编号 7 (2023)

The stability of biological systems ensures their viability under the influence of environmental factors. The homeostatic mechanisms of the body ensure the stability of the process of individual development (developmental homeostasis, or homeoresis). The stability of biosystems of a higher rank is determined by the diversity and stability of the constituent elements. New opportunities for the implementation of homeostatic mechanisms appear at the level of society.

The article discusses possible approaches to cytogenetic homeostasis assessment in natural populations. Various cytogenetic methods, their advantages, disadvantages, and limitations related to the study of animals in their natural habitat are considered. For a reliable characterization of environmental quality, it is recommended to supplement the data obtained in natural populations with laboratory experiments using a test object. Due to a number of features, it is proposed to use the short-living fish Nothobranchius rachovii.

We examine temporal variation in a measure of developmental stability, the degree of fluctuating asymmetry of the characters of skull morphology, of the common shrew (Sorex araneus L., 1758) in Central Siberia. Four-year cycles in this population in the last century were accompanied by significant changes in the level of developmental stability. Population fluctuations under the climate change conditions in this century commonly occur without essential changes in developmental stability. Deterioration of developmental stability takes place occasionally in case of adverse overpopulation impact in the year of peak population abundance that is beyond the certain threshold level increased due to the climate change.

A high variety is a characteristic attribute of any material phenomena and processes involving living matter, i.e., very complex systems (VCC). We verified the presence of fundamental constraints on size/shape diversity and self-organization on the example of a mammalian skeleton in four orders (41 species.) The properties of more than 4700 multidimensional descriptive models of VCC were studied. A self-organization index R (0 ≤ R ≤ 1) was calculated for each model, its range of variability was mainly limited to the interval from ~0.10 to ~0.30. The concepts of an abstract Ashby’ regulator and the Shannon-Hartley theorem were used to explain the variation in the empirical data. It was concluded that there are significant constraints on a quality of morphological diversity regulation and the possible level of self-organization of VCCs for steady states.

Using the example of various groups of herbivorous mammals, it is shown that the spatial, seasonal and long-term dynamics of energy resources directly affects the level of their consumption by animals, determines changes in the intensity of reproduction, mortality and migration processes, and, ultimately, the state and stability of populations. The supply of nutrients and energy is initially limited, that determines certain forms of ecological processes according to the hierarchy of components of the energy budget. The energy balance of the organism acts as a universal integral indicator of the effectiveness of the adaptation capabilities of the organism to environmental factors at every moment of its life cycle.

A brief review of the main models for emergence of boundaries and, in a particular case, integrity, arising from the theory of nonlinear volumetric systems. Based on the fundamental value of Kotelnikov’s reference and, accordingly, the general theory of awareness about identifying a characteristic border feature, as frequency of sampling functions in incidence along with a regular step, the unit of measurement “berg” is introduced – one full oscillation per one kilometer, essentially the identical unit “hertz” for the time series. The main provisions are illustrated by analysis of the properties of minor biogeocenoses and multispectral measurements of solar radiation reflection by SPOT 6.

The broad concept of “homeostasis” in relation not only to the organism, but also to the population, ecosystem and socio–ecological and economic systems (in the context of sustainable development) is discussed. Sustainability is a major quality of systems. Discusses the mathematical formalization and examples of various definitions of sustainability: the sustainability of Lyapunov, Lagrange (steadiness), Poisson (periodic stability), Svirezhev (hierarchical), Holling (elasticity), Fleishman (vitality), Gnedenko (reliability).