The Status of Biological Research in the Russian Arctic

... Research and the protection of nature in the Russian Arctic traditionally were carried out in the system of state nature reserves (Zapovedniks) and biological stations. As mentioned earlier, Russian state support of nature reserves and national parks has declined dramatically in recent years. Nevertheless, 11 Nature reserves currently exist in the Russian Arctic. Some of these reserves were recently established with financial support from the German and Dutch governments and international organisms such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Through these and other cooperative ventures over the past six years, protected areas in the Russian Arctic have doubled in size to over 350,000 sq km. In spite of the recent economic and political difficulties in Russia, there are many examples of successful international cooperative and collaborative scientific ventures in the Russian Arctic. ... In summary, the levels of cooperation and collaboration between Russian and foreign scientists specializing in Arctic research over the past decade have been impressive. However, as Russia struggles with internal political and economic issues over the coming years, we need to maintain existing avenues of communication and continue to offer international support. The Arctic is an important region that offers a unique opportunity for cooperative and comparative research, in part because it is subdivided among different countries (i.e., study areas) in the eastern and western hemispheres, each supporting some similar and some unique natural biological and cultural systems. The Arctic, and especially the Russian Arctic, deserves our best efforts in understanding and conserving it

Biotic fluxes of matter and energy between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems

This paper is an introduction to a special issue of the journal. A brief historical delineation of the question of studying interfaces between adjacent ecosystems (ecotones) is presented. High biodiversity of ecotones and their vulnerability to natural and anthropogenic impacts, including invasions of alien species, are noted. It is supposed that there is no contradiction between the ecotone and river continuum concepts. The important ecological role of amphibiotic animals and plants in interactions and functioning of the adjacent ecosystems is emphasized. The issue of studying the quantitative parameters of fluxes of matter and energy between ecosystems in conjunction with their qualitative parameters (chemical elemental and biochemical compositions) is considered in the present paper

Biotic fluxes of matter and energy between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems

This paper is an introduction to a special issue of the journal. A brief historical delineation of the question of studying interfaces between adjacent ecosystems (ecotones) is presented. High biodiversity of ecotones and their vulnerability to natural and anthropogenic impacts, including invasions of alien species, are noted. It is supposed that there is no contradiction between the ecotone and river continuum concepts. The important ecological role of amphibiotic animals and plants in interactions and functioning of the adjacent ecosystems is emphasized. The issue of studying the quantitative parameters of fluxes of matter and energy between ecosystems in conjunction with their qualitative parameters (chemical elemental and biochemical compositions) is considered in the present paper

Contributions of Russian Scientists to the Research of Aquatic Ecosystems in Mongolia

The article gives the overview of the studies of the aquatic fauna and fl ora of Mongolia by the Russian (and Soviet) scientists for the period of more than a century. This history is divided into three periods: the fi rst period covers the end of the 19 th and the beginning of the 20 th centuries, the second one – the middle of the 20 th century and the third one – the last one third of the 20 th and the beginning of the 21 th centuries. The fi rst period is connected with the research of Hubsugul Lake and Selenge River basin completely, the second period – with the works of Mongolian Commission and Science Committee of the Mongolian People’s Republic. The third period started in 1970’s with simultaneous organization of two important expeditions: the Joint Hubsugul Lake Expedition by the Irkutsk and Mongolian State Universities, and Joint Soviet-Mongolian Complex Biological Expedition by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. The latter expedition celebrates 40th anniversary of its permanent activity this year. In the second part of this paper the results of hydrobiological studies of this expedition led in 2000-2009 in the Selenge River basin are given

New evidence of homoplasy within the African genus Varicorhinus (Cyprinidae): an independent origin of specialized scraping forms in the adjacent drainage systems of Ethiopia inferred from mtDNA analysis

Interrelationships of the two specialized scraping periphyton-feeders, Varicorhinus  beso and V. jubae, and some large African barbs, Labeobarbus spp., inhabiting three main regions of Ethiopia (the Western and Eastern Plateaus, and the Rift Valley separating them) were investigated using the sequence analysis of a fragment (609 base pairs) of the mtDNA control region. The two scraping forms in question  appeared to be phylogenetically distant: V. beso had branched off before the main radiation of the Ethiopian Labeobarbus took place, whereas V. jubae is a sister group of the Labeobarbus gananensis complex sympatrically occurring with it in the south of the Eastern Plateau. For geographical reasons, among the congeneric species, V. jubae  could be considered as the most closely related to V. beso, the type species of the genus, but judging from the available data this genus seems to be monotypic, while jubae should be classified as a member of Labeobarbus.Key words: Cyprinidae, parallel evolution, scraping feeder, polyphyly, Varicorhinus, Africa