DNA sequence data are widely used in phylogenetic studies and for establishing species boundaries. At the same time, formal descriptions of new taxa are still predominantly based on traditional approaches, i.e. on morphology, and DNA features are rarely used for this purpose. However, a wider integration of DNA data into formal taxonomy can significantly improve the quality and usability of descriptions: the same features that are used to distinguish between taxa form the basis of their description. Since the acquisition of DNA sequence data is relatively inexpensive, highly productive, and standardized, DNA traits are obviously more accessible to researchers than taxonomic knowledge, especially in difficult to systematize taxa. In practice, the most significant obstacles are the lack of both a generally accepted practice of using DNA data from taxonomy, and a sufficiently powerful and flexible algorithm for identifying taxonomically important features in DNA data. Moreover, there remains a distrust of DNA features on the part of traditional taxonomists, since it is unclear whether DNA features are reliable enough to build formal descriptions of taxa on them. A group of researchers led by a researcher at IEE RAS, Ph.D. Alexander Fedosov has developed a novel MOLD algorithm for identifying taxon diagnostic characters in monolocus (i.e., containing sequences of a single gene) DNA data. MOLD is superior to other existing algorithms for identifying diagnostic DNA features in both speed and functionality. It has been shown that currently used diagnostic DNA features are often absent, especially in datasets that include hundreds of species, or are not sufficiently reliable. An original solution has been developed - an additional algorithm that models the unexplored genetic diversity of taxa, and on its basis offers the optimal diagnostic combination of nucleotides (rDNC) in DNA data. It has been shown that the reliability of rDNC significantly exceeds the reliability of previously used DNA features. Since MOLD is the only program capable of identifying diagnostic combinations of nucleotides that meet the given reliability criteria, its use has almost no alternatives, especially when working with DNA data from a large number of taxa. MOLD is available as a Python command line application, and has a graphical interface for running in a web browser. The results of testing MOLD in comparison with previously proposed software solutions are published in the highly rated scientific journal Molecular Ecology Resources

Daphnia of the species group Daphnia galeata. Source: Alexey Kotov Russian scientists have discovered a new species of daphnia in mountain lakes and swamps on the Japanese island of Honshu. This species, which is found nowhere except in the mountains of Japan, has unique external features: its body combines whole “parts” of two species that interbred millions of years ago. The data clarifies the evolutionary history of the group and allows more accurate identification of species of great interest to fisheries. The results of the study, supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), were published in PeerJ. In order to use the resources of water bodies most efficiently, for example, for the purposes of fisheries, it is necessary to understand how their biodiversity is formed. These processes are usually studied in model organisms, whose genomes, genetic ties and histories are well researched and understood. The crustaceans of the Daphnia longispina species group are widespread microscopic animals found throughout the Holarctic, a zone that occupies most of the northern hemisphere. Although much is known about them (particularly because they are actively used in aquaculture as fish food), scientists discover new species belonging to this group with enviable regularity. Such finds are most frequent in mountain reservoirs and other relatively hard-to-reach places. Employee of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), together with a colleague from the University at Buffalo (USA), studied zooplankton samples from Japanese high-mountain water bodies located on the island of Honshu, received from Japanese colleagues. The country is rich in endemics - species found only in a particular place, so finding another endemic species in a given region is the rule rather than the exception. This is what happened in this study - scientists discovered a new species, which was named Daphnia japonica in honor of Japan. The authors analyzed the hereditary material, as well as the appearance of the animals, in order to understand the position of this species in the Daphnia genus system. Having deciphered the DNA sequences, the authors compared them with the existing data for already known crustaceans. It was confirmed that the discovered individuals really belong to a new, previously unknown species, but at the same time there are “traces” of other species in their genes: D. japonica appeared as a result of crossing representatives of D. longispina and D. galeata in the distant past. Nothing like this has ever been known for Daphnia. Individuals also differ from other members of the genus in appearance, and they have features of both the D. galeata species group and the D. longispina group. They are a kind of Frankenstein, resulting from an experiment set by nature millions of years ago. “We suggest that the patterns found in Daphnia can be applied to other groups of freshwater animals. In this work, we managed to look into the very distant past, since the genetic line that represents our new species was formed millions of years ago. Then we got a hybrid between individuals that now belong to different groups of species - longispina and galeata. Hybrids are still being formed, but they coexist with their "fathers" and "mothers". In the case of our species, there are no “fathers” and “mothers” left, they have long died out, ”says Alexei Kotov, Doctor of Biology, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chief Researcher at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS. Information and photos provided by the press service of the Russian Science Foundation Related materials: Indicator: "A new type of crustaceans from the reservoirs of the mountains of Japan turnedout to be "Frankenstein"" Around the world: "Crustaceans from the mountain lakes of Japan turned out to be"Frankensteins". How did they surprise scientists?" News portal NEWSTES: "A new species of daphnia from the mountain lakes of Japan aroseas a result of ancient interspecific hybridization"

