The development of hunting has always been closely connected with the successes of biology. In turn, biology and especially animal ecology have received a lot from game managers and hunters. Suffice it to recall that a number of prominent biologists worked in the field of hunting and fishing. You can name the names of academician M. A. Menzbier, professors B. M. Zhitkov, A. N. Formozov, V. G. Geptner, S. P. Naumov and many others. Biologists P. Errington, L. Siivonen, O. Kalel, J. Koskimis and others are widely known in the hunting world abroad.
In recent decades, biology has been developing rapidly as a result of widespread contact with related natural sciences and the penetration into it of ideas, methods and principles of physics, chemistry and mathematics. Before our eyes, not only are its new sections emerging, for example, molecular biology, but a new basis is also being created for the development of long-existing sciences - taxonomy, morphology and physiology, ecology and biogeography. New technical capabilities force a revision of many old provisions and contribute to the emergence of new sections.
Among the latter, the so-called population biology, studying biological macrosystems - populations individual species and their communities or biocenoses. The main problems of population biology, which are of utmost importance for hunting, can be named as follows:
- Dynamics of game animal populations and forecasting changes in their numbers.
- Population structure, intra- and inter-population relationships and connections as natural mechanisms for maintaining the level of animal numbers.
- Forms and methods of communication of animals as the basis of their behavior; studying the mechanisms of intraspecific and interspecific signaling and developing methods for controlling the behavior of animals in natural conditions.
- The role and significance of the factor of exploitation of game animals in the dynamics of their populations as a biological basis for the development of hunting techniques.
- Studying the ecology of individual species and their relationships with the environment to develop measures to increase the level of abundance and improve their quality.
For our country, with its vast expanses and diversity of hunting grounds, these general biological problems are of paramount importance. Workers in other areas face essentially the same questions. Agriculture and healthcare. There have long been good traditions of sharing experiences and often working together.
After a relatively short-term fascination with the theory of so-called biological cycles, which saw the cause of fluctuations in the relationships of species in a biocenosis, most biologists, under the influence of the ideas of the American entomologist R. Chapman, became fascinated by the idea of climatic cycles. This theory sought the causes of fluctuations in numbers in changes in the external environment and, above all, climatic conditions, affecting animals both directly, through heat exchange, thermoregulation and water exchange, and indirectly, through food supplies or cohabitants - community partners. In our country, these views also found many ardent supporters.
However, the limitations of both points of view became clear quite quickly. Adherents of each of them paid attention to only one aspect of population dynamics and, as often happens, exaggerated the significance of the facts they discovered. Russian researchers were perhaps the first to draw attention to the role and significance of intra-population relationships in population dynamics, which determine a certain structure and organization of populations and allow adaptation to a changing environment through intra- and inter-population connections. Both here and abroad, the mechanisms of intraspecific adaptations have been discovered and studied, ensuring the regulation of reproduction, movement, use of territory and much more, reducing the death and increasing the survival of animals, i.e. stabilizing the number of populations. The resulting changes in the state of animals and the structure of populations are controlled by the humoral factor and are accompanied by changes in the behavior of animals, especially their mobility and relationships with each other. It must be noted that these mechanisms have not yet been sufficiently studied. At the same time, their knowledge opens up new opportunities not only for forecasts, but also for the active regulation of changes in the number of wild animals.
Current forecasting practice is based on comparing changes in population size with changes in environment. It makes it possible to determine with a significant degree of probability general trends of change, but usually does not make it possible to predict the quantitative side of changes.
Hence, the need for a deep and comprehensive study of population dynamics, combining the efforts of ecologists and morphologists, physiologists and biochemists, geneticists and mathematicians, is clear. Special attention Methods of mathematical modeling are increasingly being used in animal ecology.
The most important task, having first of all practical significance, there should be a study of the form as complex system populations. Each of these populations, called geographical or independent, occupying a zone of similar favorability, has its own rhythm of life phenomena and the course of changes in the Formosa population. As a rule, they break up into smaller groups - the so-called ecological and elementary populations, connected by constant interaction. Some of them form permanent settlements of animals in stations or centers of experience. others exist only temporarily, occupying temporarily favorable habitats. During migrations and especially the settlement of young animals, there is a mutual or one-sided exchange of individuals between these populations, which is of great importance for their dynamics.
