Reasons for turning to population biology Actual task nature management - reorientation to the restoration of ecosystem functions, including the functions of biological diversity. Its solution must be based on the integration of a huge amount of knowledge for a deeper insight into the patterns of the organization. natural systems. One of the possible ways of such integration is the rethinking of the classical concepts of synecology from the standpoint of population biology.
Basic concepts of population biology In population biology (demography) of animals and plants, living cover is a system of populations different types interacting with each other (Rabotnov, 1950; Uranov, 1975; Harper, 1977; The population structure, 1985; Smirnova, 1998). The minimum unit in plants is an elementary demographic unit, in animals it is the minimum viable population (Thomas, 1990; Smirnova et al., 1993; Remmert 1994; Smirnova et al., 2000; Traill et al., 2007; Zeigler et al., 2010) . Common name - elemental population
The basic concepts of population biology "Population" in demography is a set of individuals of the same species living in a certain territory, interconnected by kinship relations (the flow of generations), a system of mutual relations, and delimited from such sets on the basis of the conditions adopted for solving a specific problem ( Cenopopulations of plants, 1988).
Basic concepts of population biology An elementary population (EP) is a real unit of a species in a community and a unit of biota in an ecosystem. Species-specific parameters of EP: 1) the size of the space required for a sustainable flow of generations; 2) the duration of the turnover of generations; 3) ecological density: the number or mass of individuals per unit area or volume; 4) placement of individuals in space; 5) ways to transform the environment.
Basic concepts of population biology The set of species-specific parameters of EP that determine the features of the distribution of individuals in space is a population pattern or a population mosaic. These parameters of EP can be determined in ecosystems, the development of which for many generations of individuals took place without natural disasters or human impacts, or calculated based on the study of the biology of species, observations in nature of individual stages of the formation of EP after disturbances, or on the basis of model experiments.
Species-specific parameters of the EP of plants of broad-leaved forests: T - duration of generation turnover, S - space size Life forms Species T, years S, m holly x10 4 Small-leaved linden x10 4 Common ash 2501.3x10 5 English oak 3504.2x10 5
Basic Concepts of Synecology from a Population Perspective The study of the population life of different species led to the formulation of the concept of “disturbance” (The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics, 1985). Disturbance is any transformation of a habitat resulting from the life and death of individuals and their groups in a population. Destruction of undergrowth and formation of zoogenic glades by gregarious ungulates; construction of lodges, dams and systems of ponds by beavers; marmot colonial buildings; the formation of windows in the forest stand by needle- and leaf-eating insects and wood-destroying fungi, etc., leads to the creation of qualitatively new habitats of different sizes in ecosystems: from nano- to macro-habitats that inhabit ecologically different kinds(Disturbance Dynamics in Boreal Forest…, 2002).
Environment transformation as a manifestation of population life The result of the development of population thinking: replacement of the concept of "disturbance" with the concept of "environment transformation", i.e. recognition of the environment-transforming activity of any species in an ecosystem as an immanent property of the biota of an ecosystem; awareness of the fundamental differences between these concepts: environmental transformation means internal processes that determine the functioning of ecosystems as a whole, violation is more correctly used in relation to external processes that violate natural mechanisms.
Examples of phyto- and zoogenic habitats formed as a result of environmental transformation activities (Smirnova, 1998) Variants Area Depth of substrate change Peculiarities of substrate change cm Soil compaction, deterioration of aeration and moisture capacity Hillocks VPKm2m2 up to 1-2 m Pedoturbation, aeration, increase in moisture capacity Depressions VPKm2m2 up to 1-2 m and temperature air and soil Parking bison. m 2 des. Soil compaction, deterioration of aeration and moisture capacity Cascades of beaver ponds hundreds of thousand m 2 dess. cm - m Increase in air humidity, smoothing temperature fluctuations
Disturbance is an exogenous process in relation to the ecosystem as a whole. A significant excess of the size and other parameters of the environmentally transforming impacts of some ecosystem inhabitants on others and on the ecotope can be the result and evidence of deep previous disturbances in the natural organization of ecosystems. Such impacts are exogenous processes in relation to the ecosystem. , they can be considered as true violations.