For more than 50 years, the Russia-Mongolia Comprehensive Biological Expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences has been working at our Institute. Work did not stop even during the period of Covid restrictions, but the Expedition Council did not meet in person over the past two years. This year, from October 31 to November 7, a friendly visit of the leading specialists of the expedition to Moscow took place at the Institute. The delegation included the Academician of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences, scientific leader of the Mongolian part of the expedition Ch. D. Gantulga. On November 1, the Council of the expedition was held, in which both the Mongolian guests and the director of our Institute, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences S.V. Naidenko, scientific leader of the expedition from the Russian side, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.V. Rozhnov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu.Yu. Dgebuadze, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Scientific Secretary of the Institute N.Yu. Feoktistova, Ph.D., Head of RF part of the expedition S.N. Bazha, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Deputy Head of Russian part of the expedition N.I. Dorofeyuk, Ph.D., Scientific Secretary of the Russian part of the expedition E.V. Danzhalova and Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chief Specialist of the Department of S.-Kh.D. Syrtypov. At the meeting, the specialists presented the reports of the scientific teams of the expedition that worked on the territory of Mongolia in 2022. In total, 10 scientific teams worked in Mongolia this year, which included 34 employees from the Russian side and 26 employees from the Mongolian side. All units successfully completed their tasks and received important results. In addition to the reports, the meeting discussed new areas of expedition research, discussed the issues of training Mongolian scientific specialists on the basis of the IEE RAS, as well as monographs that can be published as part of the expedition.

Group photo at the end of the master class As part of the All-Russian Festival NAUKA 0+ in Nizhny Novgorod on November 2, 2022, Elizaveta Dmitrievna Varakina, a 5th year student of the K. Minin NSPU and an external part-time worker at the IEE RAS under RSF grant No. 22-14-0258, conducted a master class "Water fleas (Crustacea: Cladocera) in the microscope lens" for schoolchildren in grades 9-10 of school No. 134. The master class was held at Discovery Nano Polar equipment and included an overview popular science lecture on cladocerans and a practical part, during which schoolchildren had the opportunity to independently study, using light microscopes, some species of cladocera from reservoirs located within the boundaries of Nizhny Novgorod. In addition, the lesson used new materials on modern and fossil cladocerans obtained by the team during the first year of the RSF project No. 22-14-0258. Unique data on the morphology of modern and fossil representatives of the genus Simocephalus Schödler, 1858 (Cladocera: Daphniidae) were personally obtained and processed by E.D. Varakina as part of an internship at the Laboratory of Ecology of Aquatic Communities and Invasions at the Room of Electron Microscopy of IEE RAS from August 1 to August 14, 2022. Thus, at the site of the NAUKA 0+ festival, the latest data from fundamental research were demonstrated to a children's audience. The interest in the report and the enthusiastic responses of the participants allow us to hope that the children will continue to be interested in biology, paleontology and microscopy. And some of them will in the future continue their studies within one of these specialties. IEE RAS, K. Minin NGPU and Nizhny Novgorod School No. 134 reached an agreement on holding new classes. The main objectives of such lessons are to popularize scientific knowledge, involve children in research activities and strengthen the authority of fundamental science. The presentation by E.D. Varakina can be found at the link:https://cloud.mail.ru/public/wAUk/7yRxKGsaX

