TOMSK, Jul 22 –
RIA Tomsk. Scientists of TSU launched a
project to study the effects of global warming on the fauna and flora of
Northern Eurasia; within next five years researchers will study areas of the
Tomsk region, Ugra, the Taimyr Peninsula and partly the Far East, which are the
first to respond to climate change, the university's press service said on
Wednesday.
Earlier it was
reported that Tomsk State University scientists and colleagues recorded an
increase in the average annual temperature in Siberia and the Subarctic by four
degrees over the past half century. They study the significance of these
climatic changes and their consequences. The results of this work will be
important for the development of a mechanism for the adaptation of mankind to
global warming and survival under new conditions.
Both flora and
fauna
According to the
press service of the university, the next study is being conducted by an
interdisciplinary group from the Biological Institute of TSU. The project is
being implemented within the framework of a state assignment with the support
of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. Its
task – is to assess what are the changes at different levels – from
microorganisms and plants to vertebrates and invertebrates.
"Zoologists,
microbiologists, botanists, phytochemists and other specialists will find out
how global climate change affects the flora and fauna of Northern Eurasia. The
accumulated data will be used to predict further changes in ecosystems", –
is said in the statement.
It is added that
scientists will have to study the fauna and animal world in different regions
of the Tomsk region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, on the Taimyr
Peninsula and partly in the Far East for five years. The choice is due to the
fact that the northern regions – the Arctic and Subarctic – are the first to
respond to warming and it is here that the most noticeable changes occur.
According to TSU
scientists, currently there are only fragmentary data on the impact of global
warming on some species of flora and fauna in certain regions.
"The
five-year project will provide a large amount of information. During the
research it will be determined which species of plants and animals are in a
vulnerable state, in which areas they need to be protected.
Ultimately,
there will be obtained a vector of changes will be determined and an array of
data sufficient to make predictions about the relative further development of
natural ecosystems", – the head of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology Anastasia
Simakova is quoted in the message.
Research objects
At the first
stage of the project, researchers will select model species – those who can
serve as an indicator of transformations.
"We plan to
study bumblebees, because pollinating insects are especially sensitive to any
environmental transformations. Mosquitoes will be studied. Thermophilic
species, such as ants, are now beginning to appear in the northern regions.
Insects that themselves show the greatest changes will be selected for further
studies", – TSU entomologist Ruslan Bagirov is quoted.
© РИА Томск. Элеонора Черная
A separate block
will be devoted to medicinal plants. These studies will be carried out by TSU
phytochemists, who are searching for raw materials for the production of new
pharmaceuticals based on plant raw materials.
Zoologists, in
particular ornithologists and ichthyologists, will work with vertebrates.
Attention will be paid not only to the animals themselves, but also to their
parasites, potentially dangerous to humans. For example, specialists in
invertebrate animals intend to study the prevalence of three types of
trematodes – parasites of carnivores (bears, foxes, and others) and humans,
whose intermediate hosts are fish.