Alexander Ruchin

Joint Directorate of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve and National Park “Smolny”

In this study, we summarized our own and literature data on the helminth fauna in amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals inhabiting the Mordovia Nature Reserve (European Russia). The history of research on parasitic worms in vertebrates has more than 70 years here. Nowadays, 242 species of helminths have been identified in vertebrates in this pro...

The regular issue 8(4) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: https://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/46. The cover page shows Momotus mexicanus Swainson, 1827 (Aves: Coraciiformes: Momotidae) in the Communal Natural Protected Area El Gavilán, Oaxaca state, Mexico (A...

This data file includes the list of articles previously published in the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (https://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/). All articles are grouped by the research thematic. As an explanation of each article, a brief (one sentence) description is provided by highlighting its contents. The Archive of the journal is availa...

The fauna of Carabidae adults in broad-leaved forests of the Republic of Mordovia (central European Russia) was studied. A total of 18210 ground beetle specimens of 104 species (8 subfamilies) were collected. The most numerous species were eight species: Carabus cancellatus, Pterostichus niger, Pterostichus oblongopunctatus, Limodromus assimilis, C...

The species diversity of insects from the orders Orthoptera, Dermaptera, Mantodea and Blattodea in the National Park “Smolny” (Republic of Mordovia, Ichalki and Bolshoe Ignatovo districts) was studied. It consists of 44 species: Orthoptera (40), Dermaptera (1), Mantodea (1) and Blattodea (2). For the first time for the Republic of Mordovia, two spe...

The list of 16 species of the psocids families Caeciliusidae (3), Stenopsocidae (2), Lachesiliidae (1), Liposcelididae (1), Epipsocidae (1), Peripsocidae (2), Elipsocidae (1), Mesopsocidae (1), and Psocidae (4) collected in five regions of Russia is given. One new species is recorded for the fauna of the Chuvash Republic, the Penza Region and the R...

(1) Background: Carabidae is one of the most diverse families of Coleoptera. Many species of Carabidae are sensitive to anthropogenic impacts and are indicators of their environmental state. Some species of large beetles are on the verge of extinction. The aim of this research is to describe the Carabidae fauna of the Republic of Mordovia (central...

Ecosystems in protected areas are richer in animal and plant species diversity ("biodiversity hotspots") due to more stringent conservation conditions. Of particular importance is scientific research and monitoring of this diversity in such areas. The aim of this study is to describe a set of data on Araneae occurrence in two protected areas: Mordo...

Simple Summary This study represents the first investigation of the vertical distribution of Drosophilidae in the European part of Russia. Traps suspended at various heights in deciduous forests were used to collect the specimens. Among the collected species, Drosophila obscura Fll. and Scaptodrosophila rufifrons Lw. were the most abundant. The hig...

The fauna and abundance of Carabidae inhabiting small steppe plots in the forest-steppe zone of European Russia were analysed. In total, 14 such plots (biotopes) were studied, they were grouped by vegetation type into two groups: meadow steppe (5 plots) and calcareous steppe (9 plots). A total of 104 species of beetles from 6 subfamilies were colle...

Приведены новые данные о 36 видах сетчатокрылых и 2 видах верблюдок, собранных различными способами (на свет, желтые тарелки, ловушками Малеза и кроновыми ферментными ловушками) в 2021–2022 годах в Национальном парке «Смольный» (Россия: Республика Мордовия). Девять видов сетчатокрылых впервые отмечаются в Национальном парке, из них 4 вида являются...

In the Russian Federation, the protection category “Zapovednik” represents a strictly protected area, where the access is restricted and the aim is to keep the area “forever wild”. We provide an overview about the organization of these nature reserves and highlight their contribution to fundamental research. Aquatic ecosystems in zapovedniks provid...

It was the first study on the Psocoptera fauna of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve and National Park «Smolny» (Russia). There were 320 specimens from 28 species and 8 families examined. Two species were new records for Russia: Valenzuela corsicus (Kolbe, 1882) and Oreopsocus montanus (Kolbe, 1884).