In October Djibouti hosted the International Conference "Climate Change and Research: Towards Adaptation and Sustainable Development". The conference is dedicated to global warming, in particular in Djibouti and neighboring countries. The IEE RAS delegation was represented by the head of V.N. Sukachev laboratory of biogeocenology Kurbatova Yulia Alexandrovna, Senior Researcher Varlagin Andrei Viktorovich and chief specialist of the Tropical Department, head of the Joint Russian-Ethiopian biological expedition Terekhin E.E. As part of the panel discussion, Yulia Alexandrovna Kurbatova presented a report on monitoring greenhouse gases as part of research at the South Valdai Ecological Observatory of the IEE RAS "Okovsky Forest". Photo: FRC InBYUM The aim of the conference in Djibouti is to contribute to the mitigation of the negative effects of climate change. The event featured presentations by scientists from different countries. Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh said at the opening of the conference: “Global warming is perhaps the most serious threat humanity faces. Now this is a major fact that we can no longer ignore and has increased in scope in recent years.” The head of state then expressed regret that the highly devastating effects of global warming, including droughts, floods, habitat destruction, inconsistency of food supply, health problems, migration and even conflict, are exacerbating the situation of the most vulnerable, especially in the poorest countries of Africa. The meeting in Djibouti can be viewed as a precursor for the work at the International Climate Conference (COP 27), which will begin in Egypt, in Sharm El Sheikh, on November 6th.

Belarusian and Russian scientists have conducted research on the dynamics of climatic factors for more than two thousand years. The research was carried out by scientists from the V.F. Kuprevich Institute of Experimental Botany of National Academy of Sciences together with colleagues from the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS. Using samples of fossil wood of pedunculate oak collected from the bottom of the Luchosa and Chernitsa rivers (Liozno district of the Vitebsk region), wood from archaeological excavations and historical buildings, as well as samples from living trees, for the first time in Belarus, four super-century dendrochronological scales were built: 1930-1615 to AD, 586-1351, 1410-1647 and 1805-2018. The scales demonstrate the dynamics of climatic factors and economic activity in the region over more than 2 thousand years. It was found that the main climatic factors limiting the growth of oak in the north-east of Belarus are the temperatures of August and September of the previous year. The current level of precipitation is not a limiting factor. All four dendrochronological scales clearly demonstrate the 11–12-year and 22–24-year cycles of oak growth. – The results of the research will expand the network of millennial dendrochronological scales in Europe used to reconstruct and predict climate change and identify patterns in changes in forest cover associated with climate factors. The results of the project are extremely important for the dating of archaeological objects. For the first time in Belarus, it became possible to date with dendrochronological methods with an accuracy of one year not only medieval monuments of archeology and history, but also some buildings of the Bronze Age, - the press service said. The so-called dendrochronological scale is built based on the study of wood samples, the dating of which is known, - a sequence of thicknesses of annual rings of trees of a certain species in a certain area from the current moment and as far as possible into the past. Measurements of the growth rings of old living trees can be used for periods close to the present. There are methods for performing such measurements that do not require cutting down the tree. Dendrochronology is a scientific discipline about methods of dating events, natural phenomena, archaeological finds and ancient objects based on the study of tree growth rings. It is used for dating wooden objects and fragments of tree trunks (for example, in buildings), as well as in biology - when studying biological changes over the past millennia. Dendrochronology includes dendroclimatology, which studies the patterns of composition of annual layers of tree species to establish the climate in past geological epochs. Photo from the archive Related materials: Belta: "Scientists of Belarus and Russia have studied the dynamics of climatic factors formore than 2 thousand years"

