. But many insects may disappear before we learn anything useful about them. Fig.5: Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) Photo: Sergey Lapa — Any other examples? — My former classmate recently told me: "I work on your beetles, the ones that you collected." We are talking about a common forest beetle that lives in mushrooms. It was discovered that the extract from it contains proteins that can help treat Parkinson's disease. Laboratory mice, on which this is tested, show good dynamics in treatment. So until we sort out many potential suppliers of substances that are valuable to us, we often will not appreciate the role of biodiversity at all. Fig.6: Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa ​​decemlineata) Photo: Sergey Lapa — Can we change something in our behavior, in our attitude to nature, so that insects do not disappear? — Of course, we cannot stop exploiting ecosystems, producing food for humanity. There is no escape from this. But it is possible to change some regulations of human interaction with nature. Why illuminate parks at night? Make dim lighting along the paths so that people do not get lost there. But do not install huge lanterns, which attract insects and even birds. In many countries, instead of lawns, they sow meadow mixture. It is good because it is given the opportunity to bloom. They grow not a football lawn, but an artificial meadow. Literally one small patch of flowering meadow, even an artificial one, attracts both hymenoptera and butterflies. This is quite easy to do even on the scale of Moscow - just replace the mixture that is sown on the lawns. — How often should it be mowed? — It should be mowed only after it has finished flowering. There are developed methods for this. You can also be less careful about removing deadwood and fallen leaves in the fall. I was in Dublin about two years ago. In the parks there are specially made enclosures where sawn tree trunks and branches are stacked, they serve as breeding grounds for xylophages — insects that eat wood. And this is one of the rather significant components of insect diversity in general. If you do not remove the leaves under the trees, they will become a good source of food and a habitat for many larvae. Fig.7: Flower chafer (Cetonia) Photo: Sergey Lapa — By the way, why are fallen leaves cleaned away at all? — Allegedly, they interfere with the growth of lawns. In addition, it is believed that leaves accumulate heavy metals, dust and dirt along the roads. But if you transport heavy metals from one place to another, you will not help the matter much. There was such a great entomologist and specialist in insect conservation, German Gornostayev, he wrote the book "Insects of the USSR", several insect identification guides and was generally the last of the encyclopedic entomologists in our country. He said that insects should be preserved in populations or their habitats should be preserved. The exception is bumblebees. These are the rarest representatives of insects, which make sense to protect individually. They cannot be caught, especially in the spring, because the fertilized female overwinters. And if you catch her in the spring, you kill all her offspring. Fig.8: Cuckoo bumblebee (Psithyrus) Photo: Nina Pronina — What can we do to help with ecosystem preservation? — If you have the opportunity to plant flowering grass on your property, do it. If you can avoid spraying your dog with chemicals, just remove the tick after a walk. Maybe it will be better for the dog too. Interviewed by Natalia Leskova