by Yevgeny MAMAEV, Cand. Sc. (Biol.), Deputy Director for Science of the State Natural Biosphere Reserve "Komandorsky"

Twenty years ago, in 1993, a unique ground-and-sea reserve "Komandorsky" appeared in our country. It has a vast territory-3 mln hectares of water areas of the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea washing Komandorskie Islands. Today, employees of the reserve are still working hard there, developing ideas initiated in the 18th century by the outstanding natural scientist Georg Steller, the first researcher of nature in Kamchatka and the north-western part of America.

OUR "NOAH'S ARK"

Local ecosystems have very special qualities and this is why. The western edge of the Komandoro-Aleutian Island Arc is displaying a mixture of Asian and North American flora and fauna. For example, there are 432 species and subspecies of vascular plants, 14 percent of which are of Asian origin and 17.5 percent are of Asian-North American origin. Besides, 10 species are spread in the western part of the reserve, and 93 species grow in the eastern part of the distribution area.

The reserve is a shelter for 213 species of birds, mostly aquatic and periaquatic, but only 60 species nest there. The latter are mainly represented by colonial sea species-for example, cormorants, larids and Procel-lariiformes*. The total feathered population of the island is over one million birds. It is worth mentioning that Komandorskie Islands are populated by fulmars from the family of shearwaters (they got this name due to their trustful attitude to people)-one of the largest flocks in the Northern Pacific counting 200,000 birds, the population of puffins (lundae) (over 100,000 birds) and, certainly, glaucous-winged gulls and red-legged kittiwakes-typical representatives of the North Ameri-

* Procellariiformes-an order of long-winged and short-tailed sea birds. They got the name due to a special structure of the nib: their nostrils are elongated by two horny tubes lying on the nib with holes forwards.-Ed.

can fauna that have chosen our reserve as the only nesting place in Russia. In summer local waters are populated by one and a half million slender-billed shearwaters from Australia. There you can also often see So-lander's petrels and Buller's shearwaters from the same family. Thanks to warm streams protecting the water area from freezing, about 30,000 anseriformes winter here-harlequin ducks, Siberian eiders, Emperor geese.

Fifteen out of 37 species of mammals inhabiting the reserve are in the RF Red Data Book and that of Kamchatka. The "aboriginal" blue fox is dominating in the ground ecosystems of Komandorskie Islands; other "ground" species were brought here by people: northern bed-backed vole, house mouse and rat settled the islands in the late 19th-early 20th centuries. It was time when the reindeer was first naturalized there. American mink was among other colonizers: these small predators were bred on a farm, and from there they succeeded in joining the ecosystem of the islands.

Marine mammals hold a special place in our "Noah's ark". Namely, sea otter from the Mustelidae family, different pinnipedes (walruses, seals, fur seals) and whales. All 10 Pinnipedia species of the Northern Pacific are inhabiting waters of the reserve. For the last decade, two typical representatives of the North America fauna have

been noticed in the reserve-northern elephant seal and California sea lion. And, of course, the reserve is a place where large rookeries of northern fur seals of up to 200-220,000 individuals occur; it is also a place where sea lions-animals, whose population has dropped for the last 30-40 years are reproduced.

Specialists have registered 20 species of whales in local waters. However, only 7 of them are typical of coastal waters of Komandorskie Islands: Baird's beaked whale, sperm whale, killer whale, Dall's porpoise, humpback whale, fin whale and lesser rorqual. At the same time, dead animals found by scientists allow to state: the protected water area is inhabited by very rare Japanese Eubalaena glacialis (we have regularly observed living animals too) and Stejneger's beaked whale (toothed whale from the ancient Ziphiidae family) registered in the Red Data Book of the International Union for Nature Protection. Grey whales migrating from reproduction areas near the American coastline to the summer meadows near Kamchatka and Sakhalin also pass through the protected waters of the reserve.

ALL-THE-YEAR-ROUND RESEACH FIELD

Thanks to the confluence of cold and warm streams and upwelling areas* (rise of deep waters resulting in a significant cooling of surface waters and inflow of biogenic elements), the water area near Komandorskie Islands is characterized by high biological productivity. This territory is not used for economic purposes and is ideal for studies of natural ecosystems of the Northern Pacific. At present, the only active year-round proving ground to carry out ecological studies is located on the Komandoro-Aleutian Island Arc.

