The impact of the placer gold mining in Eastern Transbaikalia (Russia) on the environment components of river valleys in the Amur River basin

Based on the results of the analysis of satellite images and field observations, data on the length of the gold-bearing placers disturbed by the development along a number of main tributaries of the Shilka and Argun rivers are presented, the formed technogenic relief forms are indicated. Depending on the method of development, two types of technogenic landscapes have been identified - the excavation-dump with hydromonitor mining and belt trench-dump when washing with drags. The main directions of research on the assessment of placer gold mining in the natural complexes of river valleys are proposed.

Quantifying the Impact of Future Climate Change on Runoff in the Amur River Basin Using a Distributed Hydrological Model and CMIP6 GCM Projections

The Amur River is one of the top ten longest rivers in the world, and its hydrological response to future climate change has been rarely investigated. In this study, the outputs of four GCMs in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) were corrected and downscaled to drive a distributed hydrological model. Then, the spatial variations of runoff changes under the future climate conditions in the Amur River Basin were quantified. The results suggest that runoffs will tend to increase in the future period (2021–2070) compared with the baseline period (1961–2010), particularly in August and September. Differences were also found among different GCMs and scenarios. The ensemble mean of the GCMs suggests that the basin-averaged annual precipitation will increase by 14.6% and 15.2% under the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, respectively. The increase in the annual runoff under the SSP2-4.5 scenario (22.5%) is projected to be larger than that under the SSP5-8.5 scenario (19.2%) at the lower reach of the main channel. Future climate changes also tend to enhance the flood peak and flood volume. The findings of this study bring new understandings of the hydrological response to future climate changes and are helpful for water resource management in Eurasia.

Individual tracking reveals first breeding of Oriental Storks at age 2 years in the wild

In this study, we report the first ever documented instances of attempted and successful reproduction (rearing two offspring) of Oriental Storks (Ciconia boyciana) at age 2 years in a wild population in the middle Heilongjiang-Amur River Basin in Russia, using a combination of GPS-GSM tracking, DNA sex identification and field verification.

Biodiversity of a small water body during the initial filling phase (the Amazar River of the Amur River Basin, Russia)

In 2017, for the purposes of the Pulp and Saw Mill (PSM) “Polyarnaya”, the spillover dam was constructed on the Amazar River, a left tributary of the Amur River. Upon completion of the dam construction, the waters of the river formed a small river reservoir PSM “Polyarnaya”. This work covers findings on components and quantities of the newly formed reservoir at its initial stage and the data on biodiversity of its feeding flows. At this stage, the species composition of the flora and fauna in the reservoir falls in between the lacustrine and the riverine ones. The riverine conditions are observed in the upstream area of the reservoir; the middle area bears an intermediate status; while the limnetic zone near the dam features transformation of the river system into a lake-like running-water ecosystem. Seasonally, in the period from spring to autumn, phytoplankton showed a decreasing trend of the quantitative values; whereas the total abundance and biomass of zooplankton were increasing; zoobenthos featured lack of trends; macrophytes contents were different from season to season being abundant in the Amazar River near the urban settlement in spring and in the Amazar River downstream from the dam in autumn. Consequently, the initial stage of the formation of the reservoir is rather similar to original watercourses in the physical and chemical parameters and in the composition of flora and fauna as well.

Range dynamics of some nemoral species of Lepidoptera in the Russian Far East due to climate change

New finds of seven East Asian Lepidoptera species in the Russian part of the southern Priamurye (Amur Basin area) are presented. Lobocla bifasciata (Bremer et Grey, 1853) (Hesperiidae), Acosmeryx naga (Moore, [1858]) and Rhagastis mongoliana (Butler, [1876]) (Sphingidae) were found in the Amur Oblast’ for the first time. Ambulyx tobii (Inoue, 1976) (Sphingidae) was first discovered in the Khabarovsk Kray; it was also found in the Chernigovsky district of the Primorsky Kray, northward from the previously known localities. New finds of very rare nemoral species, Chrysozephyrus brillantinus (Staudinger, 1887) (Lycaenidae) and Clanis undulosa Moore, 1879 (Sphingidae), in the Khabarovsk Kray are reported. It is shown that the subtropical and tropical species Siglophora sanguinolenta (Moore, 1888) (Nolidae), first collected in Russia in 2020, has successfully naturalized in the southern Khabarovsk Kray. New finds of these species indicate that the species have extended their ranges northward and naturalized in new areas. This has occurred due to climate changes in the Amur River basin over the past decades such as the rising average annual and average air temperatures during cold periods.

Whole Mitochondrial Genome Analysis of the Daur Ethnic Minority from Hulunbuir of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

Background: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variations are often associated with bioenergetics, disease, and speciation and can be used to track the history of women. Although advances in massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technology have greatly promoted our understanding of the population’s history (especially genome-wide data and whole Y chromosome sequencing), the whole mtDNA sequence of many important groups has not been fully studied. In this study, we employed whole mtDNA genomes of 209 healthy and unrelated individuals from the Daur group, a Mongolic-speaking representative population of the indigenous groups in the Heilongjiang River basin (also known as the Amur River basin). Results: The dataset presented 127 distinct mtDNA haplotypes, resulting in a haplotype diversity of 0.9933. The majority of haplotypes were assigned to eastern Eurasian-specific lineages, such as D4 (19.62%), B4 (9.09%), D5 (7.66%) and M7 (4.78%). We collected whole mitochondrial genomes from the 1000 Genomes Project, the Human Genome Diversity Project and published papers for population comparisons and phylogenetic analysis, and the results showed that the Daurians do have certain connections with the ancient populations in the Heilongjiang River basin but the matrilineal genetic composition of the Daur group was also greatly influenced by other non-Mongolic groups from neighboring areas. Conclusions: Collectively, the whole mtDNA data generated in the present study will augment the existing mtDNA database and deepen our understanding of the history of the Daurians as well as other populations from northern East Asia.

Cooperation of the Amur Shipping Company and Heilongjiang Shipping Group on the development of Sino-Russian border relations in the Amur Region

River transportation along the Amur River has played a crucial role in the development of Sino-Russian relations since the middle of the XIX century. With the opening of Far Eastern borders and the improvement of Sino-Russian relations at the turn of the XX – XX centuries, they river transportation amplified its importance. The subject of this research is the cooperation of the Amur Shipping Company and Heilongjiang Shipping Group in the Far East. An overview is given to the activity of the two largest shipping companies of Russia and China in the Amur River Basin, as well as to the line of activity of the Chinese company aimed at the development of Sino-Russian border relations. The scientific novelty lies in the analysis of interaction between the Amur Shipping Company and Heilongjiang Shipping Group. The conclusion is made on the immensity of the accumulated historical experience of cooperation, all-round role of interaction between the the Amur Shipping Company and Heilongjiang Shipping Group in Sino-Russian relations, gradual development of the two corporations, and development potential of further cooperation in the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic. The article is relevant for studying the strategic development of Heilongjiang shipping companies and the role of Amur river transport in the context of Russia's economic integration into the Asia-Pacific Region.