An animal in its habitat. Fauna in the modified environment. Inhabitants of the aquatic environment

Living nature cannot exist without light, since solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface is practically the only source of energy for maintaining the thermal balance of the planet, creating organic substances by phototrophic organisms of the biosphere, which ultimately ensures the formation of an environment that can satisfy the vital needs of all living beings.

Each animal lives in a certain habitat: some - in the water, others - near the water, some - on the surface of the earth, others - penetrating the soil or settling in caves. The habitat includes components of inanimate and animate nature, which affect the life of an animal in different ways. Some are necessary for them, without them an animal cannot live and reproduce its own kind, others are harmful, others are indifferent. The main components of the environment, i.e., the conditions of existence, without which the animal cannot do and which always influence it in the process of life. These are food, water, air, environmental temperature, housing, other organisms.

Food gives the animal the substances necessary for its growth and development, and energy for the implementation of life processes in cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, throughout the body. Water is the basis of the internal environment of the body, it is where metabolism takes place. At the same time, water is the habitat for a large number of species of fish, mammals, arthropods, mollusks, protozoa and other animals. Air is necessary for animals to breathe. When oxygen is consumed, substances that have entered the body in the form of food are oxidized with the release of energy, and carbon dioxide is removed from the body of the animal. Aquatic animals absorb oxygen dissolved in water. At the same time, many species of birds, insects and other organisms use the air environment to move in it, mastering the ground space. With food, water and air, the animal receives the substances necessary for its life. The temperature of the environment is its thermal state, which favors or does not favor the life of the animal, activating or disrupting the metabolism in the body.

Light is needed for the orientation of most animals in space. Due to the constancy of sunrises and sunsets, the variability of the light regime during the day, at different times of the year, and depending on geographical zoning, light will certainly correct the rhythm of life of animals, affecting them. daily activity, stimulating the seasonal phenomena in their lives.

Dwelling - hole, nest, lair, hollow, cave. Animals temporarily or permanently use these places for rest, sleep, reproduction, shelter from enemies and bad weather. A dwelling is also an area that is used as a living space. It can be the life of one animal, the whole family or group. This is a habitat, which can be a multi-tiered forest, or an open field with cultivated plants grown on it, or a limited pond, or the endless depths of the ocean.

Finally, the conditions of existence include other organisms - animals and plants that live next to the animal, with which it certainly comes into contact, either simply by settling in a particular space, or through food connections. Reproducing its own kind, each animal finds itself living in a group of its relatives, individuals with whom it is connected by parental, sexual, and kinship relationships. This, of course, is reflected in the interaction with other conditions of existence, which is especially noticeable when there is a lack of food, water, air, and territory.

The life of an animal without connection with the environment is impossible, even if it takes place in a limited space of soil, in a cave, in a room artificially created for the animal by man (in a terrarium, in an aquarium). At the same time, living in the environment, animals change it, and consequently, change their conditions of existence.

In our article we will consider the characteristics of the animal kingdom. Representatives of this systematic unit are very diverse and widely distributed in nature. These include more than 5 million species, including humans.

The Animal Kingdom: General Characteristics and Diversity

How can you tell if an organism is an animal? First of all, this is a heterotrophic way of feeding, active movement in space, developed nervous system, a pronounced reaction to a stimulus. These are the main characteristics of the Animal Kingdom.

The number of species of these representatives of the organic world is several times greater than plants and fungi combined. Among animals, there are both microscopic unicellular organisms and real giants. For example, a humpback whale, whose body length approaches 15 meters.

Habitat

In nature, animals can be found absolutely everywhere. Their main habitat is ground-air. They run on the ground, fly, crawl in a wide variety of conditions: from hot deserts to cold tundra. A large number of animals live in water bodies. This is the dolphins. In some species, life is only partially connected with water: walruses, seals, elephant seals, seals. Soil inhabitants are traditionally considered to be many types of worms. But mole rats and moles also live here. Their organs of vision are underdeveloped due to adaptation to the lack of sunlight.

Nutrition

Consumption of prepared organic substances is the main characteristic of the animal kingdom. This feature is decisive in matters of classification. For example, the unicellular organism Chlamydomonas actively moves with the help of flagella and a light-sensitive eye. But he is a representative of the plant world, because he is capable of photosynthesis.

Active movement of the body in space is another important characteristic of the animal kingdom. Unicellular species carry it out with the help of special structures. They are called organelles of movement. In ciliates, these are numerous cilia, in green euglena - a flagellum. But it does not have a permanent body shape. Its cytoplasm constantly forms temporary protrusions - pseudopodia, or pseudopodia.

Do the movement carry out more complex structures. So, coelenterates have skin-muscle cells. Contracting, they change the shape and position of the body in space. The integuments of the worms are represented by a skin-muscular sac. It consists of an integumentary epithelium, as well as one or more layers of muscles. Highly organized animals have a musculoskeletal system. It is a combination of skeleton and muscles. The differentiation of the latter allows animals to carry out the most complex movements.

Growth

The increase in body size of most animals occurs only during a certain time of their life. Such growth is called limited. For example, the formation of a person stops at about 25 years. Unlimited growth is also a characteristic of some members of the animal kingdom. It is characteristic of crocodiles, turtles, and some species of fish.

In insects, crustaceans and reptiles, growth is accompanied by molting. The fact is that their covers are not capable of stretching. And only the shedding of the cuticle and chitin allows the body to increase in size.

Methods of reproduction and development

Most animals are characterized sexual reproduction. It occurs with the participation of germ cells - eggs and sperm. The process of their merging is called fertilization. Depending on the place in which it occurs, fertilization can be external or internal.

In the first case, germ cells merge outside the body of the female. This feature is typical for amphibians and fish. Since fertilized eggs are not protected from adverse environmental conditions, females throw thousands of eggs into the water. In the second case, both fertilization and subsequent development are carried out inside female body. Therefore, such individuals are more likely to survive, and their number is less.

In rare cases, animals can reproduce by budding. For example, freshwater hydra. First, a small protrusion forms on her body, it increases in size, acquires the features of an adult organism, after which it passes to an independent existence. Some species of crustaceans reproduce parthenogenetically. This is the development of an organism from an unfertilized egg.

The mode of individual development is another characteristic of the animal kingdom. These are qualitative changes in organisms. At direct development an animal is born that is a copy of an adult organism. It is characteristic of birds, reptiles, and mammals.

If an individual is born that is significantly different from an adult, then this method of development is called indirect. For example, frog larvae look like fish fry and actively swim in the water. The same can be said about butterflies. Their larvae, which are called caterpillars, eat the leaves of plants, and the adults eat the nectar of flowers.

The best of the best

A brief description of the animal kingdom would be incomplete without an acquaintance with the most unusual of them. The record holder for size is blue whale reaching a length of more than 30 meters. The weight of this giant is also impressive - 190 tons. And Even a schoolboy will answer that it is a giraffe. The most surprising is the fact that with a growth of about 6 meters in his cervical region there are only 7 vertebrae. The same number for field mouse, and the chinchilla.

The title of the fastest on the planet is rightfully occupied by a cheetah, an antelope, a killer whale, and a sailboat fish. In their habitat, no one will keep up with them. Among the strong men, the rhinoceros beetle is in the lead, which is able to lift 850 times its own weight.

So, the main characteristics of representatives of the animal kingdom are:

• distribution in all habitats;
• heterotrophic nutrition;
• active movement in space;
• development of the musculoskeletal and nervous system;
• limited growth.

Animals are settled almost on the entire surface of the Earth. Due to their mobility, the ability to adapt evolutionarily to colder conditions of existence, due to their lack of direct dependence on sunlight, animals have occupied more habitats than plants. However, it should be remembered that animals depend on plants, as plants serve as a source of food for them (for herbivores, and predators eat herbivores).

Here, in the context of animal habitats, we will understand animal habitats.

In total, there are four habitats for animals. These are 1) ground-air, 2) water, 3) soil and 4) other living organisms. Speaking about the ground-air environment of life, sometimes it is divided into ground and, separately, air. However, even flying animals land on the ground sooner or later. In addition, moving on the ground, the animal is also in the air. Therefore, the ground and air environments are combined into one ground-air environment.

There are animals that live in two environments at once. For example, many amphibians (frogs) live both in water and on land, a number of rodents live in soil and on the surface of the earth.

Ground-Air Habitat

In the ground-air environment, most species of animals. The land turned out to be, in a sense, the most convenient environment for their life. Although in evolution animals (and plants) arose in water and only later came to the surface.

Most worms, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals live on land. Many species of animals are capable of flight, so they spend part of their lives exclusively in the air.

Animals of the ground-air environment are usually characterized by high mobility, good vision.