Like other national natural reserves, we have detailed scientific research plans for a year and even for 5 years ahead. With the participation and financial support of the marine project of the UNO Development Program/ Global Ecological Fund "Strengthening and Development of Specially Protected Natural Marine Areas in the RF", a long-term ecological monitoring program envisaging a wide range of annual and regular observations was

* See: M. Flint, "The Black Sea: Problems and Prospects". Science in Russia, No. 3, 2007.-Ed.

developed and approved in 2012. Recently, the national monitoring programs have been approved on the government level, which makes it possible to focus research efforts on the most pressing problems even in terms of scarce financing. Results of long-time studies of plants, animals and abiotic environmental factors have been summarized in scientific articles, reports and the Chronicle of Nature.

Botanical and geobotanical studies have been carried out on Komandorskie Islands since 1993. Our main partner is the Institute of Biological Problems of the North (Magadan). Employees of the reserve are collecting phenological* data on blossoming and fruit-bearing of plants, and besides, they study a zoogenic factor** in the development of plant communities. For example, now we are witnessing the consequences of colonization

* Phenology-science on the spatial and time regularities of cyclic changes in natural objects and their complexes, associated with annual motion of the Earth around the Sun.-Ed.

** See: A. Ivanov, "Zoogenic Landscape Complexes", Science in Russia, No. 3, 2009.-Ed.

of the Bering Island by the reindeer: Komandorskie tundras formed without influence of herbivorous mammals, now are undergoing serious transformations and, are virtually, degrading. Another problem-peculiarities of grass cover at bird-colonies on sea-shores*. This topic has been developed by the colleagues from the Lomono-sov Moscow State University. Similar studies have been carried out at settlement areas of polar foxes that are very active in hole digging and changing the landscape. Unfortunately, by now, we have ceased large-scale observations of marine invertebrates. Though, studies of the specific composition, communities of these animals and mechanisms of functioning of marine ecosystems of the islands are a serious part of research programs at any reserve like ours. But the main works in this field of research were carried out a long time ago-in the late 1950s-early 1960s during the expeditions of the Scientific Research Vessel Vityaz in the area of Kurilo-Kam-

* See: A. Ivanov, "Yamskie Islands: a North Pacific Phenomenon". Science in Russia, No. 2, 2007.-Ed.

chatsky and Aleutian oceanic gutters. Additional data on the marine biota in the water area of Komandorskie Islands were collected in the course of the complex expedition of the Ail-Union (today All-Russia) Scientific Research Institute of Fish Industry and Oceanography and Pacific Scientific Research Institute of Fish Industry and Oceanography (TINRO) in the 1950s. The latest data were obtained in 1995 by participants of the joint expedition organized by the TINRO Kamchatka Branch and Kamchatka Department of Environmental Management of the Pacific Institute of Geography, RAS FEB. In addition to the fauna studies and description of benthic communities, specialists then studied the influence of sea beavers as the main consumer of sea urchins and molluscs on the specific composition of their communities and a biomass of certain organisms.

Fish fauna of the islands and adjacent waters is another poorly studied element of ecosystems of the reserve. There are no special descriptions of local ichthyofauna; consequently, there is no overall understanding of distribution of the main fish species (first of all, salmon) in rivers and lakes. There is no updated information on the spawning season of king salmon and herring that used to reproduce on Komandorskie Islands; besides, according to ichthyologists, Pacific and three-toothed lampreys may visit local rivers with the same purpose, but this should be confirmed by scientific data. At present, employees of the reserve assisted by the Commander Inspectorate of the North-Eastern Basin Board of Fishing and Preservation of Water Biological Resources are carrying out a monitoring of spawning process of such salmon species, as red salmon, humpback salmon and silver salmon. As for hydrobionts in sea water areas, they are studied by specialists of the Kamchatka Scientific Research Institute of Fish Industry and Oceanography.

At present, we are focused on the studies of the avifauna of our reserve, control of the number and reproductive potentialities of sea birds-red-faced and pelagic cormorants, flesh-footed and common murres, glaucous-winged gull, black-legged kittiwake and red-legged kittiwake registered in the Red Data Book of Russia and International Union for Nature Protection (both species belong to the Laridae family). At the moment, the available information on these species is very scarce. According to the monitoring program adopted in 2012, quantitative estimation of the birds populating Komandorskie Islands will be carried out once in several years, and scientists should collect data on the number of different representatives of bird-colonies on the Toporkov and Arii Kamen Islands. It is also necessary to collect annual data on the successful nesting of the above-mentioned species. All these types of monitoring are carried out by our specialists and ornithologists from the Institute of Biological Problems of the North and Kamchatka Branch of the RAS FEB Pacific Institute of Geography (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski).