The regular issue 8(3) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/45. The cover shows rocky outcrops on the Malaya Bakhilova Mount, as a habitat of the relic species, Chrysolina roddi (Jakobson, 1897) (Coleoptera) (Author: PhD S.V....

Orthopteroidea is an ecologically diverse group of incompletely transformed insects that includes several insect orders similar in development and structure. Many species from Dermaptera, Orthoptera, Mantodea, and Blattodea are sensitive to anthropogenic influences and are indicators of the external environment. Some species cause damage to agricul...

In this study, we present our dataset containing up-to-date information about occurrences of trematodes in small mammals in the Middle Volga region (European Russia). The dataset summarizes micromammals’ trematode occurrences obtained by long-term field helminthological studies of soricomorphs, erinaceomorphs, bats and rodents during a period of mo...

In most habitats in temperate zones, Carabidae show clear intra-annual changes in abundance and species composition. In the spring, we studied the beetle fauna in 5 different biotopes differing in the degree of overgrowth of the birch forest over a period of three years. According to three years of research, 10,528 specimens (64 species from 6 subf...

(1) Background: Beetles in the superfamily Scarabaeoidea are one of the most important groups of Coleoptera. They are found in various ecosystems all over the world and belong to coprophagous, necrophagous, saproxylophagous, phyllophagous and rhizophagous types. The aim of the study is to describe the fauna and distribution of Scarabaeoidea in the...

Seasonal rhythms have been found in practically all groups of insects, but in Diptera they have been studied to a lesser extent. In deciduous forests of the European part of Russia (Republic of Mordovia, Temnikov district) seasonal dynamics of Diptera abundance was studied in 9 families (Tipulidae, Lonchaeidae, Aulacigastridae, Milichiidae, Heleomy...

The vertical distribution of insects was studied in deciduous forests of the temperate zone (the center of European Russia). During the research, 81342 individuals from 10 insect orders (Dermaptera, Blattodea, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera, Trichoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Mecoptera) were collected. Diptera, Lepidoptera and Coleo...

The nature conservation depends on the completeness of the knowledge about the biodiversity in the study area. Today, data on distribution and diversity of Diptera taxa remain fragmentary. This paper supplements data on the diversity of Diptera species in Europe, Russia, and the Republic of Mordovia. We have studied 1321 specimens of 241 species co...

The regular issue 8(2) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/44. The cover shows Cuora bourreti (Obst & Reimann, 1994) in the Bach Ma National Park, Vietnam (Author: Benjamin Leprince). This issue of the journal “Nature Conserv...

Usage of a variety of non-trivial ways to study Coleoptera gives unexpected and original results. The studies were conducted using simple traps with fermenting baits in the central part of European Russia. There were 286 trap exposures, and 7906 Coleoptera specimens (208 species from 35 families) were collected. The largest number of species belong...

The Neuroptera of the pine Tanaika Forest in the Republic of Tatarstan were studied using five beer-and-sugar bait crown traps operated continuously from April 30 to October 1, 2021. The chrysopids Apertochrysa prasina and Chrysotropia ciliata clearly dominate among 1043 collected specimens (17 species). The number of species stenotopic for pines (...

Forest edges, which are ecotones, have a significant impact on the spatial distribution of many Coleoptera species. This research was carried out in 2020–2022 on the territory of the Republic of Mordovia (the center of the European part of Russia). Beer traps (with a bait made of beer with sugar) were used to collect Coleoptera. Four plots were sel...

To study and conserve biological diversity is one of the most important tasks of protecting natural ecosystems. According to long-term data, the biodiversity of invertebrates of Mordovia State Nature Reserve accounts for 6823 species out of 10 types of invertebrates: Rhizopoda (58 species), Porifera (1), Platyhelminthes (156), Nematoda (67), Anneli...

Приведены новые данные о 13 видах сетчатокрылых Нижегородской области, из них 5 видов отмечены впервые для региона. В итоге фауна сетчатокрылых области включает 24 вида. Обсуждается распространение в России Nothochrysa fulviceps (Stephens, 1836), Chrysopa gibeauxi (Leraut, 1989) и Cunctochrysa cosmia (Navás, 1918). БлагодарностиРабота выполнена в р...

