Laboratory of Ecology of Coastal Bottom Communities
Conducting expeditionary research in the coastal zone of the White and Black Seas at the Institute of Oceanology has been going on for several decades. The White Sea Coastal Marine Expedition has been carried out almost annually since the mid-1960s, the Black Sea Coastal Marine Expedition in its present form has been carried out since the late 1990s.
The overall goal of these studies is a comparative analysis of long-term changes in the benthos of the coastal zone and the identification of the leading factors that determine these changes. In parallel, for each of the basins, the tasks of clarifying the species composition of phyto- and zoobenthos, identifying new invasive species and studying the biology of mass species that determine the appearance of communities are being solved. Expedition work in the White and Black Seas is carried out with the wide involvement of students from Moscow State University and other universities, which allows for effective training in the methods of field expedition work.
The White Sea Coastal Marine Expedition is based at the White Sea Biological Station of Moscow State University and at a field station in the village of Chernaya Reka (Karelia, Loukhsky District). The Black Sea Coastal Marine Expedition is based in the Southern Branch of the IO RAS.
Current tasks of coastal expeditions
White Sea:
Study of seasonal and long-term dynamics of macro- and meiobenthos on permanent polygons.
Genetic studies of littoral fucoids, identification of the role of environmental and genetic factors in species variability.
Study of the trophic structure of the coastal ecosystem using the method of stable isotopes; development of methods for collecting and processing results for further use in expeditionary conditions in other regions of the Arctic.
Development of methods for studying bottom communities that increase the accuracy of assessing the quantitative characteristics of benthos and the spatial distribution of communities (side-scan sonar, underwater photography and video, satellite methods).
Black Sea:
Annual monitoring of the state of bottom communities of loose soils on standard sections in the Black Sea (Inal Bay, Divnomorskoye settlement). Assessment of the current state and dynamics of macrozoo-, meio- and microphytobenthos. Study of dynamics of composition of bottom sediments.
Evaluation of the modern spatial structure of macrozoo-, meio- and microphytobenthos of the northeastern coast of the Black Sea based on the analysis of sections in five areas (Bugaz Spit, Utrish State Reserve, Divnomorskoye settlement, Inal bay, Shepsi settlement). The study of the factors that determine this structure.
Clarification of the systematic position of some groups of Black Sea organisms by molecular genetic methods, identification of invasive species.
Assessment of the current state of biocenoses of the Taman Bay and comparison with historical data. Identification of factors that determine the structure of biocenoses and their dynamics.
Study of the composition and structure of communities in hypoxic zones.
