Vol 26, No 4 (2023)

With rational forestry management, it is created special artificial forest plantations of high productivity for technically valuable species allowing the largest supply of grown wood. One of the ways to increase the supply of wood per unit of forest area is to regulate the initial density and planting pattern of trees. Using simulation methods, it is shown that in the absence of external influences, a checkerboard planting pattern is an optimal one providing a larger supply of wood as compared to a rectangular pattern. In real conditions, there are risks of  dying off for individual trees due to random external factors like gusts of wind and phytophages. Therefore, in real life the supply of wood grown under such optimal planting schemes would  be significantly lower as compared to the calculated values obtained.

In this regard, there arise problemsaimed at studying theplantings productivity dependent on the planting pattern and the intensity of tree death during the forest stand growth as a result of the random external factorsinfluence. To solve these problems, we used a simulation model of  tree communitiesdynamics, which takes into account the spatial location of each tree, in this way making it easy to simulate various forest planting schemes and remove some trees at any step of modeling. As a result of the computational experiments, the optimal values of spruce plantations initial density have been defined for different planting schemes, dependent on the intensity of theexternal factors influence. It is shown that at a certain intensity of the external factors impact, the maximum timber stock does not depend on the planting scheme, but is determined by the initial density of the forest stand.When the impactintensity increases,, the planting density also needs to be increased, in order to obtain the maximum reserve.

The paper considers the phenological parameters of the great tit (Parus major) and Japanese tit (Parus minor) in Priamurye. In the cohabitation zone of these species, there are places wherepronounced hybridization occurs and the areas where it fades and stabilizes. This leads to the zone of sympatry subdivision into three main parts: western, central, and eastern. To understand the phenomenon of hybridization in these parts, its changes and differences, the phenological parameters of the eastern tit were studied and compared with those of the great tit.

For the Japanese tit, the author has determined the dates of pre-spring migrations, flight and appearance at nesting sites, spring singing of males, the period of courtship and struggle for females, nest construction and egg laying, incubation of clutches, the appearance of chicks and fledglings, late broods, and also autumn migrations. It is given the data on this species wintering  in Priamurye.

The same indicators are compared with those for the great tit. It is revealed that the great tit males begin to sing early – from the end of December to the beginning of January, still in wintering groups. The aspects of behavior preceding direct reproduction: courtship of males for females, struggle between males for females, begging for food from males by females in already established pairs, are also manifested in great tits in wintering groups when there is not yet  the Japanese tit main population at breeding sites. The spring flight and mass appearance of the Japanese tit at nesting sites occurs since March, and pairs form in nesting sites in April. However, the indicators of direct reproduction in  these species coincide in time.

The Amur region sable sub-populations monitoring of the allelic composition in the hunting seasons of 2011–2021 showed the presence of alleles marking the differences between the sable population at the Amur River left and right banks. A pairwise comparison of seasonal collections of left- and right-bank sub-populations revealed a spread in the level of genetic differentiation from almost zero values to intermediate ones. It became clear that in order to determine the number of different genetic groups of sable in this region, we need additional mathematical methods to work with the obtained data.

The purpose of this work is to determine and visualize the most likely number of different genetic groups of sables in the territory under consideration. It was studied three sub-populations of the Bureinsky Highland sable (left bank of the Amur River). For comparison, it was taken a species sub-population from the Sikhote-Alin western slopes (the Amur River right bank). The analysis of data for two microsatellite loci Ma3 and Mer041, on the material of hunting winter seasons from 2011 to 2022, was carried out using the programs Structure 2.3.4 and Structure Harvester.

Based on the results obtained with these programs, it can be assumed that in the territory under consideration, this species is represented by two genetic groups (clusters) – “the left-bank” and “the right-bank”. The structure remains the same for both the collection material of the 2012–2013 winter hunting seasons and those of 2013–2014, as well as for the total collections of 2011–2022. The formation of such a structure is undoubtedly the result of both the historical formation of the specieshabitat and the genetic specifics of anthropogenic introductions from two different geographical areas.

The value of the Amur goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) as a fauna representative is in its rarity. Special measures for this species preservation includeprohibition of hunting and its inclusion in both the Federal and some other Russian Federation subjects Red Books. However, the time proves the measures insufficient to restore it within its historical habitat, taking into account a strict territoriality of this “red book” species. This situation needs taking additional measures. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the regional state nature reserve “Dichun” suitability for the purpose of the Amur goral reintroduction. The study of this species ecology,  protection and restoration  has been carrying out since 1970s. Methods of trapping individuals, overexposure and transportation of them have been developed and tested for the goral population in Primorie. The analysis of the Amur goral historical habitat in Russia has shown the population subdivision into two loosely related groups – the sea coast and continental (including the Small Khingan mountains). There is no experience in the continental group reintroduction. The article  substantiates the prospects for  the nature reserve “Dichun” use as a landfill for the Amur goral habitat reintroduction. This area in Small Khingan mountains has been under special protection for 60 years. Restoration of the Amur goral population in the north of its historical habitat is of great importance for natural biodiversity and for attraction of tourists to the region.

