You are here: Home / GIS / Ecological atlas of the Lake Baikal basin

Atlas

Ecological preconditions for the spread of zooanthroponoses map

Open full size

Environmental prerequisites of the spread of zooanthroponoses

The synthetic map “Environmental prerequisites of the spread of zooanthroponoses” is intended primarily for institutions working on the issues of nature conservation, environmental management, and human safety (in a broad sense of the term), as well as for the territory development planners. In the process of compiling the map, an ecological classification of zooanthroponoses was developed based on their relations with natural complexes and groups of animals. This classification subdivides them into ubiquitous (widely, almost universally spread), riparian, meadow, forest, and steppe groups. Each of these groups combines ecologically close species of pathogens with similar needs for heat and moisture and circulating in the same type of biocenosis.

The map shows a territorial distribution of spatial units of the nosoecological division of different taxonomic ranks: nosoecological belts, zones, and regional variants of zonal nosoecosystems. The aforementioned ecological groups of pathogens dominate in corresponding nosoecosystems of the high rank (zonal). In this case, representatives of other ecological groups are usually widespread in local habitats. The map gives a key to the development of a strategy aimed at preventing the spread of zooanthroponoses in the system of sustainable environmental management. There is a reason to believe that different ecological groups of pathogens perform different roles in maintaining the stability of biocenoses and preserving the natural environment. Representatives of the riparian and meadow groups regulate the quantitative composition of the vertebrate animals’ population (mostly rodents), stopping their mass reproduction and thus preventing the destruction of vegetation. Apparently, pathogens of the forest group (in particular, the tick-borne encephalitis virus) are able to regulate the qualitative composition of a biocenosis, protecting it from alien species, i.e. inhabitants of other (neighboring) terrain types (meadow, steppe), the number of which is subject to significant fluctuations. In seems that pathogens of the group of ubiquitous zooanthroponoses can perform various functions regulating qualitative and quantitative characteristics, but only in the group of parasites associated with vertebrates in a given biocenosis, thereby ensuring survival and well-being to their hosts.

These functional differences can become the basis for the development of a system of the differentiated (by landscape types) prevention of the spread of zooanthroponoses taking into account the issue of the nature and human health protection. The current level of research gives grounds to consider the regulation of the epizootic process as reasonable in those parasitic systems (riparian and meadow), where the function of pathogens is the reduction of the hosts’ number. The prevention of the spread of most zooanthroponoses (included in the riparian and meadow groups) should be carried out to optimize the density of animal population through a sustainable use of meadow vegetation by humans and the timely crops harvesting. The consequences of the human intervention in the process of circulation of pathogens regulating qualitative parameters of the structure of biocenoses are less obvious. The intensity of pathogen circulation of almost all zooanthroponoses (infections and invasions) increases in habitable and populated areas, which is due both to the introduction of farm animals, the increased concentration of which favors the development of infections, and to the human impact on the environment accompanied by the increase in the number of rodents, a change in the chemistry of soils, creation of artificial ponds, etc.

Document Actions

Education map

Open full size

Educational

Education is an important factor of economic and social development. An individual, her or his knowledge and skills, and the ability to make nonstandard decisions in a rapidly changing economic environment are the most valuable element of society. Educational services can become a lever that can push the economy to a qualitatively new stage of development.

Preschool education aims to support mental, personal, and physical development of children aged 2 to 8 years. Depending on the laws, traditions and cultures, the approach to preschool education varies. It can have different basic and specific tasks. It can be compulsory or voluntary, and it may be implemented through a variety of traditional institutions. Within the study area, there are 1,436 preschool educational institutions with about 237.6 thousand children.

Secondary education is the first level of education. Currently, it usually includes primary, basic secondary, and secondary (complete) education, as well as additional education of children. In the Baikal basin, there are 1,412 secondary schools with about 637.5 thousand children.

In the Irkutsk part of the basin, there are 206 kindergartens with 35,268 children and 182 secondary schools with 86,982 students. In the Republic of Buryatia, there are 394 kindergartens with 45,007 children and 517 secondary schools with 123,362 students. In Zabaikalsky krai, there are 150 kindergartens with 24,119 children and 187 secondary schools with 57,210 students. In Mongolia, there are 685 kindergartens with 133,239 children and 523 secondary schools with 369,900 students.

Secondary vocational education (SVE) is a level of professional education, which aims to train practical specialists and mid-level employees for all industries. The training is carried out on the basis of basic secondary (after the 9th grade), complete secondary (after the 11th grade), or primary vocational education.

Today, there are 100 secondary vocational schools in the Russian part of the Baikal basin. In Mongolia, secondary vocational education is represented by 35 professional and technical schools.

Higher professional education (HPE) is a level of professional education, which aims to train specialists in any field of science on the basis of the complete secondary or secondary vocational education.

Higher professional education in the Russian territory of the Baikal basin is provided by 40 universities (state and private and their branches). In the Mongolian part, there are 29 state and 40 private universities, mostly located in the capital.

