Abstract The stability of development (in terms of the fluctuating asymmetry of leaf measurements) was studied in populations of the silver birch Betula pendula from different parts of the range under varying degrees of anthropogenic impact (under the influence of industrial facilities in the territory of Khakassia and the Belgorod region and in the urbanized environment in Yoshkar-Ola, Yakutsk, and

Abstract The development stability has been assessed (by the magnitude of the fluctuating asymmetry of craniological traits) with the change in the number of the Korean field mouse Apodemus peninsulae in Mongolia. It has been shown that an increase in the abundance of this species is not accompanied by a violation of developmental stability, but occurs against the background of a high abundance of

Abstract The main phenological dates, including the unfolding of the first leaves, mass yellowing of the leaves, and the duration of the vegetation period, were evaluated for the silver birch Betula pendula in 2005–2018 in the central part of the European territory of Russia to identify possible phenological trends under global climate change. Evidence on a negative trend in the time of the unfolding

Abstract This paper considers the importance of monitoring the state of biological diversity as a priority area of research in the context of increasing anthropogenic impact and global climate change, modern requirements for indicators that can be used to solve this issue, and approaches for characterizing the background state and its possible deviations based on studies of homeostatic mechanisms to

Abstract The results of long-term bioindication studies aimed to evaluate the state of the silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) in Yoshkar-Ola under different anthropogenic load conditions are presented. An increase in the morphometric indices of the shoot system and leaf lamina area under anthropogenic load was observed. The fluctuating asymmetry (FA) index of B. pendula leaves growing on short shoots

Abstract The ontogenetic spectrum registers the age states of plants and is a sensitive population-based indicator of environmental changes. This is a review of population-ontogenetic methods for studies of plant populations (cenopopulations) based on the ontogenetic spectra. New age indices—the youth index and the maturity index—are introduced. For the recovery index, some boundaries for the levels

Abstract A comparative analysis of the phenetic pool of mammalian populations has been performed on the basis of two groups of characters: odontological and craniological proper. In total, 1637 skulls belonging to seven species were analyzed. It is shown that the values of population parameters (the intrapopulation diversity, proportion of rare phenes, and fluctuating asymmetry) are significantly different

Abstract— This article considers the problem of the integrity of biological systems in adverse conditions. Based on the results of original studies, analysis has been performed of the reactions of structures at various levels of organization of plant items to extreme conditions of the Far North from the standpoint of changes in the density of their internal connections. Taking into account the idea

Abstract Thyroid hormones (THs) are the most important regulators of coloration ontogeny in teleosts. It has been shown experimentally that alterations in the hormonal status due to prolonged treatment with a biologically active form of THs, triiodothyronine, causes changes in the development of adult pigment patterns in bilaterally symmetrical Amatitlania nigrofasciata and Poecilia wingei. Induced

Abstract The paper addresses the habitat conditions and genetic structure of a common hamster population at the initial stage of formation in an urban environment. This sinurbic species formed a large population in the newly established Presidential Park in the center of the City of Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, within a relatively short period (no more than 12 years) due to a complex of favorable

Abstract A procedure for dividing species into ecogeographic units (EGUs) and ecogeographic aggregations (EGAs) identified according to data on habitat gradients and distinctive features of migration (gene flows) is discussed. It is noted that every EGU or EGA can be regarded as a unit of reserves, reproduction, exploitation, or protection.

Abstract Responses of the mammalian population (Micromammalia and game species) to the technogenic transformation of natural landscapes in different regions of Yakutia are studied. It is established that game species are mainly affected by direct persecution, and the transformation of the population of small mammals depends primarily on the intensity of technogenic landscape transformation and geographical

Abstract For the first time, reconstruction was carried out and a comparative analysis of the evolution of the parameters of biological diversity (species richness, entropy, dominance index, measure of organization, etc.) of mammalian complexes of six mountain regions of Eurasia in the Late Pleistocene–Holocene was performed. It was shown that their reactions to the MIS 5e and MIS 1 interglacial conditions

Abstract Nitrogen-fixing activity of microorganisms in the intestines of Crane fly (Tipulidae) larvae and their influence on the processes of microbial nitrogen fixation in soil have been studied. Two independent methods have shown high rates of nitrogenase activity in the digestive tract of larvae, which is determined mainly by transit nitrogen-fixing microorganisms. Nitrogen fixers actively developing

Abstract The dependence of recovery of the soil zoocoenosis on succession of the plant community after soil remediation was examined. An increase in the population density of invertebrates was registered in the following phytocoenotic succession on the “agrochemical techniques” experimental site: no plants—low projective cover—high projective cover (5100 ± 1340, 12 400 ± 2823, and 22 040 ± 3008 ind

Abstract The natural isolate of xylotrophic basidiomycetes Hericium erinaceus BP 16 was cultivated artificially to produce fruiting bodies from which the polysaccharide-containing fraction (PF) was isolated by extraction with hot water (70°C), followed by precipitation with 96% ethanol. Residues of rhamnose, fructose, xylose, arabinose, mannose, glucose, and galactose in the ratio of 7 : 8 : 1 : 19

Abstract The effects of cryopreservation for different periods of time on the amplitudes of AMPA (α‑amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid) and NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) glutamatergic ionotropic mechanisms and the action potential of the lateral olfactory tract (AP LOT) at –20°C and subsequent warming to 37°C was studied. Experiments were performed on brain slices of 22 nonhibernating

Abstract All taxa of Erigeron sect. Conyza are invasive in the Mediterranean basin. Three species, E. bonariensis, E. canadensis, and E. sumatrensis, are the most widespread in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Based on analysis of the morphological features (the shape and the diameter of inflorescences, the degree of the pubescence of the shoots and leaves), several individuals could not be attributed to

Abstract We built a map of the distribution of earthworm abundance in coniferous forests in the area affected by long-term emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter. It is established that a “lumbricide desert” of about 65 km2 without earthworms in the forest litter and soil mineral horizons has been formed near the smelter due to extremely high concentrations of heavy metals. However, we have

Abstract—The long-term dynamics of the macrozoobenthos and concentrations of plant pigments in silts of the riverine reach of the reservoir for the period of 1947–2015 are discussed. We have found that the abundance of the macrozoobenthos and the content of sedimentary pigments have significantly increased in recent years. In the temporal aspect, statistically significant relationships of the sum content