Thus, numerous data have shown that the degree of stability, and in many cases the level of size of geographic populations, is associated with their dismemberment.
Occupying large and uniform spaces and therefore not divided into smaller groups, populations can reach at times high density, but are usually unstable and subject to extinction. On the contrary, in mosaic landscapes, populations break up into subordinate groups, which makes it possible to experience even
extremely unfavorable situations and ensures the sustainability of their numbers. The study and detailed large-scale mapping of the distribution of game animals, identifying the number and boundaries of individual populations is necessary both for forecasting the number and for economic and reclamation measures. Until now, little attention has been paid to this.
The penetration of cybernetics into biology and the emergence of bionics open up new opportunities for hunting. The study of behavior and especially the means and methods of communication of animals creates the basis for controlling the behavior of even significant masses of wild animals. Particularly important from this point of view are unconditioned reflexes responsible for stable, strictly determined forms of behavior. They are associated with biologically most important signals of distress, herd behavior, food, etc. and can be sound, visual, chemical, tactile, etc. The successful experience of their use in the fight against harmful species is rapidly expanding. So far, they mainly use scaring signals, but in hunting, attracting signals can be even more important. A deep study of the orientation of animals will also reveal the mechanisms that determine this or that population structure with which the reproduction and movements of animals are associated.
The most important issue in hunting is the impact of hunting itself on the number, condition and qualitative composition of the animal population. It is well lit for game fish, but much worse for game animals. The concept of natural and independent fishing mortality, which existed until recently, should be discarded. It has been proven that harvesting animals necessarily changes the natural mortality and dynamics of their herd. But at least to a certain extent, increased fishing reduces natural mortality, while simultaneously increasing the reproductive capacity of the population.
However, the degree of such a positive effect depends not only on the standards of shooting or trapping, but also on the methods of hunting and especially on the time of hunting. The most rational time is soon after the cessation of reproduction, i.e., at the seasonal maximum of numbers. This positive impact of fishing is ensured by the so-called compensation effect, discovered independently of each other by S. A. Severtsov and the American ecologist P. Errington. In accordance with this law, an increase in death from one cause is usually accompanied by a decrease and sometimes even a cessation of death from other causes. Compensation is also associated with the well-known rejuvenation age composition populations. But with increased harvesting and progressive rejuvenation, there is a danger of a reduction in the herd of breeders and extinction of the population. The hunting industry knows many such examples.
A simple list and the most superficial presentation of the main problems of population biology shows how great their importance is for hunting. Game managers must pay close attention to them.
Wild reindeer: a study unconditioned reflexes, associated with distress signals, herd behavior, create the basis for managing even significant masses of animals.
The tradition of holding All-Russian population seminars was established at Mari State University in 1997. The first three seminars were held in Yoshkar-Ola, and then in different cities Russia (Moscow, Kazan, Nizhny Tagil, Syktyvkar, Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa, Izhevsk, Tolyatti). The seminars discuss a wide range of problems in population biology: natural and model populations of plants, fungi, animals and humans, population genetics, population toxicology, molecular genetic methods, mathematical models and statistical methods in population studies.
The twelfth seminar returned to Yoshkar-Ola and was held from April 11 to 14 at the Mari State University in memory of the ideological inspirer and one of the founders of the population seminars, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Honorary Worker of the Higher vocational education RF, full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Honorary Professor of MarSU Nikolai Glotov. Nikolai Vasilyevich is a famous Russian geneticist, one of the founders of population biology in our country, a specialist in the field of biometrics, a brilliant lecturer, a wonderful teacher, and a talented organizer of science. He worked in the system for more than 45 years higher education: Moscow State University them. M. V. Lomonosov, Leningrad (St. Petersburg) State University, Mari State University, lectured as a guest lecturer in various Russian universities. Wherever he worked, he created scientific teams into which he united his students and followers. Professor N.V. Glotov is the author of more than 280 scientific works published in domestic and foreign publications. results scientific research N.V. Glotova are cited in genetics textbooks.
