We are pleased to announce that a publication was released in Biology Letters with the participation of employees of the IPEE RAS on the seasonal movements of bowhead whales in the Spitsbergen population. This population, once the largest in the world, was virtually exterminated by whaling in the 17th-19th centuries. 20 years ago it was believed that the whales’ population dwindled to less than 100 individuals. In the last two decades, with the increase in the number of research flights in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic, the researchers have acquired new data on these species of whales. Solely north of Svalbard in 2015, the estimated number of bowhead whales was 343 (CI 136–862). Sightings of this species are regularly recorded in the waters of Franz Josef Land, several individuals were recorded in the Kara Sea. In May-June 2017, an international team of scientists led by the Norwegian Polar Institute installed 16 satellite tags in the Fram Strait on the eastern shelf of Greenland. The data obtained made it possible to make clearer estimations of the range of the population, the nature of its seasonal movements and the peculiarities of using the water area in different seasons. Photos by Svetlana Artemieva, IPEE RAS  

This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the report of Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov on "The law of homologous series in variation”. This report was voiced by Nikolai Ivanovich at the Third All-Russian Selection Congress in Saratov on June 4, 1920. The law of homologous series in variation was printed as a separate pamphlet published on the occasion of the report(1). A detailed version of the concept of the law was published in 1922 in English in a leading international genetic journal.(2) This edition, translated back into Russian, became the basis for subsequent reprints of the work of N.I. Vavilov. References and texts of the first three publications are summarized in a separate volume of works of the anniversary five-volume edition issued by the publishing house Science for the 100th anniversary of N.I. Vavilov.(3) Our institute has historical connections with the period of active work and the legacy of academician N.I. Vavilov. Initially, we were housed in the same building as a group of academic institutes of biological and chemical profiles, including the Institute of Genetics, led by N.I. Vavilov before the ill-fated arrest in 1940, repression and the death of the scientist in the Saratov prison. A print with the inscription of Vavilov to the first director of our Institute, academician A.N. Severtsov is kept in the academic library in the building on 33 Leninsky Prospekt. The next director, academician I.I. Schmalhausen in 1940, published the work of the head of the animal evolution sector, Professor S.N. Bogolyubsky (4), which was directly related to the N.I. Vavilov Law of homological series and later reissued.

While the resources of the global scientific community are concentrated on the development of the vaccine and the methods of treatment of COVID-19, the specialists in the field of sensory physiology are leading massive research of the influence of the infection on the functionality of hemosensory systems, i.e. smell, taste and trigeminal sensitivity of the oral cavity. In response to the global pandemic of COVID-19 the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR) https://gcchemosensr.org/ has been created to unite the efforts of more than 600 researchers from 52 countries. The Russian scientists have not stayed aside. The researchers of the IPEE RAS have joined the work of the Global Consortium. Through the use of crowdsourcing, starting from 22th of April more than 30 thousand responses have been received from the global survey. The first results of research, based on the survey of 4039 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in more than 40 countries including Russia have been outlined in the following article on the site of merdrxiv: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.04.20090902v2

Over the past 30 years, there has been a global decrease in the number of insects on land, but there is ongoing recovery in fresh waters. An analysis of long-term insect abundance studies shows that the number of terrestrial insects in the world is declining. On average, the global decline is 0.92% per year, which corresponds to approximately 24% over 30 years. At the same time, the number of insects living in fresh water increases annually by an average of 1.08%. Despite the average values, the trends on different continents vary greatly, and in areas where human exposure is minimized, trends are less pronounced. These are the results of the largest study to date on the change in the number of insects, including 1,676 research points around the world, published in the journal Science. The study was conducted by scientists from the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the University of Leipzig (UL), and the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution (RAS), Moscow State University and several other organizations. It fills key gaps in knowledge in the context of the widely discussed issue of reducing insect numbers.

Our Observation of the Week is this possibly undescribed Gasteracantha spider, seen in Vietnam by @ivanovdg19! Another Observation of the Week and, like so many before it, the organism in question is not a taxon which the observer studies or specializes in. Which I think is one of the coolest parts about iNat - it opens up our eyes to things we might never had noticed before. Dmitry Ivanov is a life-long nature lover, and tells me has “been fond of observation and natural photography since childhood. At first, I was interested in insects, then mushrooms and lichens. As a result, I studied as a soil ecologist, which is what I am now.”