The land-air environment is characterized by a wide variety of habitat conditions (tropical forests and forests temperate climate, meadows and steppes, deserts, tundras and much more). Therefore, the animals of this environment of life are characterized by great diversity, they can differ greatly from each other.

aquatic habitat

The aquatic habitat differs from the air in greater density. Here animals can afford to have very massive bodies (whales, sharks) as the water supports them and makes their bodies lighter. However, moving in a dense environment is more difficult, so aquatic animals most often have a streamlined body shape.

Almost no sunlight penetrates into the depths of the sea, so the organs of vision may be poorly developed in deep-sea animals.

Aquatic animals are divided into plankton, nekton and benthos. Plankton passively swims in the water column (for example, unicellular), nekton- these are actively swimming animals (fish, whales, etc.), benthos lives on the bottom (corals, sponges, etc.).

soil habitat

The soil as a habitat is characterized by a very high density and lack of sunlight. Here the animals do not need the organs of sight. Therefore, they are either not developed (worms) or reduced (moles). On the other hand, in the soil there are not such significant temperature drops as on the surface. Many worms, insect larvae, ants live in the soil. There are also soil inhabitants among mammals: moles, mole rats, burrowing animals.

Living organisms as a habitat

Parasites usually live in other living organisms. So among the parasites there are many worms (ascaris, bovine tapeworm, etc.). The advantage of parasitism is an excess of food and protection from the negative influences of the external environment. However, parasitism often leads to a simplification of the structure of the body, the loss of a number of organs. The most common problem for parasites is getting into the body of the host. Therefore, they have a very high fertility.

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Introduction

Each species of animal or plant world has the right to exist on Earth. He approved this right in the course of evolutionary development from the species that preceded him in their environment and managed to defend his existence as a special biological unit. And in the process of development, he managed to find his place in the world around him as an integral part of the ecosystem of the biological community. Such a community is by no means a static formation: in the process of the evolution of life on Earth, some species disappeared, others appeared. With the advent of man, his destructive force joined the natural elemental transformation of the biosphere. But in the beginning, a balance was still maintained between the human desire to preserve natural components and the desire to transform them. Being an integral part of the ecosystem, he himself tried to adapt to it.

However, soon - as soon as the population increased, urban ecosystems arose, and the development of technology began - this balance was destroyed. Peoples who have not yet been touched by civilization feel well the extent to which they can take everything they need from surrounding nature without fear of adverse reciprocal actions. Man, as a child of nature, has accumulated relevant experience for a long time and embodied it in the form of traditional methods of nature management.

With the loss of long-established orders, there was a break in the natural ties between man and nature, and the tradition of transferring accumulated experience lost its significance. Man's demands on nature grew rapidly, and new possibilities for the transformation of nature opened up in connection with the further development of technology and technology, as well as as a result of the continuous growth of the population.

Instead of the self-restraint lost by man, consumerism was established, which led to an unrestrained predatory attitude towards the riches of nature. Due to the depletion of renewable resources, a thoughtful, scientifically based, master's approach has come to replace it with a look into the future. With a great delay, but still inexorably, a new view of the natural environment began to emerge in our society, and the demands for its protection increased. But still, the feeling of anxiety does not leave us - will we be able to effectively join the fight against this progressive stage of the destruction of nature, will we be able to hold the reins in this crazy race? Today we are talking already about the survival of all people and the long-term coexistence of man with other creatures on the globe.

1. Animal world in a modified environment

The animal world, being an integral part of the natural environment, acts as an integral link in the chain of ecological systems, a necessary component in the process of the circulation of substances and energy of nature, actively influencing the functioning natural communities, the structure and natural fertility of soils, the formation of vegetation, the biological properties of water and the quality of the natural environment as a whole. At the same time, the animal world is of great economic importance: as a source of food, industrial, technical, medicinal raw materials and other material assets and therefore acts as a natural resource for hunting, whaling, fishing and other types of trade. Certain types of animals are of great cultural, scientific, aesthetic, educational, and medicinal value.

Each animal species is an indispensable carrier of the genetic fund.

Every year the use of the animal world for recreational purposes is increasing. Previously, sport hunting and fishing served as the main direction of such use. The importance of animals as objects of photo hunting and excursion observations is increasing more and more. Millions of people from all over the world visit national parks to see animals in their natural setting.

1.1 The value of animals in nature and human economic activity

1) By participating in the circulation of substances in the biosphere, animals play an important role in dynamic equilibrium. The animal world makes a significant contribution to soil-forming processes, gas composition atmosphere, water regime and flora of the biosphere. Animals and birds play an important role in improving soil fertility and to a certain extent determine the formation of plant communities. Migrating, they disperse plant seeds, enrich the soil and water bodies with organic substances, and are a good reserve of the genetic fund for the further creation of valuable breeds of domestic animals.

2) Also for humans, animals serve as a source of food and raw materials: a supplier of leather (snakes, crocodiles, pigs) and fur - fur (white-backed albatross, koala) industry.

Likewise, animals have negative meaning for a person. Among them there are pathogens (pathogen) and carriers of diseases (rats), agricultural pests (bugs, aphids) and forest plants(silkworms, moths, caterpillars).

But the division of animals into "useful" and "harmful" is conditional and depends on the number, place, time, and economic activity of people. For example, starlings are useful in spring: they destroy a large number of pests, and, eating grapes in autumn, they cause significant damage to vineyards. Blackbird and field lark are useful in Europe, but in New Zealand, where they were brought, they are agricultural pests. Therefore, when assessing the benefits and harms, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of nutrition, behavior, numbers, and the role in the spread of natural focal diseases in specific conditions of place and time.

1.2 Direct and indirect human impact on animals

The animal world of our planet has about 2 million species of animals. As a result of human impact, the number of many species has been significantly reduced, and some of them have completely disappeared.

Human impact on the environment, leading to the local or complete extinction of species and subspecies of animals, can be direct and indirect.

1) Direct human impact on animals

Modern man has existed on Earth for about 40 thousand years. He began to engage in cattle breeding and agriculture only 10 thousand years ago. Therefore, for 30,000 years, hunting was an almost exclusive source of food and clothing. The improvement of tools and methods of hunting was accompanied by the death of a number of animal species. Of decisive importance was undoubtedly the appearance firearms. Traditional methods of hunting animals disappeared wherever modern weapons began to be used. At the same time, the number of settlers and hunters was constantly growing, who began to look at hunting not only as a source of their livelihood, but also as “fun”. In other places, it came to a kind of war with the indigenous population: in order to drive local residents from their lands, they were deprived of the most necessary - food sources.

So in the North American prairies in the second half of the 19th century, Americans killed bison in order to doom the Indian tribes against which they waged a merciless struggle to starvation. In Europe, hunting was carried out on many animals that allegedly cause harm and are dangerous to humans: the wolf, brown bear, lynx and forest cat, otter and other members of the marten family, birds of prey and some other species of birds. In some countries, premiums are still given to the hunter for the presented head of the so-called "harmful" animal, such as a wolf or an eagle. Hunting is carried out for kangaroos in Australia, artiodactyls in Africa, guanacos, vicuñas and deer in South America. They are killed, poisoned with poisons and forced out of their habitats, the vacated lands are used for grazing large cattle and sheep or growing crops, as well as for other needs. In the end, everything ends with the complete destruction of these animals.

Excessive hunting of wild animals, which play an important role in the diet of some peoples, leads to the same consequences. Shooting is carried out and usually such numerous species of animals that multiply very slowly. So, for example, almost all kinds of animals, even songbirds, belong to the prey of Mediterranean hunters. Such is the fate of the big game of Africa, with the exception of the inhabitants national parks. Caribou hunting poses a particular threat - reindeer North America (Rangifter tarandus caribou, Rangifter tarandus arcticus).

In the Andes of South America, the number of vicuñas (Lama vicugna) has recently declined; according to recent estimates, over two decades, its number has decreased from 50 thousand to 2000 heads. Only 200 tamarou, or Philippine buffaloes, remain on Mindoro Island. Cetaceans, and above all baleen whales, as well as all kinds of sirens and sea turtles, are other examples of the predatory extermination of these animals due to the fact that they serve as a source of food.

This type of hunting includes shooting and catching crocodiles, monitor lizards and large snakes for the sake of skin, as well as hunting for fur-bearing animals - large and small representatives of cats, monkeys and seals, birds of paradise, herons and other representatives of the bird kingdom for the sake of feathers, going to jewelry, rhinos, from which healing medicines can supposedly be made. Also, huge damage to the animal world (namely, some of their species) is caused by excessive capture of wild animals for sale to animal lovers and zoos. Such animals include the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque), the Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdi), the common orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), the macaque strong (Macaca silenus), close to the genus of monkeys myrica brown (Brachyteles arachnoides), the geldian callimico (Callimico goeldii), real lion marmoset rosalia (Leontideus rosalia), monkey-eating harpy (Pithecophaga jefferyi), as well as many reptile species such as alligators, caimans and turtles, whose shells are also used for decoration; young turtles are exported to in large numbers and are sold to private amateurs, where they often find themselves in unsuitable conditions for them and often die. Bulk export of Balkan and Mediterranean tortoises (Testudo hermanni and Testudo graeca) to all destinations the globe also led to a significant reduction in their numbers. As an example, I cite an article from the newspaper Izvestiya Nauki (No. 89, 2.03.06.).