The XII seminar was attended by scientists from 29 regions of Russia, among them were both scientists who had already received wide recognition in scientific circles (employees of academic institutes and universities, academicians, corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professors, associate professors), and graduate students still starting their scientific career. MarSU students had a wonderful opportunity not only to take part in the seminar, but also to listen to plenary presentations by eminent scientists from all over the country.
The $XXI$ CENTURY - the century of biology - is just beginning and the future is closely connected with its successes.
Note 1
Nowadays, biologists are faced with many tasks, the solution of which can have a driving influence both on natural science and on the progress of mankind. Among them are questions that are studied by genetics, molecular biology, physiology and biochemistry of muscles, glands, nervous system and sensory organs (processes of memory, excitation and inhibition in the nervous system); photo- and chemosynthesis, energy and productivity natural complexes and the biosphere as a whole, the form and content of natural processes, their integrity and expediency, progress, etc.
If we take it as a whole, then biology as a science is interested in three main problems:
- mechanisms of the origin of life (there is no single concept);
- variability (there is no common view on its mechanisms);
- evolution (the role of mechanisms of variability in the evolutionary process).
Everything else is covered by these three global problems, and whatever is explored will be the answer to the above questions.
If we consider in more detail, the main problems of modern biology are:
- Biological aging(various theories of aging give different reasons why it happens; The exact cause is not yet known, although there are genetic, mechanical and a number of other theories).
- Studying the mechanisms of brain activity in order to understand the laws of the processes of thinking and memory.
- Study of complex physiological and genetic functions of the body(for plants - genetics of photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, for animals - behavior, reactions to stress factors).
- Biology and technology problems(the study of biological processes and the structure of living organisms in order to obtain new opportunities for solving scientific and technical problems (technical or industrial biochemistry, industrial microbiology); reproduction and modeling of biological processes and individual functions of organisms, as well as the construction based on such prototypes of new technical systems and devices (bionics problems).
- Biology and astronautics(study of the influence of outer space conditions on the body, possible consequences of action cosmic factors, the mechanism of adaptation of organisms to the action of space conditions).
- Development of genetic engineering(genetic reconstruction) (the most pressing task of the modern complex natural sciences is to foresee the long-term consequences of human intervention in natural processes. This problem is and will be solved on the basis of in-depth scientific research into the patterns of life phenomena. This is a new and important branch of molecular biology associated with the targeted construction of new gene combinations that do not yet exist in nature using genetic and biochemical methods. At the same time, one of the most important tasks is to foresee the consequences of such a design in the future).
- Decoding the genomes of plants, animals and humans(the problem is to understand the processes of differentiation and development of gene sets, the creation of new artificial genomes, the replacement of defective sections of genomes, taking control of gene activity).
Structure and functions of macromolecules
It is known that biologically important macromolecules have a polymer structure (consist of many homogeneous units, which, however, are not identical). Proteins are formed by $20$ types of essential amino acids, nucleic acids contain four types of nucleotides, polysaccharides are a complex of monosaccharides. The sequence of placement of monomers in complex biopolymers is their primary structure. The initial stage of studying the structure of macromolecules is the establishment of their primary structure. Scientists have already determined the primary structure of many proteins and some types of RNA. It is the development of methods for determining the sequence of nucleotides in RNA chains, and especially DNA, that is now the most important task of molecular biology. Typically, the biopolymer chain is coiled ( secondary structure); protein molecules are also folded in a certain way (form a tertiary structure), and later they often combine and form macromolecular complexes (quaternary structure). At the moment, it is not yet sufficiently understood how secondary and tertiary structures are determined primary structure, and the catalytic activity and specificity of action depend on the tertiary and quaternary ones. Attaching to membranes and combining with lipids and nucleic acids In supramolecular structures, protein molecules form intracellular components. Using X-ray diffraction analysis, the tertiary structure of some proteins (hemoglobin) was established and the functional structure of many enzymes was studied. In the future, one of the key problems of modern biology is the study of the structure of macromolecules and elucidation of its influence on their complex, diverse functions.