Basic concepts of population biology and synecology The formation of ideas about population mosaics made it possible to consider the living cover as a set of such mosaics of different species belonging to different trophic groups and having different sizes of space necessary for a stable flow of generations. The task of dividing the totality of these mosaics (patterns) into elementary units can be solved using the concept of key species (ecosystem engineers, edifiers).
Characteristics key species (ecosystem engineers, edifiers) Key species in the process of generation flow most significantly (compared to species of the same trophic level) transform the habitat of the EP as a whole and its elements. This leads to a change in the hydrological, temperature, and light regimes; micro-, mesorelief; buildings soil cover etc. (The mosaic-cycle concept…1991; Crain and Bertness, 2006). The internal heterogeneity of the EP habitat of the key species determines the possibility of coexistence in it of ecologically and biologically different subordinate species and, as a result, high level biodiversity (Monitoring…, 2008).
Definition and explanation of the basic concepts of synecology from the standpoint of population biology Ecosystem - a set of interacting populations of species of different trophic groups and habitats actively transformed by them. This definition is fundamentally different in the following positions: 1) an element of the biota of an ecosystem is not an individual (organism), but a population, which is a set of individuals of the same species; this approach is fully consistent with the system paradigm and restores the natural order of the hierarchy of biosystems;
Definition and explanation… 2) in all the definitions of ecosystems we have analyzed, living and non-living things are evaluated as equal components, it is more expedient to focus on biota as the determining principle in the ecosystem; 3) active transformation of habitats by a set of populations of all types of biota determines the possibility of forming ecosystems in different habitats, the biotas of which are similar in composition and structure.
Consequences of defining the concept of "ecosystem" from population positions biota (climax ecosystem). The size, composition, and structure of climax ecosystems can be determined in nature or population mosaics of key species can be reconstructed.
Consequences... It must be recognized that the impossibility of reaching the climax state by modern ecosystems is due, first of all, to huge gaps in the ranges of key and subordinate species caused by anthropogenic activities. Overcoming them is possible only with the organization of purposeful restoration.
Consequences... The presence of key species with different EPs in the climax ecosystem determines their mosaic-hierarchical organization; The boundaries of climax ecosystems can be determined in nature or reconstructed by changing the most powerful key species; Model calculations of the minimum areas of climax ecosystems are based on determining the size of elementary populations of the most powerful key species.
Difficulties in implementing the proposed concepts 1) the almost complete absence of climax ecosystems in most of the land area; 2) the lack of necessary information about the population biology of the preserved key species and related companies of subordinate species; 3) the absence of model reconstructions of climax ecosystems at different stages of the Holocene; 4) the lack of research on the material and energy organization of ecosystems from the standpoint of population biology and the basic concepts of synecology
Definition and explanation of the basic concepts of synecology from the standpoint of population biology Climax is such a state of the ecosystem, which is characterized by the process of maintaining stable flows of generations in the populations of all potential members of the biota and the fullest use of habitat resources due to the environmental transformation activity of key species.
Explanation… Climax ecosystems can be considered only those that include all the key species that are potentially able to currently inhabit the model area. If some of the key and associated subordinate species are absent, it is more correct to call ecosystems quasi-climax.
Definitions and explanations of the basic concepts of synecology Succession is the process of formation (primary autogenic succession) or restoration (secondary autogenic succession) of generation flows in populations of all types of ecosystem biota, aimed at achieving their full realization of biota potentials and the fullest possible use of habitat resources.
Explanation…. Driving force autogenic succession is the environment-transforming activity of key species, causing an increase in the heterogeneity of the environment from the initial stages to the final ones, which leads to a decrease in the role of competitive relations and an increase in the role of mutualistic relationships and complementarity (spatio-temporal division of resources).