“According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare IFAW, the trade in wild animals is growing at an alarming rate. On a global scale, this criminal business is comparable only to the drug trade and has a turnover of $15 billion. Meat and skins, horns and bones are used to make medical potions and accessories. Of those animals that are caught for nurseries, 50-70 percent die during transportation.

Snow leopard rug

Even a tiger wounded in the heart can run 500 meters. This is enough to get to the hunter and kill him with one blow of the paws. Here the case is different: they were shooting from afar. The tiger was young and inexperienced.

Here are the bullet holes: entrance and exit, - says the head of the Far Eastern inspection "Tiger" Sergey Zubtsov. - Entered under the scapula and exited in the abdomen. Right through. You can't run this long. Although the tiger is tenacious, like a cat. The skin, spread out on a table in the Darwin Museum, has become one of his many exhibits. A monument to human cruelty and perverted concepts of beauty. Among the exhibits of the museum, mostly donated by the Sheremetyevo customs, are stuffed armadillos and crocodiles, dressed skins of African hieroglyphic pythons, bags and belts from them, a rhinoceros horn, a pile of elephant tusks and an ostrich egg decorated with openwork carvings. Snow leopard rug lined with black fabric. All this is confiscated from poachers, but poachers are not always punished.

It is very difficult to punish the perpetrators: there is no punishment for the possession of such rarities, and it is often impossible to prove involvement in the trapping of animals, says Sergei Zubtsov. - Even the militia often refuses to initiate criminal cases, considering them obviously unpromising. Unfortunately, merchants from different countries have found mutual language and work together.

Russia-exporter of dolphins

Wild animals in 163 countries are protected by the Convention on international trade endangered species of wild flora and fauna (CITES). It ensures that the extraction of plants and animals in nature for commercial, scientific and other purposes will not lead to their extinction. There are enough animals in Russia whose lives are endangered. In recent years, the population of tigers in the Far East has decreased to 350 individuals. Far Eastern leopards- there are about thirty of them left - even a local epidemic can destroy them. Ten years ago, about a million saigas lived in the steppes of southern Russia and Kazakhstan - today there are less than forty thousand. Saiga horns, which not so long ago cost $600-1000 per kilogram, have depreciated to $30. The market is so saturated. - Russia is a supplier of dolphins and belugas. They even try to catch killer whales, - says Maria Vorontsova, director of the Russian representative office of IFAW. - Despite the fact that marine mammals live very poorly in captivity: their life is reduced by almost ten times. Two belugas were caught recently: one of them died right in the nets, the other two weeks later in captivity.

On the basis of IFAW funds, the first center for keeping confiscated wild animals was created on the basis of the scientific center of Moscow State University in Russia. During the year, he received two cobras, two snakes, three lynxes, more than 1,600 Central Asian turtles (“They were wrapped in tape and carried like potatoes in three huge trunks,” the fund’s employees specify), 70 pigeons and about 200 parrots. Whatever conservationists say, there are still quite a few lovers who want to have a piece of wildlife at home. This means that animals will continue to be exterminated: this is required by the market. And to the innocent question: "How much is the skin of a tiger?" - the head of the "Tiger" inspection will remain silent:

I never say. So that someone does not decide to make money on it.

2) Indirect influence of man on animals

The situation is extremely dangerous for those species of animals for which a person hunts not only purposefully, but also, as a result of his activity, indirectly contributes to the creation of unfavorable conditions for them. Among the reasons, among the first, one can indicate the destruction of the natural habitat of these animals, as well as food sources. This poses a threat to the life of those animal species that are very closely associated with a particular habitat.

These include, for example, many species of semi-monkeys that live in the forests of Madagascar, the area under which is constantly shrinking: the Madagascar bat (Daubentonia madagascariensis), short-tailed indri (Indri indri), Verro sifaka and diadem sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi and Propithecus diadema), mongots lemur ; in addition, the number of blue birds of paradise (Paradisornis rudolphi), magpies of paradise and some other species and subspecies of birds is declining in the forests of New Guinea.

Anthropogenic changes in landscapes adversely affect the conditions of existence of most animal species. Deforestation, plowing steppes and prairies, draining swamps, regulating runoff, polluting the waters of rivers, lakes and seas - all this, taken together, interferes with the normal life of wild animals, leads to a decrease in their numbers even when hunting is prohibited. As a result of the change in the original habitat, the structure and density of their populations, as well as the nature of their distribution, have changed. Changes in habitats as a result of plowing up the steppes have caused a sharp reduction in the distribution and abundance of marmot marmot (Marmota bobac) and little bustard (Tetrax tetrax); cuttings and fires in the dark coniferous taiga of Primorye lead to the degradation of the habitat of wild grouse (Falcipennis falcipennis); reed burning on the lakes of Northern Kazakhstan led to the disappearance of the spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) there. .

2. Removal of coastal vegetation and sewerage of the riverbed - factors affecting the number of spiders in Northern Japan

In my term paper, I cite an article that describes a study that shows that habitat change leads to a decrease in the number of species - "Removal of coastal vegetation and canalization of the riverbed - factors affecting the number of spiders of Northern Japan."

Removal of riparian vegetation and straightening of flow channels (drainage) are the most predominant forms of habitat degradation, namely channels and riparian zones. Both not only have a direct effect on the organisms that live in these areas, but also have the potential to cause indirect ones, which are to reduce the interaction between two adjacent ecosystems. We measured the number of shore spiders that weave webs along four streams in Hokkaido, Japan: relatively intact channels, channels where shore vegetation was removed, formerly straightened streams where the banks were re-vegetated, and streams that were both straightened and the vegetation on their banks was removed. The number of spiders has been reduced by 70% or more, either by environmental disturbance or partial change, and the number of spider colonies has also been reduced. Spiders of the family Tetragnathidae, which specialize in catching adult insects that appear in the canal, have been greatly reduced by habitat degradation, which can be either whole or partial forms. In comparison, the numbers of spiders that specialize in catching prey on land and water surfaces were more affected by the removal of vegetation than by the straightening of streams. These results indicate that the removal of coastal vegetation has a strong direct effect on spiders, thereby reducing their habitat.

Key words: Habitat degradation. indirect effects. Loss of prey. Coastal vegetation. Spiders.

Habitat degradation is one of the two leading causes of global environmental change and loss of biodiversity in the world's ecosystems. For example, in many canals and riparian forests, habitat has been altered by two types of human activity - channel straightening and riparian vegetation removal. Channel straightening increases flooding and causes erosion and sedimentation, simplifying or destroying habitat for fish and invertebrates. The loss of coastal vegetation reduces shade, which moderates the flow of temperature, changes morphology, which is caused due to reduced coastal stability and the loss of trees on the banks, reduces the input of organic matter very important for the ecosystem. Thus, both activities have a strong influence on the structure and function of stream ecosystems.

A recent study found a strong relationship between stream food webs and the forests adjacent to them. For example, consumers of the current - fish depend on terrestrial invertebrates that enter the stream and make up half of their diet. As experiments showed, with a decrease in vegetation, the number of terrestrial invertebrates decreased, thereby reducing the number of consumers in the stream. Also, many terrestrial consumers, such as birds, lizards and spiders, depend on insects appearing on the water surface, which form the basis of their diet. Therefore, physical habitat change in streams caused by sewerage or riparian vegetation removal that reduces the number of adult insects appearing on the water surface may have indirect effects that reduce riparian consumers in the adjacent ecosystem.

Web-spinning spiders that inhabit coastal areas are important terrestrial consumers that may depend on two conditions - terrestrial habitat for sites that support webs, as well as on aquatic environment habitat that supplies insects for prey. Moreover, different families of spiders catch adult aquatic insects differently. Spiders from the family Tetragnathidae weave horizontal spherical webs, often located above the current, and adult aquatic insects are their prey. Other families of spiders that weave vertical spherical webs (Theridiidae and Araneidae) or broad striped webs (Linyphiidae) may locate the web in the coastal zone and also benefit from emerging insects, but they do not know how to capture (catch) this prey. The loss of coastal vegetation removes the physical structure that is needed to support the web, and it is believed that this may be a guiding factor that reduces the number of spiders. Comparatively, it can be said that the canalized current reduces the number of invertebrates and this also reduces the yield of adult insects. It is hypothesized that channeling may have an indirect effect that reduces the number of shore spiders, especially those spiders that depend on emerging adult insects for food. The validity of this reasoning was tested in a set of streams in Hokkaido, northern Japan, where coastal spiders were abundant in pristine habitat, and where there was loss of coastal vegetation and channeling due to human activity.

