LABORATORY OF ORNITHOLOGY

The main areas of work of the Ornithology laboratory:

Birds of the southern Russian Far East: study of faunas, communities, populations and their dynamics under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors; monitoring and conservation of Red Data Book species with an emphasis on critically endangered species; study of seasonal migrations; invasive species monitoring; study of ecology, behavior and taxonomy of birds using modern high tech methods and approaches.

  1. Red Data Book species common to Russia and Asia-Pacific countries as a model group within this trend (international species-oriented research and application programs - Single Species Programs).
  2. Background species as indicators of long-term population trends (systematic monitoring using mass banding of birds migrating along the East Asian-Australasian flyway - in cooperation with the Primabirds banding station of the Amur-Ussuri Center for Avian Biodiversity)
  3. Bird communities, long-term monitoring of dynamics in their structure and population (we prioritize forest and marine bird communities).
  4. Studying the ecology, behavior and taxonomy of selected groups of species using high tech methods and approaches (geolocators, transmitters, sonogram analysis and molecular genetic analysis).

The main tasks within the scientific topic, including for the year 2021:

– Studying seasonal migrations of passerine birds, migrating along the East Asian-Australasian flyway on the banding station in the south of Primorsky Krai, focusing on long-term dynamics of the migrant numbers.

– Data consolidation on migratory strategies of shorebirds and other bird groups of East Asia, including species with a globally decreasing population.

– Studying nesting biology in a selected group of bird families, including waders, and writing consolidating monographs.

– Monitoring and assessing the state of bird populations with international Red List status (= common to Russia and Asia-Pacific countries); risk identification and assessment.

– Developing recommendations and methodology for vulnerable species conservation and restoration of their populations (for the conservation of their populations in Russia), as part of international cooperation as well.

– Revisions of the key protected bird species status within coordinated international surveys, including using small aircrafts and drones.

– Dynamics of bird communities ecologically associated with different forest formations in the mountain areas of the southern Primorsky Krai.

The topic is a natural continuation of the previous scientific topic “Bird biodiversity of the eastern edge of Asia in a changing world: population monitoring, Red Data Book species, common to Russia and Asia-Pacific countries; high tech methods and approaches in population ecology research, seasonal migrations and bird taxonomy”, when the main problems and areas of work were identified, and tasks were formulated. The most significant results were obtained for the first four tasks in the reporting year.

Work is done jointly with the Amur-Ussuri Center for Avian Biodiversity, nature reserves and national parks of Primorsky Krai, in cooperation with other scientific organizations of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and with the participation of students and staff of the Far Eastern Federal University.

Personnel

Alexander Nazarenko

NIR Expert
Doctor of biological sciences

Yuriy Shibaev

Senior Researcher
Candidate of biological sciences(Ph.D.)

Sergey Surmach

Senior Researcher

Ivan Tiunov

Senior Researcher
Candidate of biological sciences(Ph.D.)

Olga Valchuk

Senior Researcher

Tatyana Gamova

Research Fellow
Candidate of biological sciences(Ph.D.)

Alexey Kurdyukov

Research Fellow

Konstantin Maslovsky

Research Fellow
Candidate of biological sciences(Ph.D.)

Denis Irinyakov

Leading Engineer

Viktoriya Kharchenko

Leading Engineer

Rada Surmach

Leading Engineer

Tatyana Svatko

Leading Engineer