Temperate forests are highly complex ecosystems in which many aspects of invertebrate distribution and abundance remain poorly understood. In order to accumulate data on the vertical and temporal distribution of forest Lepidoptera in the Republic of Mordovia (central European part of Russia), specimens were collected with beer-baited traps from Apr...

During four years of sampling by canopy traps with fermenting baits, adults of the Quedius dilatatus rove beetle were collected in large quantities together with the Vespa crabro hornet across several regions in Central European Russia. Contrary to previous reports which stemmed from collecting methods inadequate for this ‘rare’ inquiline of the Eu...

The study of the insect distribution in geographical areas is relevant since it is important in terms of understanding the global trend of biodiversity decline. The paper presents the results of a study on the distribution of six species of Panorpidae (Mecoptera), carried out in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017–2020. One part of data was collected by t...

The regular issue 8(1) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/43. The cover shows Saguinus leucopus, Silvery-brown tamarin, a Vulnerable and endemic species in the Peasant Reserve Zone-Cimitarra River, middle Magdalena Valley, C...

Protected areas are unique ecosystems that are minimally affected by anthropogenic activities. Therefore, in many cases, they are refugia and relevance of faunistic research is undeniable here. A simple method of catching insects, such as trapping with the help of fermental traps, was used in this area for the first time. The authors of the dataset...

(1) Background: The conservation of entomofauna in individual macroregions requires efforts to study the distribution and abundance of insects. For this purpose, databases are created that enumerate this information. Such databases, with the processing of significant factual material, make it possible to objectively assess the status of a species a...

(1) Background: Coleoptera is one of the most diverse insect lineages. The beetle species live in many ecosystems around the globe and their roles in ecosystems are very diverse; thus, it is important to know the local and regional fauna varieties, especially for protected areas, such as nature reserves and national parks. (2) Methods: The material...

Monitoring Coleoptera diversity in protected areas is part of the global ecological monitoring of the state of ecosystems. The purpose of this research is to describe the biodiversity of Coleoptera studied with the help of baits based on fermented substrate in the European part of Russia (Smolny National Park). The research was conducted April–Augu...

Altogether 158 species of the hoverflies are listed in this report. It includes species recorded for the Republic of Mordovia for the first time (57 spp.), those repeatedly recorded here (61 spp.), and species which are included based on their previous records (40 spp.). Three species are excluded from the previous faunal list as being based on mis...

The regular issue 6(4) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released today. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/42. The cover shows calve of Procarpa gutturosa Pallas, 1777 (Bovidae) in the buffer zone of the Daursky State Nature Reserve, Russia (Author: Dr. Galina S. Ale...

The journal «Nature Conservation Research» (hereinafter – journal NCR) was founded in 2016. It is published by the Fund for Support and Development of Protected Areas «Bear Land». This review paper is aimed to characterise the first five years of the publishing activities of the journal NCR. We present the actual values of scientometric indicators...

(1) Background: Coleoptera is one of the most diverse insect lineages. Coleoptera species live in many ecosystems around the globe and their role in ecosystems is very diverse. To study the number and distribution of species, lists of species were compiled and then added into the database generation platforms. The aim of the work was to describe th...

Protected areas in the Republic of Mordovia are still poorly studied in relation to bats. Our research of the bat fauna in the National Park “Smolny”, Republic of Mordovia was conducted in 2018‒2020. A total of 573 bats of nine species belonging to the family Vespertilionidae were captured and studied. Nyctalus leisleri and Myotis nattereri were ca...

(1) Background: Seasonal dynamics of the abundance and species diversity of various insect groups is of great importance for understanding their life cycles; (2) Methods: In our study, Drosophilidae species and their seasonal changes in Mordovia State Nature Reserve were explored. We collected the flies by crown fermental traps in five types of for...

The regular issue 7(3) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/41. The cover shows Orchis canariensis (Orchidaceae) from la Caldera de los Marteles, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain (Author: Dr. Jacopo Calevo). This issue of t...

