Research in Biodiversity and Forest Ecology

This article summarizes the results of long-term integrated research performed by the Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (SIPPВ SB RAS), to study the composition, structure, and dynamics of biodiversity in Siberia and adjacent regions at the level of populations, species, biocoenoses, and ecosystems and reveal the responses of organisms and their coenoses to changes in environmental conditions caused by natural and anthropogenic factors. The sequestration of carbon dioxide by conifer forests growing on the territory of Baikal Natural Region (BNR) is estimated. Forest fires in Transbaikalia are reconstructed on the basis of tree-ring chronology with an annual resolution of 351 years. The concept of paragenesis is justified, as it characterizes the formation of phytocoenoses that, in regards to their structural–dynamic organization, are not related to a zonal type (or altitudinal belt) of vegetation. The data can serve as an information base while determining basic vectors of regional ecological policy, and they are important for assessing the present state of biodiversity in Baikal Siberia and its changes under the conditions of anthropogenic pressure, as well as for developing measures for its protection.