The author gives evaluation of seismic transitional zone continent-ocean catalogs representativeness using the FIC EGS RASsummary data (Obninsk) for the period of 2003–2021. In the investigation process it has been compiled a map of the minimum representative magnitude, characteristic of the Far Eastern region. It emphasizes that a significant portion of area in the Russian Far East has a lower threshold of earthquake representation with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 2.0. The representative magnitudesharp increase marks the boundary of  seismic zonesobservations: the Sakhalin network on the border with China, the Magadan and Kamchatka networks on the Chukotka Peninsula. When comparing the periods of 2003–2015 and 2003–2021, the overall pattern of representative magnitude distribution remains consistent. In the regions with a sparse station distribution within the seismic monitoring network, new seismic stations show changes in the minimum threshold of representative magnitude. In the southern Far East, there is a decrease in the representative magnitude threshold, also noted in the northern part of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The accuracy of determining the upper crustal earthquakes (range of depths 0–20 km) hypocenters depths in the Amur region is an average of ± 1.8 km, and in the Okhotsk Sea region – ± 2.5 km. At the same time, the accuracy of  estimations in the lower crustal layer (range of depths 21–50 km) is ± 3.8 km in the Middle Amur Region, and ± 7.7 km in the Okhotsk Sea region. It is found a significant reduction in the measurement error of earthquakes hypocenters depths determining, as compared to the period of 2003– 2015.

In framework of the inversion concept one more required condition for the origin of life has been substantiated: multilevel fluctuations of physic-chemical parameters (in addition to the three accepted: availability of organic matter, aqueous medium, and source of energy). Taking this condition into consideration, hydrothermal systems were preferable medium for the origin of life on early Earth, in comparison with ocean. Hydrothermal environments are characterized by an extremely wide range of temperature, pressure, pH, and concentrations of components gradients. Multilevel fluctuations availability has been corroborated by means of thermodynamic estimations and direct measurements of pressure and temperatureduring the monitoring in some of the Kamchatka peninsula hydrothermal systems. The monitoring database mathematical processing reveals at least three levels of pressure fluctuations: 1) irregular macro fluctuations (with big amplitudes); 2) regular micro oscillations (with smaller amplitudes and periods about 20 minutes); 3) sudden pressure changes and fluctuations with periods lower than 5 minutes. High correlation between pressure, temperature, and concentrations of chemical components is also detected both in hydrothermal systems of  Kamchatka and Slovenia. A lot of data on pressure and temperature dynamics in hydrothermal fluid, obtained by many researchers, can be applicable for investigation of the origin-of-life process.

Involving new virgin soils in agricultural use requires huge capital investments and significant labor resources. The secondary return to agricultural use of fallow reclaimed lands  not used in agriculture can become a less costly method of increasing the area of agricultural arable land. In the Middle Amur Lowland, the issues of environmental assessment of fallow drained soils, re-involved in agricultural use, remain poorly studied and  practically there are  no materials devoted to this issue. To study the ecological state of abandoned drained soils in the  Jewish Autonomous region, the authors were carrying out a field research from July to September 2022. The studies showed that drained soils of agrocenoses after being out of agricultural use enter a complex process of self-healing. In fallow soils, the density of the top layer of soil decreases, which has a beneficial effect on the structure of the soil. With the fallow  age increasing in drained meadow sod-gley soils, a decrease in the structure coefficient is observed to values close to the lower limit of “good” structure. In brown 20-year-old fallow mountain-forest soils it is observed a noticeable increase in the proportion of macro aggregates, including agronomically valuable ones,which indicates an improvement in the agronomic properties of fallow soils. The condition of the examineddifferent agemeadow gley soilsdeposits,which form the regional arable fund basis, makes it possible to classify them as suitable for agricultural use.