Research on the Arthropoda distribution in temperate forest ecosystems has shown that communities are distributed vertically in unequal numbers. However, this issue still has research gaps in relation to the vertical stratification of Coleoptera in pine forests of the temperate zone. This study was conducted in the Republic of Mordovia situated in...

An overview of the parasites, bacteria and viruses of Glis glis (Rodentia, Gliridae) inhabiting the Western Palearctic is given. A total of 85 articles published from 1895 to 2021 were reviewed and analysed in our study. According to the literature’s data, 104 species associated with G. glis are recorded: 4 viruses, 8 Protozoa, 6 Cestoda, 6 Tremato...

We have studied the material of some Diptera families collected with beer traps from middle part of the Volga River region (central part of European Russia: Nizhny Novgorod and Ulyanovsk regions, and southeastern part of European Russia: Saratov Region). Thirty species from 10 Diptera families are reported: Culicidae (2 spp.), Dryomyzidae (2 spp.),...

Protected areas are biodiversity hotspots of the world. Knowledge of their overall biodiversity is essential for nature conservation. Sawflies are an integral part of terrestrial ecosystems; being phytophages, they play a significant role in the processing of primary production. The aim of the research was to study the biodiversity of sawflies in t...

There are few studies on the vertical distribution and seasonal activity of arthropods in open habitats (in glades) in temperate forests due to methodological problems associated with the arrangement of certain structures for trapping. However, glades in forests are places of significant biodiversity of native animals, which are attracted to such a...

(1) Background: Protected areas are “hotspots” of biodiversity in many countries. In such areas, ecological systems are preserved in their natural state, which allows them to protect animal populations. In several protected areas, the Coleoptera biodiversity is studied as an integral part of the ecological monitoring of the ecosystem state. This st...

Morphological variability of trematodes from bats (Chiroptera) is poorly studied. Since the variability of adult digenean specimens may be rather high, morphological features are often insufficient for the identification of closely related species, and confirmation with the use of molecular data is required. The aim of our study was to combine the...

The regular issue 7(2) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/40. The cover shows staminate flowers of Baccharis macrophylla (Asteraceae) from the high altitude grasslands in the Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro, Southeast...

The special issue 7(Suppl.1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/39. This issue is entitled “Biodiversity Informatics for Protected Areas” by containing papers based on biodiversity data management methods and (or) methods for consolidated data...

Two species in two genera of Lonchaeidae, namely Earomyia mordovia sp.n. and Lonchaea cryptica sp.n. are described from material collected in the Republic of Mordovia. Both species were trapped in fermenting beer.

This work presents an ecological analysis of the community and biodiversity of helminths of Pelophylax lessonae (Camerano, 1882) from floodplain and forest reservoirs of the European part of Russia. The material for the work was personal collections of helminths made from 2018–2021 in the National Park “Smolny” (Republic of Mordovia). Two hundred a...

The regular issue 7(1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/38. The cover shows the male Urothemis edwardsii (Selys, 1849) in the National Park of El Kala, Algeria (Author: Dr. Rassim Khelifa). This issue of the journal "Natur...

The helminth fauna of the Northern white-breasted hedgehog Erinaceus roumanicus was studied in the Republic of Mordovia (Russia) for the first time. In total, 9 species of helminths were found in 23 studied hedgehogs: Trematoda—Isthmiophora melis, Strigea strigis (metacercaria); Cestoda—Hymenolepis erinacei; Nematoda—Aonchotheca erinacei, Physalopt...

The helminthofauna of Bombina bombina (Linnaeus, 1761) has been studied to an unequal degree in different parts of the habitat. Thus, it has been studied in more detail in the west of its range (in the countries of central and eastern Europe) and in less detail in the center (in Belarus and Ukraine). There were few data on helminths of this host in...

Приведены новые материалы о 34 видах сетчатокрылых и 3 видах верблюдок Среднего По-волжья. Большая часть материала собрана ферментными кроновыми ловушками на различ-ных деревьях (бродящее пиво с дополнением меда, варенья или сахара и дрожжей). Из них один вид сетчатокрылых, Cunctochrysa cosmia (Navás, 1918), впервые указывается для Рос-сии, 2 вида...