Explanations… The proper time of autogenic succession is the time from the beginning of the development of an ecosystem to its transition to a climax state. It can be determined only under the condition of spontaneous development of the ecosystem. It is advisable to determine the proper time of succession of autogenic succession by the number of fundamentally different stages (for example, early, middle, late succession)
Explanation… Each of the stages of succession can be characterized by the degree of formation of population mosaics of key species and the completeness of potential biota. At the same time, the duration of each stage in astronomical time can also be calculated, which will make it possible to estimate the duration of the same stages in different climatic zones.
Explanation…. The ecosystem's own space is formed during autogenic succession and is fully manifested in the climax state. The ecosystem's own space is the result of the formation and interaction of population mosaics of key and subordinate species in the course of autogenic succession from the initial to the climax state.
Explanation… It is advisable to distinguish between: the minimum space for identifying a climax ecosystem and the proper space for a climax ecosystem. The minimum space is determined by calculating the size of the space required for the sustainable circulation of generations of the most powerful elementary population or a group of the most powerful key species, or reconstructed from indirect data.
Explanations… The proper space of the climax ecosystem is reconstructed based on a comparison of the ranges of key species of different functional groups and model determinations of the limits of the environment-transforming function of the biota as a whole in relation to the abiotic component of the landscape and to the climate.
Definitions and explanations of the basic concepts of synecology (the concept of "succession") Differences in the interpretation of the concept of "succession" are due to the fact that it is used to explain fundamentally different development processes: endogenous, exogenous-endogenous and exogenous. Endogenous development is due to the formation of stable flows of generations in the populations of all members of the biota after a single, complete or partial destruction of the previous ecosystem. This path of development is called autogenic primary or autogenic secondary succession (Odum, 1975).
Explanations... Exogenous-endogenous development is caused by periodic interruption by external influences of generation flows in populations of all or part of biota species. If external influences cease, then the development of the ecosystem becomes endogenous. The process is called allogeneic succession or allogeneic development (Mirkin et al., 1989).
Explanation ... Exogenous development is due to external influences. It can be of two types. The first type - digressions - is typical for ecosystems that have clearly different potencies and positions; at the same time, environmental conditions do not prevent the realization of the potential of ecosystems after the cessation of external influences. The second type is typical for aggregations of individuals of different species that do not have emergent properties. In phytocenology, they are called "ecotopically conditioned groups" (Korchagin, 1976).
The sequence of actions for the study of forest cover from the standpoint of population biology 1. Selection of a model area, which, according to literature data and reconnaissance studies, is characterized by the least (within the region) anthropogenic transformations. 2. Compilation of a list of key plant and animal species that previously lived in the climax ecosystems of the model area, based on the synthesis of historical, archaeological and paleontological materials.
Sequence of actions ….. 3. Compilation of a list of key species of the model area, determination of the parameters of their EP, typification of population mosaics, determination of their size, duration of existence. 4. Determination of the degree of formation of population mosaics of key species in ecosystems of different successional status; construction of successional series within ecotopes of the same type by increasing this parameter.
Sequence of actions... 5. Calculation of the minimum areas for identifying ecosystems of different successional status based on determining the completeness of the formation of population mosaics of key species. 6. Identification of indicators among subordinate species, i.e. species confined to certain types and variants of population mosaics of key species. Studies of vegetation, soils, soil biota, mycobiota and terrestrial animal populations of population mosaics of different species.
Sequence of actions ... 7. Search in nature or modeling of quasi-climax ecosystems, i.e. ecosystems that have all variants of population mosaics that form the key species that have survived in the study area. 8. Calculations of the minimum area for identifying quasi-climax ecosystems, typification of population mosaics of key species of these ecosystems and determination of their position in the landscape structure.
