Riistaeläinten populaatioiden dynamiikka Pohjois-Euroopassa: tiivistelmä : 7. kansainvälinen symposium. 24. – 28. Syyskuuta

We have studied Black Grouse population abundance and its dynamics in large regions of North-Europe and Urals’ taiga (Finland, Russian Karelia, Murmansk, Arhangel, Kirov and Komi regions and). The data is based on Winter Track Counts (WTC, Priklonski, 1973), where all grouse sightings are recorded. We also studied the longterm Black Grouse abundance changes in Russian and Belarus Natural Reserves (by “Chronical of Natural” Programme, including summer counts of forest grouses): Pinezhsky, Pechoro-Ilychskiy, National Park "Mechera", Nature Reserve "Kivach", "Bryansk Forest", Kostomuksha Nature Reserve Volzhsko-Kamsky National Nature Biosphere Reserve and Visimskiy State Nature Reserves. The highest and most stable abundances of Black Grouse were recorded from East Fennoscandia (Karelia – 3.6 birds per 10 km; Finland – 4.4, coefficient of variation – 12% and 27%, respectively), whereas in the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Regions and Komi republic, e.g. the species abundance indices were 0.5, 2.5 and 1.1 birds per 10 km, respectively. The “Peak” and minimal abundance years do not concur in different regions of north-European taiga. In Komi in the period from 2001 to 2013, the number of the black grouse declined twice, in Arhangel in the period 30 years – decreased fivefold. In Tatarstan Republic (Volzhsko-Kamsky National Nature Biosphere Reserve) after 1980 abundance decreased rapidly and at last 10 tears – disappeared. In Central Siberia BG are small in numbers and rare. The data suggest Black Grouse abundance varies significantly across Northern Eurasia and among years. One may presume there are some factors acting in different directions: towards convergence and towards divergence of the trends.Peer reviewe

Breast cancer incidence following low-dose rate environmental exposure: Techa River Cohort, 1956–2004

In the 1950s, the Mayak nuclear weapons facility in Russia discharged liquid radioactive wastes into the Techa River causing exposure of riverside residents to protracted low-to-moderate doses of radiation. Almost 10 000 women received estimated doses to the stomach of up to 0.47 Gray (Gy) (mean dose=0.04 Gy) from external γ-exposure and 137Cs incorporation. We have been following this population for cancer incidence and mortality and as in the general Russian population, we found a significant temporal trend of breast cancer incidence. A significant linear radiation dose–response relationship was observed (P=0.01) with an estimated excess relative risk per Gray (ERR/Gy) of 5.00 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.80, 12.76). We estimated that approximately 12% of the 109 observed cases could be attributed to radiation

Significant Asia-Europe divergence in the middle spotted woodpecker (Aves, Picidae)

Population divergence could be strongly affected by species’ ecology and might not be a direct response to climate-driven environmental change. We tested this in the middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius), a non-migratory, low-dispersal habitat specialist associated with old deciduous forests of the Western Palearctic. We present the first phylogeographic study of this species integrating genetic data (three mitochondrial loci, one autosomal and one Z-linked intron) with species distribution modelling. Based on this species’ ecology, we predicted that the middle spotted woodpecker could have colonized its current range from multiple Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) refugia and that strongly structured populations could be expected. Indeed, we discovered a strong genetic divergence between Asian and European populations, with a split estimated at around one million of years ago. This was surprising given only slight intraspecific variation in plumage and morphology. Although there was no significant phylogeographic structure within the Asian and European groups, we cannot exclude the possibility of multiple refugia within either group during the LGM. This has to be further investigated with more extensive geographic sampling and larger number of variable independently evolving markers. Future studies should also investigate potential differences in vocalizations and ecology between the two groups. Lineages showing similar level of genetic differentiation including woodpeckers are often treated as species-level taxa. Comparison of our results with the phylogeographic history of other woodpeckers, suggests that sympatric species with similar life-histories might have idiosyncratic phylogeographic patterns probably resulting from different ecological requirements or historic stochasticity