Regulation of cell functions(mechanism for turning on genes at the molecular level; regulation of processes in cells, tissues and organs in order to maintain relative stability of the system even under changing environmental conditions).
Mutual consistency and dependence on regulatory processes that ensure the maintenance of relative stability of the system even with variability in environmental conditions - characteristic processes occurring in a living system. Regulation of intracellular processes can be achieved by changing the set and intensity of synthesis of structural and enzymatic proteins, influencing their enzymatic activity and changing the rate of transport of substances through the cell membrane and other biological membranes. Protein synthesis depends on the synthesis of RNA molecules that carry information from the corresponding gene. Thus, one of the places of regulation of protein synthesis is the beginning of the synthesis of an RNA molecule on the gene (gene switching on). So far, one of the absorption regulation schemes has been identified only for bacteria. nutrients- it is achieved by turning on and off genes that determine the synthesis of necessary enzymes. The first place to be studied in molecular biology is the molecular mechanism of gene inclusion (especially in multicellular organisms).
It is assumed that, probably, the rate of protein synthesis can be regulated directly at the site of synthesis - on ribosomes. The basis of a more operative regulatory system is a change in enzymatic activity, which is achieved by the interaction of certain substances with the enzyme molecule and a reversible modification of its tertiary structure. Since the enzyme catalyzes the initial reaction in a chain of chemical transformations, and the final product of this chain is a substance that suppresses its activity, a feedback system is established that automatically maintains a constant concentration of the final product. The speed of cellular chemical processes depends on the rate of entry or exit of certain substances into the cell, its nucleus and mitochondria. This process is determined by the properties of biological membranes and enzymes.
Since there is no complete understanding of the regulation of intracellular processes, this is a problem that many modern researchers are working on.
Individual development of organisms(clarification of differentiation mechanisms at all stages from protein synthesis to the appearance of specific cell properties, cell restructuring leading to the formation of organs; creation of a theory of ontogenesis).
The life of every sexually developing organism begins with a zygote - one fertilized cell (egg), as a result of repeated division, many cells are formed, each of which contains a nucleus with a certain complete set of chromosomes (contains genes responsible for all the properties and characteristics of a particular organism. However, the development of each cell is different, i.e., during the development of each cell, only those genes that are responsible for a specific function necessary for the development of a specific tissue or organ will work.
Therefore, one of the main problems of developmental biology is the mechanism of gene inclusion in the process of cell differentiation. At this time, some factors are known that influence such inclusion (heterogeneity of the cytoplasm of the fertilized egg, the influence of embryonic tissues on each other, the action of certain hormones). Genes control protein synthesis. However, the signs and properties multicellular organism do not consist only in the characteristics of its proteins: they are determined by how cells differentiate, differing in their structure and functions, interconnections, and the formation of certain tissues and organs. Such an important problem as elucidating the mechanism of cell differentiation at the stage from the beginning of protein synthesis to the appearance of certain properties cells that lead to the formation of organs. It is believed that in this process main role cell membrane proteins play. Therefore, it is necessary to create a coherent theory of ontogenesis.
Rational organization of human life and development of the problem of life extension.
The development of organisms on the planet during the history of its existence(discovery of complex dependencies between fundamental devices acquired in the process of evolution or individual devices).
A huge amount of facts has confirmed the fundamental correctness of the evolutionary doctrine constructed by Charles Darwin. But still, many of its important provisions have not yet been developed. From this point of view, a population is considered an elementary unit of the evolutionary process, and an elementary evolutionary phenomenon is a stable change in the hereditary characteristics of a population. As a result, the main evolutionary factors were identified: mutation process, spatial isolation, waves of numbers, natural selection. And the evolutionary material is mutations.