Ecology of the Mednovsky subspecies of blue fox is no less important line of scientific research carried out at the reserve. The population of blue fox is very small-about 100 grown inidividuals-and any negative impact may result in total extinction of its population. For many years specialists have been trying to understand what is the reason for the catastrophic decrease of the endemic of Komandorskie Islands and change the situation for the better. Employees, postgraduates and students of Lomonosov Moscow State University, starting from 1994, have been studying in detail different aspects of biology of the animal and have gathered unique data on reproductive strategies of its population on the island and cultural traditions of foraging.

LEADERS AMONG THE EQUAL

However, the works at the reserve are focused on biology of sea mammals. These works are carried out by our employees and specialists of academic and departmental research institutes and higher educational establishments, and in most cases are oriented to monitoring.

Since 1933 we have been monitoring the number and death rates of sea beavers. We have accumulated longtime data enabling us to trace the fate of the population on Komandorskie Islands for decades. We have also been monitoring the island seal-antur for a long time; in this case we have been registering locations of its rookeries on the coastline, with no regular studies of ecology of this species. Unfortunately, for the past 20 years the detailed studies of ecology of sea beavers on the Komandorskie Islands were also suspended. As for the ecology of the northern fur seal and sea lion, we have been conducting a thorough research work. We've been monitoring the population of both species for over a century (mainly owing to trade practices), which is a part of our works from the moment of establishment of the reserve. Since 2012 we've expanded our monitoring activities by registration of marked animals, analyses of the ration of sea bears and sea lions reproducing on Komandorskie Islands-these two species are the main lines of ecological monitoring at the reserve, traditionally carried out by specialists of the Kamchatka Scientific Research Institute of Fish Industry and Oceanography and the Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography of the RAS FE Branch. Besides, they study behavior, reproduction and feeding strategy, migration patterns and other characteristics of these species.

I have already mentioned that Komandorsky Reserve is famous for its whales. Studies of whales in local waters represent a separate large-scale trend deserving a

detailed description. More or less thorough studies of biology of marine giants were initiated and carried out in the time of whaling-till late 1960s. Then, up to the 1990s, specialists did not take much interest in this group of animals and collected only fragmentary data as an additional material. All information on the whales (including records on contacts with them, data on the fallen animals) was accumulated in the Chronicles of Nature.

Fortunately, the situation has changed drastically in the last decade. At the moment, we are conducting littoral monitoring (the method widely used worldwide) intended to determine species of whales, their population and peculiarities of behavior. Besides, we obtain data while navigating in the sea onboard of small vessels. There have appeared first photo catalogues of killer whales, humpback whales, common minke whales, sperm whales and, which is very pleasant, Baird's beaked whales-a poorly studied species. Studies of acoustic behavior of killer whales are another line of research. The uniqueness of Komandorskie Islands lies, above all, in the fact that scientists can study both fish-eating killer whales and northern fur seals*.

Thanks to long-time studies we found out that in the summer period humpback whales from Mexican, Hawaiian, Bonin and Philippine waters in the reserve water area and their number in summer and autumn months can reach several hundred. Each year the same groups of killer whales game near rookeries of seals, and they have never been registered in other areas of the

* See: Ye. Sidorova, "The Unbounded World of Sea Mammals", Science in Russia, No. 1, 2013.-Ed.

reserve. At the same time, fish-eating groups of this species reach the islands from Kamchatka coasts.

Studies of the biology of cetaceans have been carried out for many years by scientists from the Kamchatka Branch of the RAS FEB Pacific Institute of Geography and Lomonosov Moscow State University. In 2012, following approval of the Program of Ecological Monitoring, the reserve initiated large-scale works on regular all-the-year round monitoring of species diversity, number, spatial distribution and coastal mortality rate of representatives of the group.

To sum it up, at present, the Komandorsky Reserve is the only place in Russia where all-the-year-round observations of whales and dolphins are conducted, which is possible due to a developed infrastructure (a settlement) and an ice-free sea with highly bioproduc-tive waters. This part of the Northern Pacific is a place where an underappreciated scientific outpost is located, that has no analogues in the territory of the Aleutian Archipelago. And, of course, this protected territory is the best place to carry out long-term monitoring of biota in general, where enthusiasts of science have been working for years and who have been preserving the traditions laid in the 18th century by the first researcher of Kamchatka and north-western part of America, outstanding natural scientist Georg Steller. The next step in the life of the reserve will become a comprehensive approach to monitoring activities and ecosystem studies using modern methods and technologies that will make it possible to deepen our knowledge of the Northern seas.