Methods

Eight locations were selected along the streams of the Makkari River southwest of Hokkaido (42 degrees, 49 minutes N, 140 degrees 48 minutes E). Three locations were in the Kashunbetsu stream under the watershed, four along the main stem of the upper Makkari, and one was in the Mohanrin Current, the main tributary of the Makkari. Here agriculture is the predominant land use, although many streams along the banks had forests with a density of 5 to 25 meters. After selecting the locality, two representative sites were selected from each group: relatively untouched - sites with natural channel morphology and coastal vegetation (hereinafter - natural, Fig. 1); sites with natural channels where coastal vegetation was removed; sites with intact riparian vegetation but altered channel and sites with straightened channels and riparian vegetation removed. Coastal vegetation was dense in natural and canalized areas. The lower layers were dominated by: dwarf bamboo (Sasa senanensis) and nettle (Urtica spp.) and in the upper layers: oak (Quercus), maple (Acer), ash (Fraxinus; Fig. 1). Vegetation in the "remote vegetation" sites consisted of short grass about 20-50 cm high, and in both types of terrain there was sparse grass over boulders or stones. The substrate in places with natural and remote vegetation consisted of cobblestone, gravel, sand, and at the same time silt was present in a small amount. In places where there was a sewer or both, the substrate consisted of silt on rocks or boulders, or on concrete blocks that were used to make the canal.

The spiders have been studied since July 24, 2003, during the summer when adults were active along the currents of Hokkaido. Thus, a 30-meter section along one bank was chosen, which was representative of the habitat. At the site, all spiders on the web within 1 meter of the bank and all spiders over the current were collected, following Kato's methods. The spiders were collected at night (20.00-23.00), when they are actively tending their webs. They used coastal lighting to locate them, tweezers to catch them, and glass bottles of 70% ethanol to keep them. The laboratory separated adult spiders from young ones and sorted the adults into families. The young were excluded, as it was difficult to determine belonging to a particular family. In this area, three physical characteristics of the habitat were also measured: depth at three locations along the section perpendicular to the current, channel width, and minimum distance between vegetation tips.

A two-tailed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the effects of coastal vegetation removal and sewerage on three habitat characteristics (channel width, depth, and distance between vegetation tips) and two spider groups (tetragnathid shore spiders and other families of spiders that are not found in coastal zone; catching terrestrial and aquatic insects). All data were first converted using log stabilization variation and then analyzed using PROC GLM in SAS (SAS Institute, 1999). The significance of the loss of coastal vegetation and sewerage on the abundance of spiders was assessed using single tests.

results

In this gathering, the number of web-weaving spiders from four families dominated: Tetragnathids (49%, number - 300), Territids (20%), Linifids (18%), Arenaids (10%), but there were also representatives of three more families (Agelenids, Mimedids, Uloborids). The number of families collected in natural areas (6.5±0.5) is twice as large as the number of families from three types of places with habitat disturbances (3.2±0.6). Sites with reduced vegetation were wider, on average, than undamaged or less disturbed coastal areas (P = 0.01 for vegetative effect ANOVA after log transformation), but it was argued that canalized streams had a different width than undisturbed streams (P = 0.08 for channeling effect, P = 0.29 for both types of changes). The mean depth value varied significantly at these sites, but there was evidence that the depth differed among the group sites (P = 0.09 for vegetation, P = 0.27 for sewers, P = 0.38 for both disturbances). Sites with reduced vegetation had greater distances between vegetation tips than undisturbed and canalized sites with re-vegetation (P = 0.01 for vegetation), but there was no evidence that this characteristic was different in restored canal streams compared to undisturbed sites (P = 0.74 for canalized flows, P = 0.43 for two flaws). Thus, similarities in riparian vegetation and stream-channel characteristics in undisturbed sites compared to re-vegetated canal sites, we achieved using ANOVA to analyze the number of spiders.

Table 1

Three Habitat Characteristics in Four Population Study Groups of Spiders in Southwest Hokkaido

There was evidence that both the loss of riparian vegetation and channeling of the stream resulted in a reduced density of tetragnathid spiders along the channel. (Fig. 1). Compared to relatively undisturbed natural canals and coastal vegetation, the densities of these coastal spiders were reduced by 72% on average, 74% along re-vegetated canals, and 96% along sparsely vegetated canals. There was evidence for an effect of sewerage (P = 0.026, ANOVA after log. transformations), as well as an effect of devegetation (P = 0.05), but no evidence for a combined effect (P = 0.42).

Other families of web-spinning spiders that take both aquatic and terrestrial prey have similarly responded to reduced vegetation, but there has been little effect of sewerage on their populations. Compared to relatively undisturbed, the density of other spiders was reduced by 87% on average: along reaches with natural channels where vegetation has been removed - 71%, and 92% - where there is sewerage and little vegetation. There was direct evidence for the effect of loss of vegetation (P = 0.007ANOVA after log. transformation), there was evidence, but to a lesser extent, for the effect of sewerage on the abundance of spiders (P = 0.08), and no evidence was found for their combined effect (P? 0.14).

Figure 2 - The number of spiders from the tetragnathid family and spiders from other families taken in various places: NAT-natural channel and coastal vegetation

VEG - natural channel with vegetation removed

CH - sewerage with restored vegetation

BOTH - sewerage with vegetation removal

Discussion

Although spiders are terrestrial consumers, these results indicate that both vegetation loss and sewerage, which may be present alone or in combination, may reduce spider abundance along streams with forest belts similar to those we studied in northern Japan. For spiders of the tetragnathid family, which specialize in catching insects appearing on the water surface, our analyzes showed that the direct effect of sewerage was stronger than the direct effect of the loss of coastal vegetation. In comparison, for other families of web-weaving spiders that trap aquatic and terrestrial insects, the loss of coastal vegetation had a stronger impact than sewerage. Although these studies covered a rather small area, it is assumed that the channeling of the stream may have a rather large impact, which extends across the water-land boundary to coastal consumers that depend on insects that appear on the water surface. These results indicate that intact coastal vegetation and natural channels are required to support the abundance of coastal spiders, especially tetragnathids, which are specialized in catching insects that appear on the water surface. Spiders that weave webs require vegetation and other physical structure to lay out their webs, so the loss of coastal vegetation can greatly impact spider populations. Spiders from the tetragnathid family are the most adapted to disturbing vegetation, as they are capable of creating webs on short grass. As a result, their number was reduced less than in other families with the loss of vegetation, although their number was also reduced. Coastal spiders also depend on adult insects emerging from the water surface for prey, but sewerage significantly reduces their ability. According to two studies, more than half of the carbon in coastal spiders comes from the aquatic environment, and the content of such carbon in tetragnathids was about 100%, as these spiders feed on insects that live in the water. Sewerage causes sedimentation and habitat simplification, also reduces sea line length and the structural complexity of coastal habitats, and can also have a direct negative impact by reducing the number of web sites. The results illustrate that coastal consumers such as spiders can be sensitive to changes in flow and coastal vegetation. Previous research has shown that riparian disturbance that reduces invertebrate flow to flow, such as loss of vegetation, can alter the flow of food webs. According to recent studies, changes in flow that reduce prey occurrence may affect coastal consumers. In fact, the mutual endowments between two habitats can be strong and the links complex.

These studies once again confirm that a person with his unlimited and thoughtless activities reduces the number of many species and subspecies of animals. We come to the alarming conclusion that further fate many animals are ultimately dependent on human actions. The decisive role here is played by the predatory destruction of forests, in particular the forests of the tropical zone, grazing on the arid lands of Australia, Africa and South America, regulation of river flow, drainage of swamps and waterlogged places. Intensive timber harvesting in many countries has led to changes in forests. Coniferous forests are increasingly replaced by small-leaved ones. At the same time, the composition of their fauna also changes. Not all animals and birds living in coniferous forests, can find enough food and places to hide in secondary birch and aspen forests. For example, squirrels and martens, many species of birds cannot live in them. The plowing of steppes and prairies, the reduction of insular forests in the forest-steppe are accompanied by almost complete disappearance many steppe animals and birds. In the steppe agrocenoses, saigas, bustards, little bustards, gray partridges, quails, etc. have almost completely disappeared.

The transformation and change in the nature of many rivers and lakes radically changes the conditions for the existence of most river and lake fish, leading to a decrease in their numbers. Huge damage to fish stocks is caused by pollution of water bodies. At the same time, the oxygen content in the water decreases sharply, which leads to massive fish kills.