This year, two conference schools were held at the Deep Lake Hydrobiological Station (Ruzsky District, Moscow Region), so named because, in addition to lectures by leading experts, they heard reports from all trainees on the topics of their scientific work. Abstracts of these lectures and reports are planned to be published in the RSCI. These schools are organized to improve the skills of hydrobiologists, assist in determining the taxonomic affiliation of their materials and exchange information. The 5th Conference School on the Systematics and Faunistics of Cladocera (Crustacea: Cladocera), which is the dominant and widespread group of microinvertebrates in continental and marine waters, was held from July 4 to 12, 2022. The school was attended by 7 students (researchers and graduate students) from various scientific and educational institutions of Russia (Astrakhan, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Kazan and Moscow). The organizers and teachers were leading experts in the study of cladocerans of the world fauna: corresponding member of RAS A. A. Kotov (IEE RAS), Doctor of Biological Sciences N.M. Korovchinsky (IEE RAS), Doctor of Biological Sciences A.Yu. Sinev (Moscow State University) and Ph.D. O.S. Boikov (IEE RAS). The second conference school on the biology of freshwater meiobenthos was held from August 29 to September 6, 2022. It was attended by leading experts in the study of this community and its representatives (crustacean groups Cladocera, Ostracoda and Harpacticoida) - E.B. Fefilova (Institute of Biology, Komi Scientific Center RAS), A.N. Neretin (IEE RAS, Moscow) and E.A. Kurashov (Institute of Lake Science RAS, St. Petersburg) and four trainees from Moscow, Astrakhan and Krasnoyarsk. Lectures were given daily on the morphology, systematics and ecology of the representatives of the studied groups, and practical classes were held to determine them. One day weekly was devoted to excursions to historical sites in the vicinity of Zvenigorod.

In 2022 Rosneft, as part of the Ecology national project, conducted three expeditions to hard-to-reach and little-studied regions of the Russian Arctic. This was announced at a press conference in Moscow by representatives of the company. In the current field season, scientists have studied populations of ivory gulls, the Atlantic subspecies of walrus and wild reindeer. Rosneft is conducting research on the conservation and monitoring of key bioindicator species of Arctic ecosystems in accordance with an agreement signed in 2019 with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology. The specialists of the Company and the country's leading specialized scientific institutes spent a total of more than 14 months on expeditions. With the help of installed camera traps, they took 200,000 photographs. Over 600 biological samples were selected for laboratory analyses. Field work in 2022 was the final for the project. Based on their results, practical solutions for environmental protection at the Company's licensed areas will be developed. Employees of IEE RAS in 2022 participated in the voyage "Floating University" on the route Dikson - Franz Josef Land - Arkhangelsk. During the voyage, the main point of observation were walruses. The largest animal rookery this year was found on the island of Hayes. 658 individuals (previously recorded no more than 150) stayed away from the water - such behavior of animals on this island has not been previously described in the scientific literature. Director of IEE RAS, Professor, Corresponding member of RAS Sergey Valerievich Naidenko and Svetlana Mikhailovna Artemyeva, researcher at IEE RAS, head of the expedition, head of work on the study of walrus within the framework of the Biodiversity Conservation Program of Rosneft. Earlier in 2020/21, scientists from IEE RAS studied the behavior of polar bears on the islands of the Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land archipelagos as part of the project. The tasks of the expeditions included: to determine the frequency of predator encounters, to carry out morphometric measurements and to equip animals with satellite transmitters to study migration routes. In 2021, in the spring, work was also carried out on the island of Alexandra Land (Franz Josef Land archipelago). Specialists observed the animals during the period when females left their birth dens. The total length of the routes of the expedition was more than one and a half thousand kilometers. Three females were collared with Argos satellite transmitters. The first data from the transmitters recorded the migration of she-bears with cubs along fast ice from the island of Alexandra Land to the island of Georg Land and their exploration of the coastal bays of this island. The data collected during the Rosneft expeditions will make it possible to update the modern understanding of the ranges of the studied species. Related materials: Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia: "Подведены итоги трех экспедиций 2022 года по изучению экосистем труднодоступных районов российской Арктики в рамках нацпроекта «Экология»"