The scientific complex of the territory includes nine academic institutes of the Irkutsk Scientific Center SB RAS, five institutes of the East-Siberian Scientific Center SB RAMS, three research organizations SB RAAS, and over 30 applied research and design institutes. The system of academic science of the Republic of Buryatia includes the Buryat Scientific Center SB RAS (BSC SB RAS) and the Buryat Research Institute of Agriculture SB RAAS.

The university sector of scientific activities includes research divisions of four universities of the Republic. The scientific and innovation potential of Zabaikalsky krai is represented by the academic and university science. Currently, five academic and research institutions, including branches, operate in Zabaikalsky krai.

Mongolian Academy of Sciences was founded in 1961 in Ulaanbaatar on the basis of the Committee of Sciences (1921 to 1929 – Scientific Committee). Currently, it includes seven sections and over 60 research institutes, observatories, and research stations.

 

References

Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved from http://www.gks.ru

National Statistical Office of Mongolia. (2013). Soyol, sport, ayalal, zhuulchlalyn salbaryn lavlakh. Ulaanbaatar. p. 285.

National Statistical Office of Mongolia. (2012). Mongol ulsyn statistikiyn Emkhetgel. Ulaanbaatar.

Document Actions

Endangered vegetation communities map

Open full size

Rare species of plants

The habitats of rare species of plants in the Russian and Mongolian parts of the Baikal basin are visually presented on the map “Rare species of vascular plants” using the cartographic interpretation technique. In order to create this map for the Russian part of the basin, the authors used the lists and characteristics of rare species included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation (Plants and Fungi). In this part of the basin, the map shows the habitats of 31 vascular plants (see the list) with different categories of the extinction risk according to the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Category 0 (probably extinct, but the possibility of their preservation cannot be excluded) includes Isoetes lacustris. Category 1 (endangered) includes four species: Astragalus olchonensis, Vicia tsydenii, Festuca bargusinensis, and Viola incisa. Category 2 (decreasing in number) also includes four species: Caulinia flexilis, Hedysarum zundukii, Epipogium aphyllum, and Deschampsia turczaninowii. Category 3 (rare) includes 25 species represented by small populations that are currently not endangered and vulnerable. Often, these species are distributed within a limited area or have a narrow ecological amplitude.

For the map of the Mongolian part of the Baikal basin, we used information on the species composition and location of rare species of vascular plants from the electronic version of Mongolian Red Book. Habitats of 51 species are identified including a rare endemic species Saxifraga hirculus, six very rare relics: Adonis mongolica, Vicia tsydenii, Kobresia robusta, Nymphaea tetragona, Lancea tibetica, and Tulipa uniflora, as well as rare relics: Zigadenus sibiricus and Caryopteris mongolica are marked. Altogether, there are 31 very rare and 11 rare species.

The map “Rare species of vascular plants under regional protection” shows the Baikal basin’s habitats of rare species under regional protection in Irkutsk oblast (Red Book of Irkutsk oblast), Buryatia (Red Book of the Republic of Buryatia), and Zabaikalsky krai (Red Book of Chita oblast). Altogether, there are 868 habitats of 201 species of vascular plants listed in the regional Red Books and the Red Book of the Russian Federation. Species in different regions have different status depending on the state of species population. Among the regional species, Lagopsis eriostachya and Isoetes lacustris have Category 0 (probably extinct), while 28 species are endangered (Category 1).

The map “Plant communities requiring protection” uses conventional symbols and is created based on the information from the Green Book of Siberia, Atlas of Irkutsk Oblast, and Electronic Atlas of the Slyudyansky District. According to the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, forests under protection of Group 1 and forests in specially protected territories must be conserved in the Baikal basin because of their economic and social values. These forests serve to protect water resources, preserve the environment, and perform sanitary, hygienic, therapeutic, and other functions. The following communities also require protection due to their scientific importance as standards of indigenous vegetation: the Polygonum bistorta + Carex aterrima and Stemmacantha carthamoides meadows; Rhododendron aureum alpine tundras of the subalpine zone; Filifolium sibiricum, Festuca litvinovii, and Stipa klemenzii - S. Baicalensis - Eremogone capillaries steppes; Ulmus macrocarpa + Spiraea pubescens shrub steppe communities; Betula davurica - Artemisia desertorum + Calamagrostis brachytricha + Carex reventa forest communities; and Carex lasiocarpa + C. pseudocuraica + Iris laevigata marsh communities. Among the protected communities are very rare (Spodiopogon sibiricus; Armeniaca sibirica + Spiraea pubescens), relict (Arundinella anomala + Lespedeza hedysaroides), and unique (Stipa baicalensis + Paeonia lactiflora) communities, as well as communities located on the margins of their habitats (Pinus pumila; Caragana jubata) and reducing their habitat due to a high resource-related importance (Filifolium sibiricum + Phlojodicarpus sibiricus). The maps showing the distribution of rare vascular plant species and plant communities requiring protection can be used in the development of environmental policy aimed at optimizing nature resources management in the Baikal region to protect its biodiversity.

Document Actions
Document Actions
Navigation
November 2018 »
November
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930
November 2018 »
November
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930
IW:LEARN