In this study, MODIS satellite imagery data was processed for 2016 to identify areas with high fire danger, taking into account vegetation characteristics in 2016–2017. To assess the biodiversity of the territory and damage from vegetation fires, it is proposed an algorithm for the spatial and temporal analysis of vegetation fires distribution, taking into account their influence on vegetation transformation in the Russian Far East. The processing algorithm includes: the network imposition on the study area; obtaining satellite image fragments for the territory and converting the satellite image into operational-territorial units of a given size, with the transfer of attribute data over a multi-year period; forming vector layers of individual vegetation fires on the base of point placement or fires area, determining the nesting of individual fires in operational-territorial units and adding data on the condition of vegetation they arose on. The materials of the study contained both annual and daily vegetation data on the location of vegetation fires, based on MODIS satellite images, Terra spectroradiometer and Aqua Land Cover Modeling Grid Version 6. In the course of data analysis, 88 variants of vegetation condition transformation were found in the presence of from 1 to 11 fires. In 8604 cases, changes in the flora structure and quality were caused by an anthropogenic factor. In 40 variants, the transformation did not depend on fires. The maximum transformation is recorded in the following vegetation cover classes: small-leaved and broad-leaved forests, forest-steppes, steppes, meadows and arable land. Most cases of vegetation transformation in operational-territorial units (from 30 to 70%) are recorded when forest- steppe is turning to steppe.

The so-called "Birobidzhan project" of the Amur region settling became one of the most significant pre-war state programs for the colonization of the sparsely populated border territories of the Russian Far East. The massive influx of settlers demanded increased attention to new settlements planning at the Jewish Autonomous region (organized in 1934), and primarily to its capital Birobidzhan. Building of the town, aimed to be the centre of a new ethnically determined subject from scratch, dictated specific conditions in the cultural aspect, urban planning and architecture.

Thus, the present article makes an attempt to analyze the formation specifics of its planning structure. Having studied the first projects of the town's master plan and objects built in 1928–1942, the author defined directions of the local architecture development, its characteristics and features. The corpus of the 1930s archival materials allows us deepen our knowledge of the most significant processes in the regional design management and construction. The article also aims to reveal the reasons for the eventual failure of the initial architectural ideas. Along with this, the author provides the biographical data of key architects and engineers working in the field of design, construction and the town's urban economy decision-making. Clarifications have been made regarding the pre-war architectural heritage of Birobidzhan. 

The promising "Big Altai Program" is being developed in the south of Western Siberia. The concept of "Big Altai" covers the regions unique for tourism – Gorny Altai ( the Altai Republic)  Rudny Altai (Altai Territory), Sayano-Altai (the Republic of Khakassia and the Republic of Tyva), Gobi Altai and Mongolian Altai (Mongolia). Based on the collected information, the development of ethnological-confessional tourism in the Altai Republic is highlighted by the author. In modern conditions of globalization, it takes place the unification and commercialization of ethnic culture of the Altaians (the titular ethnic group of the republic), Russians ( the ethnic majority of the region), and Kazakhs as a local large diaspora.

In changing tendenciesof the Russian society development, there is a belief that through ethnic tourism it is possible to return to ancient national traditions. For the local populationand specialists involved in tourism services, it is an active factor of regional development,a source of employment. For the guests, ethnological-confessional tourism represents both an attractive sphere of communication and a direct entry into an unknown and little-known culture. According to the archival materials by the collector A.V.Anokhin, referring to the beginning of the last century and stored in the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) in St. Petersburg, the Altai regional tourism has a 100-year history.

In the XIX century, the Altai Spiritual Mission was founded in the village of Chemal, which now-days has become the center of modern ethnological-confessional tourism in the region. In 2000, the Church of St. John the Theologian was restored on the Patmos rock near the Katun River, which became an Orthodox shrine that attracts tourists. The island of Patmos is associated with two priests by name of Makarius who served in the Chemal camp at different times. The locals called the island Makarievsky, since Father Makarius (Glukharev), the founder of the camp, was the first;and later, in 1916, there served Father Makarius (Nevsky). The history of the village of Chemal determined the restoration of Orthodox shrines, turning this village into a center of ethnological-confessional tourism in the Altai Republic.

The article, based on an analysis of statistical indicators of livestock farming in the Jewish Autonomous region for 1990–2021, reveals negative dynamics in the development of the industry. When considering the  cattle livestock, including pigs, sheep and goats, vertical and horizontal methods are used.  They provide an objective assessment of the livestock industrydynamics. It is noted that in the 90s of the last century the region was a fairly large producer of agricultural products, providingboth the region and other areas of the Russian Far Eastwith agricultural products. Over the past few decades, agriculture in the region has undergone a significant decline, negatively affecting the economy of the region. It is determined that the cattle breeding developmentin the region, which needs capital intensity, suffers from the lack of large manufactures. The forage cropssown areas analysis also shows negative dynamics.  And this is one of the leading reasons for the cattle livestock decline. It is substantiated that the population outflow from rural areas results in the decline of agricultural production.  To the author, the predominant agricultural producers in the Jewish Autonomous region are  households. It is noted that modern state support options aimed at the regional agriculture development are not efficient enough. For its rise and development, the branch needs large cattle breeding enterprises and  participation of agricultural holdings in the production process.