A new Biogeography issue of the Transactions of the Karelian Research Centre RAS was published in March 2026. Alexander Kryshen, the series’ Editor-in-charge and Chief Researcher at the Forest Research Institute KarRC RAS, informed us that this issue features papers by scientists from the KarRC RAS, Komarov Botanical Institute RAS (St. Petersburg), Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Moscow), Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (Moscow), Kola Science Centre RAS, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and other research institutions across the country.

– Besides the scientific organizations of Russia’s northwest, which have traditionally been active contributors to in the series, we also receive papers presenting research results for Central Russia, Siberia, the Far East, and the Caucasus, – noted Alexander Kryshen.

This is largely because the series has occupied its own niche among Russia’s scientific journals. It publishes papers on biodiversity, distribution patterns of species and communities, and ways to protect them.

The new issue offers a traditional set of papers reporting research results and discussing biodiversity conservation. For example, a paper by Marina Smirnova, Junior Researcher at the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS, is devoted to the diversity of habitats and plant communities on the White Sea coast of the Onezhskoye Pomorye National Park (Arkhangelsk Region). Coastal habitats of the park were surveyed in 2021 and 2025. The article presents results on flora and fauna, vegetation, soils, topography, and moisture conditions, providing information on biodiversity in the protected area, enabling zonation based on vulnerability and value, as well as building management models.

The paper by Alexey Kravchenko, Leading Researcher at the Karelian Research Centre’s Forest Research Institute and Senior Researcher at its Department for Multidisciplinary Research, presents the results of long-term studies of the flora in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea. Noting that 395 vascular plant species have been identified in the areas where the Onega petroglyphs are located, the author draws several conclusions, including that the flora of the area has so far been relatively little altered by human activity.

Ilya Rudenko, Assistant at the Institute of Ecology of the People’s Friendship University of Russia, and Vyacheslav Krylenko, Senior Researcher at Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS, published new records of red-listed vascular plant species made in 2024–2025 in the Dzhegutinsky floristic district of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and Krasnodar Krai.

As always, the issue also pays attention to rare species of fungi, plants, and animals, as well as new records of red-listed species in the European North of Russia.

The Chronicle section provides information on the all-Russian conference with a field workshop “Monitoring of Carbon Pools and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems of Russia” held in Apatity (Kola Science Centre RAS) on June 18–21, 2025. The event gathered 55 specialists from research institutions across the country. The key focus was on the studies of carbon balance in forest, mire, and tundra ecosystems in different regions of Russia, the methods and approaches in researching carbon pools and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems, and the patterns of carbon sequestration in natural and human-altered ecosystems.

The issue also includes a memorial article dedicated to Raimo Heikkilä, a well-known researcher, geographer, and ecologist, who was for 30 years an active organizer and leader of Russian-Finnish scientific cooperation.

The “portfolio” for the next issue of the series is almost full. The issue is scheduled for August 2026.