It is not yet clear whether only these factors act at the macroevolutionary level (above speciation) or whether other unknown mechanisms and factors also take part in the emergence of larger groups of organisms. It is quite possible that all phenomena of macroevolution come down to changes at the intraspecific level. To solve this problem, it is necessary to reveal the mechanisms of the sometimes observed, as it were, directed development of certain groups. Perhaps this depends on the existence of certain restrictions that are imposed by the genetic makeup and structure of organisms. Therefore, an important task in the near future is to reveal the complex dependencies between adaptations of a fundamental nature acquired in the process of evolution, or are they specific adaptations that lead to the development of a certain group (but in connection with the habitat). It is necessary to reveal what patterns cause the appearance of the most perfect adaptations in one case and lead to the successful survival of primitive organisms in another.
Origin of life(finding out the causes and conditions for the emergence of life on Earth, as well as modeling the processes that occurred during this process, with the restoration by experiment of the successive stages of the emergence of life on Earth).
Biosphere and humanity(study of the biosphere as a dialectical unity of living and inanimate nature, the most significant point for which is the cycle of matter and energy in nature; studying the laws of the biosphere to characterize its state in a given period and predict the future of the planet and humanity; studying current state and development of promising directions in economic activity humans on a planetary scale; statement of the need to protect and increase wealth in order to maintain balance in the relationship between nature and society). The rapid growth of the world's population raises the question of the limits of the biological productivity of the Earth's biosphere. In $100-200$ years, with modern methods of managing the earth's economy and the same rate of human population growth, almost half of the people would not have enough not only food and water, but also oxygen for breathing.
The challenge of creating sufficient food capacity for a growing human population(biotechnology, plant breeding - the creation of fundamentally new forms - more productive, high-quality and resistant to negative factors, with reconstructed genomes and more productive, the creation of transgenic plant species).
Note 2
Biology can solve the questions it faces today modern stage, only in close contact with other sciences: chemistry, physics, cybernetics, and other branches of science and technology. The solution to many questions of modern biology is still in the future.
The study of natural populations, which represent the first supra-individual level of life integration and the elementary evolutionary unit, inevitably involves various biological sciences- genetics, ecology, morphology, physiology, biology of individual development.
Already established and still emerging areas of these sciences pursue their own goals when studying natural populations and use their own research techniques. These scientific areas are branches of population biology.
Population ecology and population genetics have long been formed and most developed. Population morphology is in the stage of active formation, and approaches to the formation of population physiology, biochemistry and developmental biology are just beginning to be developed. Let us briefly consider these areas of research, noting first that it is sometimes difficult to draw clear boundaries between them.
Population genetics- the first population discipline, the origin of which dates back to the 20s of the 20th century. Any evolutionarily significant changes in the characteristics and properties of individuals are caused by changes in their genotypes. Population genetics therefore occupies a special, one might say fundamental, place in the study of natural populations. The task of population genetics is to study the patterns of statics and dynamics of the genetic composition of populations. Population genetics intensively studies a number of major problems: intrapopulation genetic polymorphism, genetic load, the emergence and maintenance of genetic variability in populations, the effect of elementary evolutionary factors on the genetic composition of a population. Each of these problems breaks down into a number of subordinate problems. So, for example, in the problem of the action of evolutionary factors, the problem of the action of natural selection is important, and in it, in turn, the problem of determining the point of application of selection and the unit of selection. To study the problem of the emergence and maintenance of genetic variability, the initial step is to determine the level of genetic variability in populations, which can be done, for example, using methods of population biochemistry.
Determining with sufficient accuracy the genetic determination of a trait in a natural population is a complex experimental task and is available for a fairly limited number of species of living organisms. This, in our opinion, is the main methodological contradiction of modern population genetics.
From a practical point of view, it is extremely important to study such genetic problems as determining the effective reproductive size of a population (the number of individuals participating in the formation of the next generation), assessing the mutagenic effect of anthropogenic factors (radiation, chemical substances etc.), not to mention the problems of managing artificially created populations of domestic and other farmed animals, as well as cultivated plants.
So far, apparently, only the study of the material-energy parameters of a population, the main problem of the next direction of population biology - population ecology, falls outside the scope of population genetics.
Population ecology as an independent direction arose in the 30s of the XX century. Currently, the main task of population ecology can be defined as elucidating the role that the population as a whole plays in the functioning of ecosystems. This concerns, on the one hand, the material and energy characteristics of the population, its productivity, and, on the other hand, the development of special adaptations. In the latter case, population ecology, often together with population morphology and physiology, elucidates the nature of adaptations, their biological significance and phenotypic expression.