Huge impact on ecological state reservoirs are rendered by dams on rivers. They block the spawning path for migratory fish, worsen the condition of spawning grounds, and sharply reduce the flow of nutrients into river deltas and coastal parts of seas and lakes. To prevent the negative impact of dams on the ecosystems of aquatic complexes, a number of engineering and biotechnical measures are being taken (fish passes and fish elevators are being built to ensure the movement of fish for spawning). The most effective way to reproduce the fish stock is to build fish hatcheries and hatcheries. A particular threat to all living things is the ever-increasing human pollution of the biosphere of our entire planet. Nobody is exempt from this. Discharge into the sea industrial enterprises containing poisonous heavy metals cadmium and mercury, as well as such a pesticide as DDT, which American scientists have discovered even in the Arctic region, where it was brought by deep-sea currents, makes these substances ubiquitous. These substances have been found in the bodies of polar bears and Eskimos. In the organisms of animals, these dangerous substances constantly accumulate, entering there through the food chains - along with food, poison enters the body. There it continuously accumulates, since its decomposition is extremely slow.

The formation of tumors, including cancer, the violation of healthy heredity, as well as the appearance of infertility - these are the consequences of this. In areas of the so-called clean atmosphere, pollution also exceeds the norm. The control station, which studies the degree of atmospheric pollution, located on a hill 459 km from New York, often recorded from 5000 to 7000 suspended particles in 1 cm 3 of air, and earlier it usually contained no more than five particles. From the 8,000-meter-deep Puerto Rican Sea Trench, one fishing vessel brought up not only rare fish, but also empty metal cans of fruit juice and beer, as well as pieces of aluminum foil, bottles and a flashlight battery. And although there is still no evidence that the extinction of one or another species of animals was a direct consequence of the general pollution of the biosphere of our planet, however, some species of diurnal birds of prey, as well as those species of birds that live on the coasts, are already on the eve of complete extinction, obviously as a result of pollution. The use of chemical vector control agents for infectious diseases (e.g. malaria in tropical and subtropical countries) initially gave exceptionally positive results for humans. But later it turned out that the excessive use of DDT and other potent poisons indoors or in the territories of settlements and even in centuries-old forests, where they treat the waters of almost all available water bodies to destroy mosquito larvae that carry malaria pathogens, as a result, leads to a violation of the biological balance. Not only malarial mosquitoes died, but many other organisms, including their natural enemies, died. In New Guinea, on the Sepik River, in villages scattered in the wilds of the forest, the huts of the Papuans suddenly began to collapse some time after the spraying of reservoirs was carried out by order of the Australian authorities. It turned out that, along with mosquitoes and flies, the natural enemies of the woodworm (Heradia nigrivitta) were destroyed.

The importation of alien animal species also leads to ecosystem disruption and, as a result, a decrease in the number, and sometimes even extinction of the species. Even before the era of the Great geographical discoveries, sailors and settlers began to import animals unusual for them into foreign countries. They took domestic goats and pigs with them to the islands to provide themselves with further food, and songbirds to alleviate their homesickness. At the same time, they brought other domestic animals there, such as cats, dogs and cattle. Some of them went wild there. In New Zealand and South America, feral animals began to multiply and often caused damage to nature, because they could not "fit" into an unusual ecosystem for them and, thus, disturbed the biological balance. As a result of habitat devastation in Australia, 32 species of endangered marsupials have had to be listed in the Red Book to date. During this time, at least nine alien species of fish were released into the rivers of Australia and New Zealand, which in some places disturbed the biological balance so much that now in some places they are already considering whether predatory fish should be released into the rivers in order to put an end to the breeding of uninvited species. To control sugar cane pests, the South American aga toad (Bufo marinus) has been introduced to many tropical countries and has become a deadly threat to small vertebrates as well as to many soil organisms. The peculiar fauna of the Galapagos Islands suffers from goats, pigs, cats, dogs and rats accidentally or deliberately brought there. On some of these islands, their presence has been a disaster for large terrestrial tortoises, on others for many bird species. Highly mobile rats and house mice pose a threat to certain species of the animal world. Thus, rats have already almost completely destroyed the Auckland shepherds (Rallus pectoralis muelleri), white-breasted mockingbirds (Ramphocinclus brachyurus brachyurus) on the island of Martinique.

The negative impact of humans on animals is increasing, and for many species it is becoming threatening. One species (or subspecies) of vertebrates dies annually; the danger of extinction threatens more than 600 species of birds (bustard, mountain goose, mandarin duck), 120 species of mammals ( Amur tiger). For such animals, special measures for their conservation are needed].

3. Protection of rare and endangered animal species

The organization of fauna protection is built in two main directions - conservation and conservation in the process of use. Both directions are necessary and complement each other.

All conservation measures for the protection of animals are of an exceptional, emergency nature. Most often, the use and protection of fauna, measures for its reproduction have to be combined with the interests of other branches of nature management. The experience of many countries proves that this is quite possible. Yes, at proper organization land use agricultural production can be combined with the conservation of many wildlife.

Intensive forestry, timber harvesting, if properly organized, ensures the preservation of habitat conditions in exploited forests for many species of animals and birds. Thus, gradual and selective logging allows not only to restore forests, but also to preserve shelters, nesting and forage grounds for many species of animals.

In recent years, wild animals have become an important part of the "tourism industry". In many countries, the protection and use of wild fauna for recreational purposes in national parks is successfully carried out. Among the national parks with the richest and best protected fauna and at the same time high level Mass tourism organizations include Yellowstone and Yosemite parks in the USA, Kruger and Serengeti in Africa, Camargue in France, Belovezhsky in Poland and many others.

To enrich the fauna in many countries, acclimatization and re-acclimatization of wild animals are carried out on a large scale. Acclimatization is understood as work on the resettlement of animals in new biogeocenoses and their adaptation to new living conditions. Reacclimatization is a system of measures to restore animals destroyed in a particular region. Thanks to acclimatization, it is possible to use the bioresources of many natural complexes more widely and more fully.

All measures for the protection of animals are quite effective if they are based on careful consideration of landscape and ecological conditions. In any kind of work on organizing the reproduction and exploitation of wild fauna, one should proceed from the fact that certain species and populations of animals are confined within their boundaries to specific natural territorial and aquatic complexes or their anthropogenic modifications. Many animals move through the seasons of the year over considerable distances, but their migrations are always confined to strictly certain types landscapes. Therefore, the protection of animals requires solving the problems of protecting natural territorial and aquatic complexes as a whole. The protection of animals is, first of all, the protection of their habitats.

The main task of protecting rare and endangered species is to achieve an increase in their numbers by creating favorable living conditions, which would eliminate the danger of their extinction. This can include the creation of nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, which create favorable conditions for them.

1) Reserves of Russia

AT Russian Federation The most traditional form of territorial nature protection, which is of priority importance for the conservation of biological diversity, are state nature reserves (Table 2). The system of state reserves as standards of undisturbed natural areas is a matter of well-deserved pride domestic science and environmental movement in Russia. The network of reserves was created over eight decades. As of 2000, there are 99 state natural reserves in Russia with a total area of ​​33.152 million hectares, including terrestrial (with internal water bodies) - 26.678 million hectares, which is 1.56% of the territory of Russia. The reserves are located on the territory of 18 republics within the Russian Federation, 4 territories, 35 regions, one autonomous region, 7 autonomous districts. In accordance with the legislation, state natural reserves have the status of nature protection, research and environmental education institutions.

table 2

State natural reserves of the Russian Federation

Note: * - biosphere reserves

legal protection nature animal

The system of Russian state nature reserves is internationally recognized: 21 of them have international status biosphere reserves(they have been issued the relevant UNESCO certificates), 7 are under the jurisdiction of the World Convention for the Preservation of Cultural and natural heritage, 10 fall under the jurisdiction of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance mainly as a habitat for waterfowl (Ramsar Convention), 4 (Oksky, Teberdinsky, Central Chernozemny and Kostomuksha) have diplomas of the Council of Europe.

2) National parks of Russia

National parks are declared areas that include natural complexes and objects of special ecological, historical and aesthetic value and intended for use in environmental protection, educational, scientific, cultural purposes and for regulated tourism.

The state system of national parks of the Russian Federation (Table 2) began to form relatively recently, the first national park of the Russian Federation ("Sochi") was established in 1983. As of 2000, there are 34 national parks in the Russian Federation with a total area of ​​6.787 million hectares. ha (0.4% of the area of ​​the Russian Federation). National parks are located on the territory of 11 republics, 2 territories, 17 regions (Table 3). Most (33) national parks are administered by the Russian Federal Forestry Service and one is administered by the Government of Moscow ("Losiny Ostrov").

Table 3

National parks of the Russian Federation

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For hundreds of thousands of years of its existence, man has actively influenced the surrounding wildlife. Already ancient man, having mastered fire, emerged victorious in competition with other species that inhabited natural caves, destroyed many large Pleistocene mammals. But there has been, since the time of the "Neolithic Revolution" - the creation of a productive economy, agriculture, crop production and animal husbandry - and another global impact: the reduction of natural ecosystems and their replacement by agricultural land, and then by cities with their suburban areas. Such ecosystems are often more productive than natural ones, and their biodiversity can be quite high. However, speaking of man-made biodiversity, we mean those biological forms that were purposefully created by man through selection, selection, and now genetic engineering.