Regualar Readings in memory of Academician V.E.Sokolov took place on February 3, 2020 at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS. The Readings were opened by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Academician V.E. Sokolov Foundation, Academician Dmitry Sergeevich Pavlov, making the introductory statement. Vladimir Evgenievich Sokolov led our Institute for more than 30 years, so on this day it is important for the employees of the Institute of IPEE of the Russian Academy of Sciences not only to honor the memory of the great scientist, but also to share the Institute’s achievements over the past year. This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Institute, the 50th anniversary of the Joint Russian-Mongolian Integrated Biological Expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the ASM, and the extension of the work of the Joint Russian-Ethiopian Biological Expedition. In 2019, the three-year period of the reporting sessions of the Institute ended and this year the second round begins. Dmitry Sergeyevich noted that the work in all the areas that Vladimir Evgenievich Sokolov formed and started continued. As part of the Readings in memory of Academician V.E. Sokolov a presentation was made by scientists of IPEE RAS. Alexey Vladimirovich Tiunov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of Soil Zoology and General Entomology, presented the report “Soil Ecology in the Tropics: Vietnam Platform”. Of the young scientists, Polina Yuryevna Dgebuadze, Ph.D., made a report "The symbiotic relationship of gastropod mollusks of the Eulimidae family and echinoderms," and Ph.D. Nechaev Dmitry Igorevich - "From the study of the hearing of dolphins to the tuning of human cochlear implants."

At the end of November 2019, a meeting was held between the vice president of the Academy of Sciences of Heilongjiang Province (PRC) and the executives of the IPEE RAS. During the meeting, they discussed the results of a three-year cooperation on two joint projects of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS and the Institute of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Academy of Sciences of Heilongjiang Province, signing the documents confirming the continuation of joint Russian-Chinese research over the next three years. Based on the results of cooperation of past years, plans for further work have been developed. In the course of the project of assessing the suitability of habitats in the mountain range of Maly Khingan in Heilongjiang Province for the restoration of the Amur tiger, key nuclear zones were identified in the territory: areas primarily subject to reforestation, the structure of ecological corridors, the territory of which is subject to special protection. The study was conducted on the basis of Earth remote sensing data with field verification for three seasons of field studies. The simulation also took into account the current state of the tiger hunting ground in the study area.

On November 29, 2019, a round table was held at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, at which the main results of the study of the Baikal seal in 2019 were summed up, as well as the relevant directions for the study and conservation of endemic for 2020 were identified. In the framework of the meeting, specialists of A. N. Severtsov Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about the results of an expedition organized in the summer of 2019 together with the Lake Baikal Foundation, the Baikal branch of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, as well as the FSBI Zapovednoe Podlemorye within the project “Baikal seal Year". The experts had the following tasks: catching seals in the Ushkany Islands, completely eliminating the probability of death of individuals, carrying out the necessary measurements and sampling for genetic, hormonal, toxicological analyzes, as well as satellite-tagging seals. An equally important purpose of the trip is to assess the total number of seals on the rookeries. Dmitry Glazov, zoologist, marine mammals specialist, leading engineer of the laboratory of sensory systems of vertebrates of the IPEE RAS, expedition participant and researcher (R&D) spoke about the details of field work and the successful marking of 15 individuals with satellite beacons and the scientists having taken samples from 21 animals. Stock counting was carried out from the shore, from a boat, as well as using an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Full-scale research aerial surveys of cetaceans “Flights with dolphins” were carried out in most of the Black Sea off the Russian coast of the Caucasus (from the Kerch Strait to Adler) over the sea with a distance of up to 200 km from shore. Aerial surveys were carried out on board the domestic La-8 amphibious aircraft. The project operator was the Clean Seas Foundation. The scientific part was carried out by a team of leading specialists in mammals of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS (IPE RAS) - a permanent partner of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia in conducting research on marine mammals. Over 6 days of flight, an area of more than 48 thousand km² was examined, the total length of the route was 3195.8 km. During the research, scientists managed to locate all three species of marine mammals living in the Black Sea. Bottlenose dolphins were most often recorded: for 124 encounters, more than 402 individuals. In second place are the white casks: for 92 meetings, about 560 individuals. The most common porpoise (Azovka) - 16 individuals. At the same time, according to scientists, there is no threat of population decline, since the flights took place much further from the coastline than the usual feeding ground for this species.

