Stanislav Kutenkon made two presentations at the symposium. One was about the biodiversity and dynamics of peatland forests in the north of European Russia. In his other presentation the scientist told the audience about the history and lines of research of the Laboratory of Mire Ecosystems at IB KarRC RAS.
The laboratory has been working for as long as 74 years, maintaining an integrated approach and holding a leading position in its sphere within the Russian Academy of Sciences. Its staff study mire vegetation, peat deposits and evolution, investigate the past climates relying on fossils in peat. The scientists take part in the nomination process and monitoring of protected areas. Wetlands are essential for the planet’s carbon cycle: they sequester carbon dioxide and deposit tons of carbon. These aspects are also in the focus of the scientists’ attention. In particular, carbon stocks in mire ecosystems and agricultural landscapes of Karelia are currently being estimated within a key innovative project of state important. Its principal objective is to create a unified national system for monitoring climate-active substances.
Session in progress. Stanislav Kutenkov first row far right. Photo: Northeast Normal University School of Geographical Sciences
The laboratory’s studies reach far beyond Karelia, implemented for instance in the Russian Far East. Previously, Stanislav Kutenkov together with colleagues from the Institute of the Water and Ecology Problems of the RAS Far Eastern Branch made a first finding of aapa mires in the Kharabarovsk Krai and studied them.
– Aapa mires are a most widespread type in Fennoscandia and Kamchatka, but are extremely rare in the mainland Far East, where they hadn’t been known until lately. The surveyed mires are similar to Karelian aapa bogs in having ridge-hollow complexes surrounded by oligotrophic sites with tree-shrub-Sphagnum vegetation. Their vegetation shows high similarity to that of mires in the north of European Russia, but also featuring species specific to the Far East. Eight moss species not previously known for the Khabarovsk Krai were spotted in the aapa mires that we have discovered, – shared Stanislav Kutenkov.
In addition to improving the knowledge of the biological diversity of the Khabarovsk Krai this study provided new information about the Eurasian distribution of aapa mires. The new obtained data will be used when developing the classification of mire vegetation of Russia.
Possibilities for future cooperation between the Northeast Normal University’s School of Geographical Sciences and the Mire Ecosystems Laboratory IB KarRC RAS were discussed during the symposium. Specifically, Chinese colleagues have recently detected similar aapa mires in Northeast China’s mountain regions and their comparative study is of mutual interest. Another potentially interesting area for joint research is investigation of permafrost in peatlands of the Russian Arctic, Far East, and Tibet. In an earlier project funded by the Russian Science Foundation (#22-77-10055, Leader – P. Ryazantsev) Karelian scientists implemented a large study of permafrost-core palsa mires in the Kola Peninsula.
Group photo of Symposium participants. Photo: Northeast Normal University School of Geographical Sciences
As an official outcome of the symposium, scientists from China and Russia have resolved to prepare memorandums to develop international cooperation with the Khabarovsk Federal Research Centre of the RAS Far Eastern Branch and Karelian Research Centre RAS.
Overall, the symposium dealt with the questions of maintaining the ecological functions of peatlands, studying the potential of the deposited carbon, and the application of green resources. The key objective of this international event was to establish a platform for cross-border scientific cooperation and industrial integration.
The symposium was organized by the Northeast Normal University’s School of Geographical Sciences in collaboration with Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peat Industry Branch of the Chinese Humid Acid Industry Association, and Peatland Society of Jilin Province.