For example, a variety of cultivated animals, among which hundreds of breeds of cattle, fur-bearing animals, horses, fish, birds and at least 2 thousand breeds of dogs are used. The initiator of the study of the genetic variability of domestic animals was the Russian geneticist A.S. Serebrovsky, who in 1928 created a special scientific direction - genogeography, which deals with mapping the genetic variability of species. He himself was engaged in the genetics of chickens, among which dozens of breeds were known in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Academician D.K. Belyaev, who studied the genetic variability of domestic animals, especially in the Asian part of Russia, and organized the world's first reserve for domestic animals in Altai, became his successor.

Thus, man is not only responsible for the disappearance of many species on our planet, but also created tens of thousands of forms of plants, animals, microorganisms, which would never have appeared without his participation.

Back in the 20s of the last century, A.S. Serebrovsky called for seeing the same natural wealth of the country in the diversity of domestic animal genomes as in the reserves of oil, gold, coal and other natural resources. A modern highly productive economy without the use of cultivated plants and animals, without effective technologies for their breeding is no longer possible.

50.Management and conservation of biodiversity.

The key to protecting and managing rare and endangered species is understanding their relationship with the environment and the state of their populations. This kind of information is usually referred to as natural history or sometimes simply species ecology. With knowledge of the natural history of rare species, managers can take better action to protect them and identify factors that put them at risk of extinction.

Listed below are groups of environmental questions that need to be answered in order to take effective conservation measures at the population level. For most species, only some of these questions can be answered without special studies. Therefore, management decisions often have to be made before this information is collected. Obviously, the specific type of information collected depends on the characteristics of the species.

Environment. What is the type of habitat in which the species are found and how large is the range of each? How variable is the environment in time and space? How often is this area subject to disasters? How do human activities affect the habitat

Violations. Where is the species found in its habitat? Whether it moves between habitats or migrates to other geographic areas; moves during the day or during the year? How well does the species colonize new habitats? How does human activity affect the distribution of a species?

Morphology. How does the shape, size, color and other features of the integument of individuals allow the species to exist in its habitat?

Physiology. How much food, water, mineral components and other things does an individual need for survival, growth and reproduction? How efficiently does the individual use these resources? How sensitive is the species to climatic changes: heat, cold, wind, precipitation?

Demography. What is the current population size and what was it in the past? Is the number of individuals stable, increasing, decreasing?

Behavior. How does behavior allow an individual to survive in the environment? How do individuals in a population mate and produce offspring? How do individuals of this species interact with each other, on a cooperative and competitive basis?

Genetics. To what extent is the morphological and physiological variability of individuals genetically controlled?

Basic information, necessary for the adoption of conservation measures s or determine their status, can be obtained from the following sources.

Unpublished literature data. A significant amount of information in the field of conservation biology is found in unpublished reports from scientists, government agencies, and conservation organizations. This so-called "grey literature"

Population monitoring

To identify the status of a particular rare species, an inventory of its abundance in nature is carried out and control over its change over time is carried out. With the help of a regularly conducted census of a population, it is possible to determine the changes that occur in it over time. Monitoring is effective in detecting the response of a population to changes in the environment. For example, it was shown through monitoring that the decrease in the number of orchid species was associated with intensive livestock grazing of their habitats. Monitoring of particularly sensitive species, such as butterflies used as indicator species, provides an indication of the long-term stability of ecological communities.

Field studies. Define conservation status species and its relationship with the biological and physical environment is possible only in the field.

There are several approaches to species monitoring. An inventory is a simple count of the number of individuals in a population. By repeating the inventory after certain periods of time, it is possible to determine whether the population is stable or whether its number is increasing or decreasing. Inventory is an inexpensive and direct method. He can answer the following questions: how many individuals make up the population today? Has the population remained stable over the entire census period?

Demographic Research consist in observing selected individuals in a population in order to determine their growth, reproduction and survival rates. Such a study should include individuals of all ages and sizes. You can observe the entire population or its representative part. In a complete population study, all individuals are counted, their sex is determined, if possible age, sizes are measured and all specimens are marked for their identification in the future. The places where they were found are marked on the map.

Population viability analysis (PHA)- a section of demographic analysis aimed at understanding how a given species is able to survive in the environment. The ALS identifies the needs of a species and the resources present in its environment in order to identify vulnerabilities in its natural history.

The ALS is useful for understanding the consequences of fragmentation or habitat degradation of a rare species. Attempts to apply the results of population viability analysis have already begun. One of the most striking examples of APZ, which combines genetic and demographic analysis, is the study of the mangabey, an endangered primate that lives in floodplain forests in nature reserve along the river Tana in eastern Kenya. The management plan, which will increase the area of ​​protected forests, plant plants that serve as a source of food for mangabeys, and create corridors that facilitate their movement between forest fragments, will be able to increase the likelihood of mangabey survival.

Metapopulation

Over time, populations of a species may disappear on a local scale, and new populations may form at nearby suitable sites. Many species living in short-lived habitats, such as the grass cover of frequently flooded river valleys or recently burned forests, are best characterized by metapopulations (“population of populations”), consisting of a changing mosaic of temporary populations, linked to some extent by migration. The object of population studies is usually one or several populations, but sometimes the study of the entire metapopulation is required.

Endemic mytnik Furbish (Pedicularis furbishiae) is found along the river. Maine in an area prone to intermittent flooding. Floods often destroy some plant populations, but at the same time they create new coastal habitats suitable for the formation of new populations. Studying a single population would give an incomplete picture of the species as one particular population is short lived. And the metapopulation in this case is the most appropriate unit of study, and the river basin is the appropriate unit of management.

Long-term monitoring of species and ecosystems. Long-term monitoring of processes in ecosystems (temperature, precipitation regime, humidity, soil acidity, water quality, flow rates, soil erosion, etc.), communities (species composition, vegetation cover, amount of biomass at each trophic level, etc.) and population size (the number of individuals of a particular species) is necessary, since otherwise it is impossible to distinguish annual natural fluctuations from year to year from long-term trends. For example, populations of many amphibians, insects, and annual plants vary greatly from year to year. Therefore, in order to determine whether the species is really declining in numbers or just the current year is characterized by a natural cyclical decline in the population, long-term data are required.

Monitoring allows project managers to determine whether the goals of these projects are achievable or if the management plans need to be improved. Some changes in nature can lag behind their root causes for many years, therefore, in order to understand them, it is necessary to identify the entire chain of events in ecosystems. For example, acid rain and other air pollution can weaken and kill trees over decades, resulting in increased soil runoff into surface water and consequently making the aquatic environment unsuitable for the larvae of some rare insects. In this case, the cause (air pollution) occurred decades before its effect (the extinction of the insects) took place.

Formation of new populations

Many specialists have begun to develop approaches to saving species. Several impressive methods have been developed to create new wild and semi-wild populations of rare and endangered species and increase the size of existing ones.

To create new populations of animals and plants use three basic approaches. Program reintroduction provides for the release of captive-born or wild-caught individuals to an area of ​​their historical range where the species is no longer found. The main task of the reintroduction program is to create a new population of it in its natural habitat.

Strengthening program involves release into an existing population to increase its size and gene pool. To do this, animals are either caught in nature or raised in captivity. One particular example is a program in which newly hatched sea turtles are kept in captivity until they are past their most vulnerable young age and then released back into the wild. Introduction program involves the transfer of plants and animals to areas outside their historical ranges in the hope that they will establish new populations. This approach is fully justified when the environment in the historical range of the species is destroyed to such an extent that the species can no longer live there, or when the cause of its extinction has not yet been eliminated, which makes reintroduction impossible. The planned introduction of a species to a new location requires careful research to ensure that it does not harm the new ecosystem and populations of native endangered species. In addition, care must be taken to ensure that released animals do not acquire a disease in captivity that could spread and affect wild populations.

Formation of new plant populations

Approaches to the creation of new populations of rare and endangered plant species are fundamentally different from those for terrestrial vertebrates. Animals can settle in new places and actively search for microareas with the most suitable conditions for them. And the seeds of plants get to new areas with the help of wind, animals and water. Populations of rare and endangered plant species usually cannot be created from seeds sown in most seemingly suitable places. To increase the chances of success, botanists often germinate seeds under controlled conditions and grow young plants in protected areas. Only after the plants have passed the fragile seedling stage are they transferred to nature. In other cases, the plants are dug up from the wild population. Usually these are populations that are threatened with destruction, or those for which the removal of a small part of the plants will not cause obvious damage to the population. The plants are then transferred to an unoccupied but certainly suitable location. Although such methods of transfer (transplantation) give a high basis for confidence that the species will survive in a new place, they still cannot mimic natural processes, so sometimes populations do not bear fruit and do not produce seedlings of the next generation.