Since 2018, the Lake Baikal Foundation has been carrying out a set of activities aimed at studying the Baikal seal and forming a careful attitude to it. As part of the project “The Year of the Baikal Seal”, in July 2019, a unique expedition was organized to the Ushkany Islands by a group of specialists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution Problems of A.N. Severtsov RAS, the Baikal branch of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), as well as representatives of the FSBI “Reserved Podlemorye”. The project “Year of the Baikal Seal” was supported by the Presidential Grants Fund. Scientists shared with us their impressions of the results of field work, and talked about the significance of the project. Solovieva Maria Andreevna, zoologist, specialist in marine mammals, leading engineer of the laboratory of behavior and behavioral ecology of mammals of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of RAS, member of the expedition and performer of research: - We had an old dream to work with the Baikal seal. Thanks to the Lake Baikal Foundation, we were able to achieve it. As part of the expedition, field work was carried out, during which we installed 15 satellite transmitters on Baikal seals. Until now, many seals have never been tagged, they have been equipped with satellite transmitters merely once many years ago. Materials for genetic studies were selected from each of the captured animals to study hormonal status, various chemical pollutants, and so on. Now we are working on the processing of these field data, we receive information from satellite tags and by February we are preparing a final report with all the results.

  World Fund for Nature’s Barents Branch launches a three-year project to conserve the Red Book Atlantic walrus that inhabits the Oran Islands. This was reported by the coordinator of the environmental projects department Margarita Leskova. Together with World Fund for Nature, the Russian Arctic national park, scientists of the Marine Mammals Research and Expedition Center and the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences will work on the project, Interfax reports. The Oran Islands are the northernmost islands of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago (Arkhangelsk region), their total area is about 3 square kilometers. Environmentalists are concerned about growing threats to Atlantic walruses due to climate change, pollution of the oceans and increased tourist flow to the Arctic. Experts still do not know exactly how many individuals live on the islands. Scientists intend to install camera traps, and mark animals with satellite tags to estimate which water areas near the islands they use and where they migrate, leaving the rookery in late autumn. As reported by News.ru, a record number of walruses was observed off the northwestern coast of the Yamal Peninsula. According to estimates, there were about 300 individuals.  

Journalists of The Moscow Times talked to our employee Alexei Kotov, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, about why he signed the report “Warning scientists of the world about the climate emergency”. And about why only 4 Russian scientists did this. In total, the report was signed by 11 thousand scientists from around the world. It is published in the British scientific journal BioScience in the Opinions section. Follow the link to read the material in English.

IPEE RAS specialists Dmitry Glazov, Olga Shpak, Natalia Shumeyko, Svetlana Artemyeva, Olga Titova, Ilya Meshchersky and Maria Solovyeva will participate in the International Marine Mammal Conference in Barcelona on December 9-12, 2019, along with more than 2500 scientists, students and researchers who have dedicated their lives to study and conservation of marine animals. The main theme of this year's conference is Together for Science and Conservation. A large number of reports are devoted to climate change, ocean pollution and the reduction in the number of populations and species of marine mammals. The norm for modern researchers has been the use of advanced technologies - drones, underwater robots, autonomous sonar equipment, etc. The conference is attended by over 2500 people from 95 countries who will present 627 oral presentations and 1077 poster presentations. A large delegation of colleagues from various institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, universities, and environmental organizations is participating as well. Russian students take an active part and even schoolchildren from one of the Moscow schools presented their poster at the conference. In addition to plenary lectures, several sections, round tables, and meetings are held daily in parallel. This year a format of short 5-minute reports, which present advanced research in a concise form, is widely used.