The regular issue 6(4) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/37. The cover shows the female wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) in the buffer zone of the Daursky State Nature Biosphere Reserve, Russia (Author: Sergey Vysotin). Th...

Birds are the most numerous and widespread group of higher vertebrates. Due to the peculiarities of their biology, birds play an important role in nature and in human life. Ornithological studies described in this publication were conducted in seven regions of the Middle Volga Region (Chuvashia, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanov...

The National Park “Smolny” is a large forest area, located in the center of European Russia. The helminth fauna of myomorph rodents was studied for the first time within the National Park in 2018–2020. Rodents were examined by the method of complete helminthological dissection. A total of 30 species of parasites were recorded in 11 rodent species:...

Wildfires considerably affect forest ecosystems. However, there is a lack of data on the post-fire status of insect communities in these ecosystems. This paper presents results of a study conducted in 2019 which considered the post-fire status of the insect fauna in a Protected Area, Mordovia State Nature Reserve (Republic of Mordovia, centre of Eu...

In a changing climate, phenological observations are gaining new importance. They can tell what changes are taking place in certain environmental conditions. The studies were conducted in 2019 within the territory of the Republic of Mordovia (the center of the European part of Russia). Beer traps (beer as a bait) were used to collect Diptera. The m...

The natural range of the Asian ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) covers the territories of China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and Russia (Far East, Southern Siberia, and Altai). Since the early 1980's, the global invasion of H . axyridis began, first on the territory of the United States, from where the Asian ladybird spread to South America, A...

Protected areas are organised in different climatic zones, which usually include typical ecosystems characteristic of certain climatic zones. In most cases, protected areas are biodiversity hotspots. These areas are benchmarks in terms of nature conservation and to determine their biological diversity is becoming an important task. It is important...

Studies on the vertical distribution of arthropods in temperate forests have revealed the uneven vertical distribution of communities. Many factors influence these patterns simultaneously. However, there are still many questions related to the vertical distribution of Coleoptera in deciduous forests of the temperate zone. The research was carried o...

Background: Faunistic research in protected areas is of greatest interest since these are the most unique places in the region. Many of these are islands of minimal anthropogenic impact, such as the Mordovia State Nature Reserve (Russian Federation), founded in 1936. The purpose of the publication of the basis of faunistic research - occurrences o...

Ants form an important insect group in many terrestrial ecosystems. The research of ant species diversity is a relevant line of ecological and faunistic studies to completely reveal the biodiversity. Particular attention is given to Protected Areas where a high level of ant species diversity is known. The study of ant fauna and ant community struct...

The regular issue 6(3) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/36. The cover shows two male Blood pheasants (Ithaginis cruentus Hardwicke, 1821) on the alpine rocky-cliffs of Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (India) (Authors: Bi...

Nacerdes carniolica (Gistel, 1834) (Oedemeridae) is recorded from Ulyanovskaya Oblast and Middle Volga region for the first time. Distribution of the species in the European part of Russia is discussed.

The helminth’s fauna of small mammals of the “Smolny” National Park (Republic of Mordovia, Russia) was studied during 2018–2019. In total, 973 individuals of 14 species of small mammals were trapped, including 9 individuals of Microtus subterraneus (Rodentia, Cricetidae). Four European pine voles were found to be infected by helminths. The helminth...

The regular issue 6(2) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/35. The cover shows cubs of brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1867) feeding by sockeye salmon, South Kamchatka (Photo: PhD Sergey A. Kolchin). This issue of the jour...

The possibilities of applying various methods to study Coleoptera give unexpected and original results. The studies were carried out with the help of fermental crown traps in 2018-2020 on the territory of eight regions in the central part of European Russia. The biodiversity of the Coleoptera that fall into crown traps includes 294 species from 45...

The special issue 6(Suppl.1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/33. This issue is entitled "Protected Areas in the Green Belt of Fennoscandia" being devoted to the anniversary of the Kostomuksha State Nature Reserve. The cover shows the wild r...