Ex situ conservation strategies

The best strategy for the long-term protection of biological diversity is to conserve natural communities and populations in the wild, i.e. conservation in situ. Only in the wild are species able to continue within their natural communities the process of evolutionary adaptation to a changing environment. However, for many rare species, in situ conservation does not save them from increasing anthropogenic disturbances. If the population is too small to survive, or if all surviving individuals are outside the protected area, then in situ conservation may not be effective.

Under such circumstances, the only way to prevent the extinction of the species is to maintain the species in artificial conditions under human supervision. Such a strategy is called ex situ. There are already a number of animals that are extinct in the wild but preserved in captivity, such as David's deer.

Ex situ and in situ conservation strategies complement each other. Individuals from ex situ populations may be periodically released into the wild. To increase the effectiveness of in situ conservation measures, animals from ex situ populations are released into their wild populations. The study of captive populations provides an understanding of the basic biology of the species and allows the development of new in situ conservation strategies. Ex situ breeding populations eliminate the need to capture animals in the wild for zoos or research.

Zoos

Zoos, together with the universities that oversee them, government wildlife departments and conservation organizations, now contain over 700,000 individuals representing 3,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

The main goal of most large zoos today is to create captive populations of rare and endangered animals. Only a small fraction of the rare mammal species kept in zoos around the world are today represented by stable populations with sufficient numbers to maintain genetic diversity. To remedy this situation, zoos and their environmental organizations have made significant efforts to create additional conditions for keeping. Scientific societies are organized, technologies are developed that are necessary for the formation of breeding populations of rare and endangered species, such as the snow leopard and orangutan, as well as for the development of new methods and programs for the return of species to nature

Some of these societies are highly specialized, such as the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin, which is trying to create captive breeding populations of all types of cranes.

Ex situ conservation efforts are also increasingly directed towards saving endangered invertebrate species, including butterflies, beetles, dragonflies, spiders and molluscs. This is very important because there are many more invertebrate species than vertebrates, but many of them are limited in distribution and declining in numbers. Other important objects of ex situ conservation efforts are rare breeds of domestic animals, from which people obtain animal protein, dairy products, leather, wool, use in agriculture, as transport and for entertainment.

A large number of innovative programs are being developed to increase the reproduction rate of captive species. Some of them are borrowed from human and veterinary medicine, while others are completely new methods specially developed for specific species.

These technologies include: cross-feeding, when a female from a common species feeds cubs of a rare species; artificial insemination, in cases where animals do not want to mate or live in different places; artificial incubation of eggs under ideal conditions; embryo transfer, that is, the implantation of fertilized eggs of a rare species in a surrogate female of a common species. One new approach is to freeze the eggs, sperm, embryos, and tissues of endangered species—the so-called “frozen zoos.” It is hoped that in the future it will be possible to restore these species using new technologies such as cell cloning. . Some animals, especially marine mammals, are so large and so demanding on specialized environmental conditions that measures for their maintenance and care are unrealistically expensive. Many invertebrates have an unusually complex life cycle, in which, as they grow, their diet changes and sometimes the requirements for environmental conditions subtly change. Many of these species cannot be reconstructed with our current level of knowledge. Finally, despite the best efforts of scientists, some species are simply difficult to breed. Two notable examples are the giant panda and the Sumatran rhinoceros. They have very low rates of reproduction in nature, and in captivity, despite considerable efforts to find effective methods for their reproduction, they practically do not breed.

Aquariums

In conserving aquatic species, ichthyologists, marine biologists, coral reef researchers working in demonstration aquariums are increasingly collaborating with colleagues from research institutes, government fisheries departments and conservation organizations to develop conservation programs for rich natural aquatic communities and critical species. There are currently approximately 600,000 fish in aquariums, mostly wild-caught. The main efforts today are aimed at developing technologies for breeding and keeping rare fish species in aquariums in order to then release them into the wild, or reduce the need to capture wild species. Many of the fish farming technologies used were originally developed by aquaculture biologists for large-scale breeding operations for cod, bass, salmon and other commercial species. Other technologies have been discovered in commercial aquariums as the tropical fish trade expands. Breeding programs for endangered marine fish are still in their infancy, but there is now active research in this area. As aquaculture increasingly provides humans with fish, shellfish and shrimp, breeding programs are being developed to build the genetic pool needed to improve these species and protect them from disease and unintended threats.

The role of aquariums in the conservation of endangered cetaceans is especially great. Aquarium staff often respond to requests from the public to help whales stranded or disoriented in shallow water. Potentially, aquarium staff can apply knowledge gained from working with common captive species such as bottlenose dolphin to develop programs to help endangered species.

Botanical gardens and arboretums

The world's 1,600 botanic gardens contain the largest collections of living plants and represent a major resource for plant conservation efforts. Today, 4 million plants grow in botanical gardens around the world, representing 80,000 species, that is, approximately 30% of the world's flora. The list is increased by species grown in nurseries, gardens, amateur gardens and in other similar conditions (although they are often represented by single specimens). In the world's largest botanical garden, the Royal Botanic Garden (England), 25 thousand plant species are cultivated - this is about 10% of all species in the world, of which 2700 are endangered.

Botanic gardens are increasingly focused on the cultivation of rare and endangered plant species, many of them specializing in certain types of plants. The Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University grows hundreds of species of temperate trees.

Internationally, the Botanical Gardens Conservation Secretariat (BGCS) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) organizes and coordinates the efforts of the world's botanical gardens. The program's priority is to develop a worldwide database system to coordinate collection activities and identify important species that are under-represented or missing from living collections. There is a distribution problem for botanical gardens, since most of them are in temperate zones, while most of the world's plant species are found in the tropics. Although there are several major gardens in Singapore, Sri Lanka, Java and Colombia, the creation of new botanical gardens in the tropics should be a priority for international community in the field of nature conservation. Accordingly, the training of local taxonomists who will work in them should be organized.

seed banks

Where all the reserves of preserving the species in place have been exhausted, one has to think about the possibility of preserving at least its gene pool in the form of seeds, germ cells in special storages - banks. In relation to agricultural species of animals and plants, this idea has already found practical implementation in the USA, the Russian Federation. The seed bank does not solve the problem of preserving the gene pool of all plants, since many species reproduce only vegetatively.

To date, methods have been developed for the conservation of the plant genome through deep freezing of tissues located at growth points, germinal structures, germ and somatic cells.

At the same time, the preservation of the meristem seems to be of the greatest importance for the preservation of the genome, since it is they that make it possible to completely restore and multiply the given genotype.

For 60 species of ornamental plants, the preservation and reproduction of the meristem has become a common practice for mass reproduction and improvement of planting material. This process is complex:

Obtaining cell culture

Development of embryos (embryonic structures)

Gradual cell freezing

Recultivation of cells after freezing.

Already in the 1960s, banks of microorganisms were created - not with the aim of preserving the gene pool as such, but for experimental purposes and for the safe storage of pathogens of especially dangerous infections. Apparently, in relation to prokaryotes, the creation of a genetic bank is already quite a real task in our time. More difficult with the genetic bank of animals.

In the 1960s, the first bovine and rooster sperm banks appeared. Significant species differences in the sensitivity of germ cells of different animal species to freezing, storage and thawing do not allow us to hope for the development of simple methods for storing the genes of endangered species.

Frozen bull sperm can be stored for decades, and horse and sheep sperm can be stored for several hours. In addition, it turned out that unfertilized animal eggs are especially poorly tolerated by freezing.

A scheme has been developed for the preservation and reproduction of animals from preserved germ and somatic cells, zygotes, and embryos.

There are 14 banks in the world that store seed samples of cultivated plants and their closest relatives. One of the collections was created under the secretariat of the International Council for Plant Genetic Resources. So far, 2 banks of frozen cells of endangered animal species have been created: at the Texas Medical Center and at the San Diego Zoo.

51. Biodiversity as a natural resource. The main directions of anthropogenic impact on biodiversity. Economic goals of biodiversity conservation. Economic and financial mechanisms for biodiversity conservation.

Biodiversity as a natural resource

According to the National Strategy for Biodiversity Conservation of Russia: biodiversity conservation should be addressed within the framework of the socio-economic and natural subsystem. Ignoring one of the subsystems leads to a general crisis of both society and nature.

The development of socio-economic relations due to the predatory use of natural resources has led to a crisis of the entire system as a whole.

Overcoming the current ecological crisis is possible only on the basis of the realization that the normal development of natural subsystems, including protected areas, is a necessary condition for the sustainable existence of the socio-ecosystem and, consequently, the people themselves.

The reduction of biodiversity occupies a special place among the main global environmental problems of our time. There is a massive destruction of natural ecosystems and the disappearance of species of living organisms. Natural ecosystems have been completely changed or destroyed on a fifth of the land. Since 1600, the extinction of 484 animal species and 654 plant species has been recorded; today, more than 9 thousand animal species and almost 7 thousand plant species are listed on the IUCN Red List (2000). In reality, several times more species have disappeared and are under the threat of extinction, since most of the species diversity has not yet been described. The possible consequences of biota destruction in their catastrophic nature for mankind can surpass the effects of all other processes of the global ecological crisis.

