Review of entomological researches in the Shantar Islands, Khabarovsky krai

The data on researchers and collectors of insects visited Shantar Islands (Khabarovsky krai, Sea of Okhotsk) from 1844 to 2020 are summarized in chronological order. According to our database 205 species in 39 families and seven orders of insects were recorded from Shantar Archipelago till now. Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoprea are the most studied orders of insects.

STRATIGRAPHY OF BLANKET PEATLAND AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTS OF THE BOLSHOY CHANTAR ISLAND IN THE LATE GLACIAL-HOLOCENE

Continued record of paleogeographic events in the Shantar islands since the end of the Pleistocene was restored on the basis of a multy-proxy study of the stratigraphy of the blanket peatland. Biostratigraphical studies included botanical, diatom and pollen analyses. The age-depth model was built using 7 radiocarbon dates. For the first time, data of the environment development were obtained for the coldest part of the Sea of Okhotsk. Synchronicity and metachronicity of paleoclimatic events with regional data and global changes have been established. The Younger Dryas on the Shantar islands was much colder than in other areas around the Sea of Okhotsk. The climate became more maritime after the isolation of the islands at the early-middle Holocene. The influence of the cold sea and the presence of drifting ice were one of the main factors, why the early and middle Holocene optimums were poorly manifested here, and also determined the specifics of climatic rhythm. Models explaining alternation of relatively warm and cold periods with different humidity are proposed. The age of periods with heavy snowfalls has been established, as evidenced by the change in the role of shrub pine in island vegetation. Phases of development of local swamp and zonal landscapes are highlighted. Spruce appeared on the area ~11410–10345 cal. yr. BP, when there was a landbridge, and spruce trees became common in the middle Holocene and especially at the boundary of the middle-late Holocene. One of the controlling factors for the development of swamp landscapes was thermokarst processes. Significant changes in the environment occurred in the Little Ice Age, the most severe conditions were ~500–260 cal. yr. BP. In the last 210 years, the most significant changes in landscapes have been associated with anthropogenic fires.

MINERAL COMPOSITION OF THE SEDIMENTS AS AN INDICATOR OF SUPPLY SOURCES AND SPECIFIC FEATURES OF CLASTIC MATERIAL DISTRIBUTION IN THE OKHOTSK SEA

The mineral composition of the heavy subfraction from surface sediments of the Okhotsk Sea was studied using both two detailed profiles (Magadan-Kuril Islands and Shantar Islands-Central Basin) and data from the Sakhalin Bay. The obtained data were analyzed using the methods of multivariate statistics, which allowed to identify the main associations of heavy minerals and to show regional differences in mineral complexes of marine sediments. A significant effect of solid Amur River discharge on sedimentation processes is traced. The main processes responsible for the formation of the mineral appearance of studied sediments are determined. Two large regional sources of clastic material – the Amur-Sakhalin and Kuril-Kamchatka supplying provinces – had a major influence on the formation of mineral composition of the sediments.

FIRST RESULTS ON STUDY OF THE SHANTAR ISLANDS MYCOBIOTA

Preliminary results of the first mycological expedition to the Shantar Islands, where the Federal national park of the same name has been operating since 2013, have been summed up. It includes 15 large and small Islands with adjacent waters. We were able to study the basidiomycetes and ascomycetes species diversity in plant communities on two of them – Bolshoy Shantar and Prokofiev islands. The main feature of the identified mycobiota is the abundance of boreal species that are rarely found in the continental part of the Far East and the weak participation of both background boreal and endemic Far Eastern species.

Longicorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) of the Shantar Islands (Khabarovsk Krai, Russia)

The article gives a review of the Cerambycidae fauna of Shantar Islands. The trophic relationships and world distribution of longicorn beetles of the archipelago are considered. The data of the collected specimens are provided. To the one already known species we have added 20 previously unknown for the fauna of the Shantar Islands.