Sequence of actions ... 9. Modeling the composition and structure of forest cover: a. potential, which existed before the start of active anthropogenic transformations and was composed of climax ecosystems with a complete set of key species; b. restored, which will be formed upon the complete cessation of anthropogenic impacts and will be represented by quasi-climax ecosystems with key and subordinate species that have survived to this day.
Sequence of actions… Assess the loss of structural and taxonomic diversity of the restored forest cover and compare with the potential. 11. Development of nature management models focused on the most complete consideration of the natural patterns of the structure and dynamics of potential forest cover.
As shown in the first chapter, the purpose of this work is to analyze the structure and dynamics of the living cover of Eastern European forests from a population standpoint.
The third part analyzes the main features of the population biology of plants in Eastern European forests. As an integral characteristic of species, their population behavior or population strategy is considered.
The distribution of species by types of population strategies was carried out separately for groups of species that exist in the same time and space and claim the same portion of the resource. In the zoological literature such groups of species are called guilds, in the botanical literature they are called sinusia (Smirnova, 1987). It is advisable to analyze the types of behavior in plants of similar life forms occupying the same spatiotemporal niche and belonging to the same trophic level, i.e. belonging to the same synusia (Cenopopulations..., 1988). This is determined by the fact that the species of the same synusia are characterized by a similar impact on the environment and perform a similar role in the community. In addition, the biological originality of species is most fully manifested in the simultaneous study of the entire historically formed set of species. In the forests of the temperate zone, synusia of trees, shrubs, summer vegetative herbs and shrubs, and early spring ephemeroids are usually considered as such (Vostochnoevropeiskie..., 1994).
The population strategy has been characterized in most detail in trees and shrubs, and in less detail in herbs and shrubs. Among herbs, the following synusias were considered: ephemeroids, broad oak grasses, boreal small grasses, and meadow-edge tall grasses. Since studies of population biology involve the use of concepts that are not unambiguously interpreted in the literature, this section provides explanations of the basic concepts of population biology (Smirnova et al., 2002 a, b).
Definition of the term "population". The term "population" in demographic studies denotes a set of individuals of the same species living together in a certain territory, interconnected by kinship relations (the flow of generations), a system of internal relationships, and delimited from other similar populations (Cenopopulations..., 1976, 1988). Ideas about the hierarchy of biosystems at the population level from the cenopopulation to the species population (the entire set of individuals of a species within the range) have been developed. In most cases, it is difficult or impossible to recognize the real boundaries of the accumulation of individuals of a species, then a population is called a collection of individuals of the species under study within a space that is clearly limited by the boundaries of some natural object. Thus, a set of individuals of a species within the boundaries of a phytocenosis is commonly called a "coenopopulation", and within the boundaries of one ecotope - an ecotopic population. Further in the description concrete examples we use general term"population", the rank of the object of the population level (cenopopulation, local population, ecotopic, etc.) is specified if necessary.
The development of the hunting economy has always been closely connected with the successes of biology. In turn, the biology and especially the ecology of animals received a lot from hunters and hunters. Suffice it to recall that a number of prominent biologists worked in the field of hunting and hunting. We can mention the names of Academician M. A. Menzbir, professors B. M. Zhitkov, A. N. Formozov, V. G. Geptner, S. P. Naumov and many others. Biologists P. Errington, L. Siivonen, O. Kalel, Y. Koskimis and others are widely known in the hunting world abroad.
In recent decades, biology has been rapidly developing as a result of extensive contact with related natural sciences and the penetration of ideas, methods and principles of physics, chemistry and mathematics into it. Before our eyes, not only are its new sections emerging, for example molecular biology, but a new basis is also being created for the development of long-standing sciences - systematics, morphology and physiology, ecology and biogeography. New technical possibilities make it necessary to revise many old provisions and contribute to the emergence of new sections.