During the period from July 24 to August 18, 2022, employees of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (laboratory assistants Gleb Pilipenko, Polina Ilyina and Polina Shibanova), with the support of the Lake Baikal Foundation and the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Zapovednoe Podlemorje", have already been carrying out field work to study the Baikal seal on the Ushkany Islands (Republic of Buryatia). 55 visual and photo counts of the Baikal seal were carried out (48 counts on Tonkiy Island, 3 - on Dolgiy Island, 3 - on Krugly Island). For the first time, a visual survey and photo survey was carried out on the Big Ushkany Island. In addition, camera traps were installed on the northern shores of Dolgiy (2 camera traps) and Krugly (2 camera traps) islands frequented by seals. We received photographic material from camera traps previously installed by employees of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Zapovednoe Podlemorie" on the northern coast of Tonkiy Island (8 camera traps were installed in total, the camera traps were operating from April 30, 2021 to August 14, 2022). All the data obtained will be used in the future to assess the number, population dynamics and distribution of Baikal seals on the Ushkany Islands. Based on the data obtained, the factors affecting the number of seals in haulouts will be determined. The data from camera traps will make it possible in the future to identify the daily and seasonal dynamics of the number of Baikal seals on the islands, as well as to obtain information on the use of haulouts by seals in other seasons. In addition, videos of the behavior of seals on the haulout on Tonkiy Island were filmed (157 videos, the total duration of video materials is more than 1600 minutes); information was received from the staff of the reserve on the number of tourists who visited the island daily during the expedition. The data obtained will subsequently be used to assess the impact of tourists on the behavior and number of Baikal seals. Biological material was also collected from 6 individuals of the Baikal seal for further genetic and hormonal studies. The staff of IEE RAS express their gratitude to the Lake Baikal Foundation and Federal State Budgetary Institution Zapovednoe Podlemorye for assistance in conducting research.

In August 2022, ICAO released the 2022 Environmental Report called “Innovation for a green transition”. The text of the report can be found on the official ICAO website. ICAO Environmental Reports are issued every three years and highlight the progress made in the organization's key areas of environmental protection during the reporting period. The 2022 report contains materials on issues such as: aviation and environmental prospects; aircraft noise, emissions of harmful substances in the airport area, aviation technologies, sustainably produced aviation fuels; Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA); climate change adaptation and resilience; biodiversity; action plans of states to reduce CO2 emissions, etc. In the section "Biodiversity" a joint article "Aviation extinguishing natural fires" by the Deputy Director of A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS Konstantin Gongalsky and the representative of the Russian Federation in the ICAO Committee of Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), Artur Mirzoyan, head of the sector of the P.I. Baranov Central Institute of Aviation Motors (part of the National Research Center "N.E. Zhukovsky Institute"). Every year, millions of hectares of forests suffer from natural fires, endangering people's lives, as well as destroying flora and fauna. According to the global database, the average gross CO2 emissions from global wildfires between 1997 and 2017 each year accounted for nearly ¼ of total annual fossil fuel emissions (7.7 Gt CO2e). Increasing the absorptive capacity of forests and reducing emissions from wildfires could be one of the critical solutions to reduce global CO2 emissions. As a member of the Paris Climate Agreement, Russia has assumed a number of voluntary commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are recorded in it as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) of the Russian Federation. They note that "a long-term goal of limiting anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in the Russian Federation could be 70-75% of 1990 emissions by 2030, subject to the maximum possible consideration of the absorptive capacity of forests." Russia places the main stake in its climate doctrine on the capture of greenhouse gases by forest resources. Russia possesses one of the world's best, diverse and well-equipped firefighting aviation equipment. Multi-purpose aircraft of the An-2/3 family, the Be-200ChS amphibious aircraft, the Il-76 transport aircraft, the Mi-8 and Ka-32A utility helicopters, as well as the Mi-26T heavy multi-purpose helicopters are all successfully used for this purpose. The article presents the successful experience of Russia in the field of aviation firefighting in the country and abroad: in Armenia, the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, Israel, Indonesia, Turkey, Portugal, Serbia, Chile, etc. The main advantages of using aviation for the integrated management of wildfires, including participation in planning, prevention, early detection, extinguishing and reducing the negative consequences of wildfires, are highlighted. A separate highlight was placed on the important role of ICAO in the development of international standards for aviation firefighting, taking into account the national legal order, and the formation of a legal framework for the use of international aviation in the management of natural fires. The article supports the ICAO initiative to organize an international dialogue in the field of aerial firefighting, put forward in response to the Russian proposal to create a distributed international aviation fire service under the auspices of ICAO/UN. In the face of unprecedented Western sanctions against Russia, climate commitments have not lost their significance. Their implementation in modern conditions will be even more within the priority of unconditional observance of the national interests of Russia, its sustainable independent development. The Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) is a Technical Committee of the Council of ICAO. It was founded in 1983 and controls the impact of international civil aviation on the environment by developing and adopting relevant environmental standards. Related materials: Aviaport: "The ICAO environmental report for 2019-2022 includes proposals from Russianexperts"