V. Peskov Voronezhsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve

On the southeastern border of the forest area of the Voronezh Nature Reserve (51°52ʹ24ʺ N; 39°38ʹ57ʺ E) on white goosefoot (Chenopodium album), four imagoes of the desert shield bug Brachynema germari (Kolenati, 1846) were encountered on June 12, 2020. This finding, the northernmost one in the European part of Russia, is probably the result of self-dispersal of the species in the northern direction that could have been facilitated by abnormally hot weather in early June 2020 on the European territory of Russia. The ways of B. germari expansion in the northern direction can be the right-of-way lanes along railways on which xerophytic groups are growing.

The considerable polarization of bird habitats has been formed in European Russia – extensive abandoned lands, of low suitability for nesting of typical meadow species, alternate with increasingly intensively cultivated fields. Though the abundance of most species is low in these fields, the polarization has resulted in their increasing exploitation by Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Redshank, Black-winged Pratincole, Demoiselle Crane, Montagu's Harrier, Grey Partridge, Short-eared Owl and Mallard, apart from those more typical for fields: Lapwing, Common Quail, Eurasian Skylark, Calandra Lark and Western Yellow Wagtail. However, nesting of these species on most crop fields often results in low breeding success. The trends most unfavorable for nesting birds in European Russia are conversion of grasslands into arable lands, associated with the switching to indoor keeping of cattle, and increasing no-till farming.

Experiments in microcosms have demonstrated that beaver vital activity products (BVAPs) promote an increase in concentrations of total nitrogen (N) and total phosphorus (P), a decrease in the N/P value in water, and an increase in the abundance and biomass of bacterioplankton. Under such conditions, the abundance and biomass of small Ceriodaphnia dubia Richard and large Daphnia (Ctenodaphnia) magna Straus, which live separately, increase. The coexistence of these cladocerans in microcosms under the BVAP influences results in a high increase in the abundance and biomass of D. magna; in similar experiments without the influence of BVAP, Ceriodaphnia dubia becomes more abundant. The results of bioassay demonstrate that the number of newborns of Ceriodaphnia dubia decreases in water where Daphnia magna is numerous owing to BVAPs. It is suggested that the vital activity products of large representatives of the genus Daphnia inhibit the fecundity of small species of Cladocera. This fact, along with the high competitiveness of large cladoceran species under conditions of a high level of nutritive base, determine the formation of zooplankton communities in beaver ponds which are characterized by a high abundance and biomass and low uniformity

Establishment of “blacklists” is one of the attempts to focus on the issue of biological invasions of alien species that pose the most significant threat to regional biodiversity of a certain region. Blacklists contain biological and environmental characteristics and information on invasive species distribution. In Russia, regional blacklists of invasive species are often based on expert opinions or various criteria. For the standardization of alien species information, we propose (1) to use a quantitative assessment of the participation of invasive species in regional floras and plant communities, which makes it possible to evaluate objectively the invasive status of a species and the degree of its impact; (2) to include all invasive species of the region in the regional “Black Books”; and (3) to present potentially invasive species as separate lists. We offer 65 invasive alien plant species for inclusion in the regional Black Book of Voronezh oblast: 9 species are transformers, 20 are actively inhabiting and naturalizing in disturbed seminatural and natural habitats, and 32 are spreading in disturbed habitats. The status of four species is still not defined. Twenty-two species are potentially invasive, because they do not have large spread in the area, but showed themselves as invasive in adjacent regions (in deciduous forests and forest-steppe zones).