Speaking about the material and energy characteristics of a population, we primarily mean the total number and its dynamics, birth rate, mortality, age structure and sex ratio, population growth rate and its characteristics, density, biomass, productivity, etc.
Special adaptations are understood as the emergence of adaptations to both physical and geographical environmental factors and biotic relationships, including efficient acquisition of food, use of space, successful reproduction and coexistence with other organisms in the ecosystem (competition, symbiosis, etc.) . Most of these adaptations are expressed by typical population indicators: average values and variances of individual characteristics taken into account (size, weight, etc.).
Thus, population ecology requires a detailed study of the variability of population parameters (morphological, physiological, etc.), without which understanding population dynamics is impossible. On this path, population ecology enters close interaction with other areas of population research and, above all, with population morphology.
Population morphology It was formed as an independent direction about 15 years ago. Its task is to study the structure, composition, and dynamics of populations by studying the morphological characteristics of individuals, i.e., any comparable structural features of the organism.
The need to accurately describe the morphological characteristics characterizing populations or other groups of individuals required the development of new methodological approaches. Work in this direction is far from complete, but it is already clear, for example, that not all characters on which traditional morphology is based can be used in population morphology. Of greatest interest for population morphology are rapidly changing morphological characteristics(qualitative and quantitative).
To identify the specifics of populations, various methods of morphological analysis are used. As an example, we can point to the method of morphological profiles, the use of correlation and multivariate statistical analysis. However, the dynamics of the organic form cannot be fully assessed without identifying functional changes that precede or accompany changes in morphological structures, without identifying changes in the genetic composition of the population.
Population morphology is often considered as a direction in the study of microevolution, which arose as a result of the penetration of the population style of thinking into evolutionary morphology and contributing to a closer connection of the latter with the synthetic theory of evolution. It is closely related to the already discussed areas of population biology - population genetics and ecology. There is no doubt about its connection with other emerging areas in the study of populations.
Other areas of population biology. In recent decades, population studies have begun to be carried out on an ever larger scale in physiology, developmental biology, and biochemistry. However, it is too early to talk about the formation of specific population trends in the listed areas. Physiological, ontogenetic and biochemical parameters are still only widely used in population ecology and population genetics. For example, the opening in the 60s. the possibility of relatively quickly taking into account the variability of proteins and enzymes in natural groups has made it possible to sharply intensify research into genetic diversity within and between populations.
Perhaps closer than others to becoming an independent scientific direction turns out to be population physiology. Developing on the basis of ecological physiology, population physiology studies intraspecific and intrapopulation variability of physiological traits, mechanisms that ensure adaptive responses of populations, and physiological aspects of the evolutionary dynamics of populations. Population physiology uses physiological research methods in the laboratory and in nature to determine the influence of environmental factors on metabolic processes and their characteristics in different populations and intrapopulation groups.
The subject of research in population developmental biology is the study of the characteristics of age-related (pre- and postnatal) changes in the processes of growth and development in different populations of the same species and intrapopulation groups. Such material begins to accumulate, but apparently only after creation general theory Ontogenesis will open up broad prospects for the development of population developmental biology.
It is often emphasized that modern systematics also sometimes covers the population level, establishing the taxonomic position of certain population groups within a species (the so-called microsystematics). Undoubtedly, population biology data should be used in microsystematics, and, conversely, data obtained by microsystematics can be successfully used in various areas of population biology. However, it is hardly possible (now or in the future) to talk about the development of “population systematics”, since the minimal taxon in biology is not a separate population, but a subspecies, usually consisting of many populations.
Beginning to be developed population approaches and in biogeography. In some cases (for example, when developing the concept of founder populations or in the theory of island biogeography), biogeographers actually deal with populations. In the future, it seems possible that population biogeography will be formed as independent direction population biology, on the one hand, and general biogeography, on the other.
It must be emphasized that at present only very few studies consciously implement an approach to studying the population as a single, integral structure.
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