Among the latter, for the hunting economy, the so-called population biology, studying biological macrosystems - populations of individual species and their communities or biocenoses. The main problems of population biology, which are of the utmost importance for hunting, can be named as follows:
- Dynamics of populations of game animals and forecasting changes in their numbers.
- The structure of populations, intra- and interpopulation relationships and connections as natural mechanisms for maintaining the level of animal abundance.
- Forms and methods of communication of animals as the basis of their behavior; study of the mechanisms of intraspecific and interspecific signaling and development of methods for controlling the behavior of animals in natural conditions.
- The role and significance of the exploitation of game animals in the dynamics of their populations as a biological basis for the development of hunting techniques.
- The study of the ecology of individual species and their relationship with the environment in order to develop measures to increase the level of abundance and improve their quality.
For our country, with its vast expanses and variety of hunting grounds, these common biological problems are of paramount importance. Essentially the same issues are faced by workers in other areas. Agriculture and healthcare. There have long been good traditions of exchange of experience and often of joint work.
After a relatively short-term enthusiasm for the theory of the so-called biological cycles, which saw the causes of fluctuations in the relationship of species in the biocenosis, most biologists, under the influence of the ideas of the American entomologist R. Chapman, were carried away by the idea of climatic cycles. This theory looked for the causes of population fluctuations in changes in the external environment and, above all, in climatic conditions that affect animals both directly, through heat exchange, thermoregulation, and water exchange, and indirectly, through food supplies or cohabitants - community partners. In our country, these views also found many ardent supporters.
However, the limitations of both points of view soon became clear. Adherents of each of them paid attention to only one of the aspects of population dynamics and, as often happens, exaggerated the significance of the facts they discovered. Russian researchers were perhaps the first to pay attention to the role and significance of intrapopulation relationships in population dynamics, which determine a certain structure and organization of populations and allow one to adapt to a changing environment through intra- and interpopulation relationships. Both in our country and abroad, the mechanisms of intraspecific adaptations were discovered and studied, which ensure the regulation of reproduction, movement, use of the territory, and much more, reducing the death and increasing the survival of animals, i.e., stabilizing the number of populations. The resulting changes in the state of animals and the structure of populations are controlled by the humoral factor and are accompanied by changes in the behavior of animals, especially their mobility and in their relationships with each other. It should be noted that these mechanisms have not yet been studied enough. At the same time, their knowledge opens up new opportunities not only for forecasts, but also for the active regulation of changes in the number of wild animals.
Current forecasting practice is based on comparing changes in population size with changes in environment. It allows, with a high degree of probability, to determine the general trends of changes, but usually does not make it possible to predict the quantitative side of changes.
Hence the need for a deep and comprehensive study of population dynamics, which unites the efforts of ecologists and morphologists, physiologists and biochemists, geneticists and mathematicians, is clear. Methods deserve special attention. mathematical modeling increasingly used in animal ecology.
The most important task, which is primarily of practical importance, should be the study of a species as a complex system of populations. Each of these populations, called geographical or independent, occupying a zone of similar favor, has its own rhythm of life phenomena and the course of changes in the number of Formoses. As a rule, they break up into smaller groups - the so-called ecological and elementary populations, connected by constant interaction. Some of them form permanent settlements of animals in stations or centers of experience. others exist only temporarily, occupying temporarily favorable habitats. During migrations, and especially the dispersal of young animals, there is a mutual or one-sided exchange of individuals between these populations, which is of great importance for their dynamics.
Thus, numerous data have shown that the degree of stability, and in many cases the level of the number of geographic populations, is associated with their dissection.
Occupying large and uniform spaces and therefore not divided into smaller groups, populations can reach high densities at times, but are usually unstable and subject to extinction. On the contrary, in mosaic landscapes, populations break up into subordinate groupings, which makes it possible to experience even
extremely unfavorable situations and ensures the stability of their numbers. The study and detailed large-scale mapping of the distribution of game animals, the identification of the number and boundaries of individual populations is necessary both for predicting the number and for economic and reclamation measures. So far, little attention has been paid to it.
