The Verkhneussuriiskiy Biogeocenotic Station of Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity FEB RAS

Abstract

The Verkhneussuriiskiy Research Station (VRS) was organized in 1973 on the lands of the forest fund of the Chuguevsky forestry for the purpose of a comprehensive study of the mountain forests of the Primorsky Krai, and its territory was assigned to the Institute of Biology and Soil Science of the Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the FSC Biodiversity FEB RAS). The initiators of the creation of the Station were the well-known scientists of the Far East N.G. Vasiliev, V.A. Rozenberg, P.G. Petrov and A.S. Sheingauz.
Initially in 1965–1966, the Chuguevsky Station of the Primorsky Forest Experimental Station of the Far Eastern Forestry Research Institute (FEFRI) was established in the Elovy spring under the guidance of A.P. Klintsov to study the hydroclimatic role of coniferous-broadleaved forests and determine the extent of its changes under the influence of industrial felling. In 1973, it became a part of the united Verkhneussuriisky Station of the Institute of Biology and Soil Science and FEFRI. Since 1980, the experimental pool with all scientific equipment, and later research materials, have been transferred to the Institute of Biology and Soil Science.
The Station is the only active station in the Russian Far East, included in the unified network of stations in Russia, where a number of unique objects of permanent observation in native forest communities have been created, long-term bioproductive, hydrological and microclimatic studies are conducted, and researchers and graduate students in various branches of knowledge perform regular research.
On the territory of the Station, 72 permanent sample plots have been established, where observations have been carried out for more than 50 years. All these sites are reference objects, and a comparative assessment of their various functions is an important scientific and applied task. In connection with the progressive depletion of raw materials and the reduction of forest areas with undisturbed or slightly disturbed vegetation, the problem of a comprehensive study of coniferous-broadleaved forests is acute.
The Verkhneussuriiskiy Station is the research base of the FSC Biodiversity FEB RAS, where the material and technical conditions are provided for comprehensive research at permanent sites. The year-round functioning of the Station is organized by its staff. Specialists from various fields perform annual monitoring studies on its territory.
Based on the results of research at the VRS, one doctoral and 15 PhD theses were defend- ed, more than 300 papers were published, including 12 monographs, over 80 scientific articles in leading international and Russian journals.