Further reduction of biodiversity can lead to destabilization of the biota, loss of the integrity of the biosphere and its ability to maintain the most important characteristics of the environment. Russia plays a key role in preserving global diversity, having on its territory the bulk of the diversity of ecosystems and species of living organisms in the largest region of the planet - Northern Eurasia.

Human economic activity accelerates extinction species, the rate of which is currently 100-1000 times higher than the natural loss of species. There is a global depletion of biota and, in connection with this, a systematic decrease in the Earth's ability to support living systems on it. Thus, the loss of biodiversity is the loss of life-sustaining potential. Biodiversity has actually come to be regarded as an important complex system-forming natural resource for human survival and for its economic activity.

This type of resource is closely related to other natural resources - depending on their classification: biological, genetic, water, forest, soil, mineral, etc.

The main directions of anthropogenic impact on biodiversity.

Anthropogenic impact is divided into direct and indirect.

direct destruction of animal and plant populations as a result of: excessive production volumes, low fishing culture; illegal fishing; irrational and indiscriminate control of weeds and pests in agriculture and forestry, including the use of pesticides; death of animals on engineering structures; destruction by the population of animals and plants considered dangerous, harmful or unpleasant; illegal collection and collection of living organisms.

Destruction of natural ecosystems as a result of: their transformation into agricultural land, including the plowing of steppes; forest management by unsustainable methods leading to the reduction of biodiversity; various types of construction; mining; draining swamps; water and wind erosion of soils; hydroconstruction, creation of reservoirs, destruction of small rivers.

mediated

Three directions of such influences can be distinguished:

Physical, i.e. changes in the physical characteristics of the environment: climate and weather changes; change physical properties soil or soil; regulation of river flow, withdrawal of water from reservoirs; seismic exploration and blasting; action of electromagnetic fields; noise impact; thermal pollution.

Chemical, that is, pollution of water, air, soil: by industrial enterprises; transport, including accidental oil spills; household and municipal drains; energy enterprises, including nuclear power plants; mining companies; agricultural enterprises (herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers); pesticides in the fight against pests and diseases of the forest; military installations; as a result of the launch space rockets; as a result of the global transport of pollution, including "acid rain".

biological, expressed in violations of the structure of natural biocenoses: intentional and unintentional introduction, as well as self-dispersal of alien species; the spread of animal and plant diseases; penetration into open agrosystems and natural ecosystems of genetically modified organisms, eutrophication of water bodies, destruction of animal food resources.

Usually, different kinds human activities (agriculture, construction, mining, transport, industry, recreation, fishing, etc.) have both direct and indirect effects. At the same time, the latter can act in several directions. Therefore, anthropogenic impacts are often complex and may be accompanied by synergistic and cumulative effects.

Economic goals of biodiversity conservation

In accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity (adopted in Rio - 92), 3 goals are set in the field of biodiversity:

conservation of biological diversity;

sustainable use of its components;

obtaining fair and equitable benefits (associated with the use of genetic resources, including through the provision of necessary access to genetic resources and through the appropriate transfer of appropriate technologies, taking into account all rights to such resources and technologies, as well as through adequate funding).

Economic and financial mechanisms for biodiversity conservation.

Economic mechanisms of biodiversity conservation. Economic mechanisms include a system of measures:

Regulating existing market relations through payments (taxes, fines) and incentives (eg tax breaks, non-monetary subsidies).

Creating new markets:

Controlled recreational activities (including tourism, ecological trails, etc.), accommodations (zoos, aquariums, oceanariums, etc.);

Encouraging the breeding of commercially valuable species on specialized farms and in captivity;

Shareholding of environmental facilities with valuable or rare species, issuance of environmental bonds, creation of a rare species insurance system, use of compensations (benefits) to private or collective land users for damage caused by rare predators to the household;

Encouragement of controlled commercial activity in protected areas (national parks, sanctuaries, buffer zones of nature reserves);

Stimulating the conservation of non-commercial biological species (for example, the use of compensations (benefits) to private or collective land users, individual citizens for the protection of rare species in their territories).

part of the funds (from rent/profit/revenue of private and state companies, institutions, bodies) received from the use of non-renewable natural resources (oil, gas, other mineral resources) should be directed to the conservation of valuable species;

part of the funds received from the commercial use (profits of companies) of renewable natural resources and from fines for poaching activities to be used for the conservation of rare species;

the proceeds from the sale of commercially valuable species as a result of their licensed removal from the natural environment should be fully directed to the protection of rare species.

In reforming the tax system At the macro level, the following aspects should be highlighted:

reforming the taxation system (taxation on the natural resources involved in production, and not on the result of production)

an increase in the share of taxes on nature-exploiting and environmentally polluting activities (as an important reason for the extinction of rare species) in the total amount of taxes.

ecologization of the taxation system - the creation of a unified system of taxes covering the entire natural product vertical (chain) - from the primary natural substance to the final product obtained on its basis.

revision and cancellation of subsidies that damage the environment and rare species (in energy, industry, transport and agriculture)

For the sustainable use of commercial species, with a general focus on minimizing their removal, the following can be noted as the main measures:

obtaining the maximum amount of bioresources from crops by: increasing the productivity of existing crops; introduction of new species into culture; + genetic engineering;

replacing natural materials with synthetic ones

The basis for the formation of an effective system of economic mechanisms for the protection of species should be:

accounting and evaluation of available biological resources

assessment of the contribution of species bioresources to the national economy

assessment of the economic productivity of various ecosystems

development of a structure of economic responsibility for the protection of rare species in the region

ensuring the implementation of economic incentives for the conservation of rare species;

involvement of the local population in obtaining economic incentives from the conservation of rare species

conducting an economic assessment of rare species of animals and plants listed in the Red Book

inclusion of an economic section in the ecological and economic cadastre of protected areas and development of a methodology for filling it out

Mechanisms for preventing the occurrence of rare species and their removal from the Red Data Books should be aimed at limiting, neutralizing and/or eliminating these limiting factors.

For example, the establishment of quotas for the withdrawal of biological species, the withdrawal (purchase) of eco-critical land plots by the local government; introduction of incentives - cheaper licenses for the circulation of rare species, remuneration for reserves, local administration; exchanges of some lands (with rare species) for others; permission of the authorities to seize and sell individual (sick, infirm, etc.)

Financial mechanisms for biodiversity conservation

The objectives of biodiversity conservation financing are:

promote investment in the study and conservation of species

access to technology to significantly expand the available options to address biodiversity loss

allocate funds for activities to form an environmental culture among the population

Possible sources of financing and economic incentives for the protection of biological species can be used:

budget financing at all levels (federal, subjects of the Federation and local);

eco-funds

reform of taxation, receipt by the state of rental income as the owner of natural resources. Russia is a resource power and from the greening of taxation one can expect a revival of economic processes;

income from privatization, taking into account the economic assessment of biodiversity objects as part of the cost of privatized objects (requirement for environmental investments in privatized objects);

funds from environmental insurance;

income from the sale of licenses and other similar services;

foreign charitable grants from state, private, corporate foundations;

funds of Russian sponsors - legal entities

funds of individuals;

new and additional sources financial resources, including:

part of the rent (profit) of natural resources companies from mining, i.e. non-renewable natural resources;

part of the profit from the sale of anthropogenically renewable natural resources (this is mainly the food industry, agricultural farms, timber harvesting; the agricultural sector in Russia today, with rare exceptions, is insolvent);

part of the profits of companies that “exploit” natural resources, sometimes even without consuming them (from travel agencies);

fines for poaching;

voluntary donations by individuals and legal entities of the business sector (with appropriate legislative incentives, for example, exemption of such contributions from federal and/or local taxes);

profits from investments made by protected areas;

entrance fees to protected areas - zoos, oceanariums, national parks, photo hunting, remote (recreational) monitoring of rare species and their concentrations;

Deductions from proceeds from exhibitions of exhibits, drawings, photographs and other works of art displaying rare species;

Payment for licenses for extraction, collection and hunting associated with rare species;

AND OTHER. THERE IS FUCKING TO REMEMBER IT

To obtain funds for biodiversity conservation, the following steps can be taken:

to increase the role of economic mechanisms mainly due to the introduction of rent payments for nature use and, without increasing the total amount of payments for legal and individuals, reduce, for example, the social tax of enterprises;

part of the profit from the sale of non-renewable resources should be directed to the conservation / restoration of conditionally renewable natural resources and biodiversity, and part of the profit from commercially used natural resources (better, natural wealth) – for saving/restoring;

to develop and implement a system of environmental offsets for Russian external debts and debts of subjects of the Federation;

to prepare Russia's participation in the trade in unrealized greenhouse gas emission allowances, meaning the use of part of the funds received for environmental activities.

attract sources provided on a non-commercial basis.