Penetration into the biology of cybernetics and the emergence of bionics open up new opportunities for hunting. The study of behavior, and especially the means and methods of animal communication, creates the basis for controlling the behavior of even large masses of wild animals. Particularly important from this point of view are unconditioned reflexes responsible for stable, strictly determined forms of behavior. They are associated with the biologically most cottony distress signals, herd behavior, food, etc., and can be sound, visual, chemical, tactile, etc. The successful experience of their use in the fight against harmful species is rapidly expanding. So far, mainly deterrent signals are used, but in the hunting economy, attracting signals can be even more important. A deep study of the orientation of animals will also reveal the mechanisms that determine this or that structure of populations, with which the reproduction and movement of animals are associated.
The question of the influence of hunting itself on the number, condition and qualitative composition of the animal population is of paramount importance in the hunting economy. It is well lit for game fish, but much worse for game animals. Until recently, the notion of natural and independent fishing mortality should be discarded. It has been proven that taking animals necessarily changes the natural mortality and dynamics of their herd. But at least, to a certain extent, increased fishing reduces natural mortality, while simultaneously increasing the reproductive capacity of the population.
However, the degree of such a positive influence depends not only on the norms of shooting or trapping, but also on the methods of obtaining and especially on the time of hunting. The most rational terms are soon after the cessation of reproduction, i.e., at the seasonal maximum of abundance. This positive effect of fishing is ensured by the so-called compensation effect, discovered independently by S. A. Severtsov and the American ecologist P. Errington. In accordance with this law, an increase in death from one cause, as a rule, is accompanied by a decrease, and sometimes the cessation of death from other causes. Compensation is also associated with the well-known rejuvenation of the age composition of the population. But with increased production and progressive rejuvenation, there is a danger of a reduction in the herd of producers and the extinction of the population. The hunting economy knows many such examples.
A simple list and the most superficial presentation of the main problems of population biology shows how great their importance is for hunting. Hunters should pay close attention to them.
Wild reindeer: study unconditioned reflexes associated with distress signals, herd behavior, create the basis for managing even large masses of animals.
The tradition of holding All-Russian population seminars was founded at the Mari State University in 1997. The first three seminars were held in Yoshkar-Ola, and then in different cities of Russia (Moscow, Kazan, Nizhny Tagil, Syktyvkar, Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa, Izhevsk, Tolyatti). The seminars discuss a wide range of problems in population biology: natural and model populations of plants, fungi, animals and humans, population genetics, population toxicology, molecular genetic methods, mathematical models And statistical methods in population studies.
The twelfth seminar returned to Yoshkar-Ola and was held from 11 to 14 April at the Mari State University in memory of mastermind and one of the founders of the population seminars, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Honorary Worker higher vocational education Russian Federation, full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Honorary Professor of MarSU Nikolai Glotov. Nikolai Vasilyevich is a well-known Russian geneticist, one of the founders of population biology in our country, a specialist in the field of biometrics, a brilliant lecturer, a wonderful teacher, and a talented organizer of science. He has worked in the system for over 45 years. higher education: Moscow State University them. M. V. Lomonosov, Leningrad (St. Petersburg) State University, Mari State University, lectured as a guest lecturer in various Russian universities. Wherever he worked, he created scientific teams in which he united his students and followers. Professor N.V. Glotov is the author of more than 280 scientific works published in domestic and foreign publications. results scientific research NV Glotova are cited in textbooks of genetics.
Scientists from 29 regions of Russia took part in the XII seminar, among them were both scientists who have already received wide recognition in the scientific community (employees of academic institutions and universities, academicians, corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professors, associate professors), and graduate students who are still starting their scientific career. MarSU students had a wonderful opportunity not only to take part in the seminar, but also to listen to plenary reports of eminent scientists from all over the country.
