Ivan Bashinskiy

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Russian Academy of Sciences

The aim of this review is to analyze the literature on the impact of beavers on lakes, summarize their effects, describe consequences for biotic and abiotic components, and highlight unresolved issues and perspectives. Beaver activity changes vegetation structure to the greatest extent, indirectly affecting other ecosystem components. Damming of fl...

Currently, global climate change has led to alterations in river discharge. In Eastern and Southern Europe, decreasing spring flood levels are observed, leading to drying and overgrowth of floodplain water bodies, especially in semiarid regions. Under such conditions, the scale of influence of the ecosystem engineer, the Eurasian beaver, which is o...

This review summarizes information on the main negative factors affecting the state of floodplain water bodies ecosystems, describes the most common consequences for abiotic and biotic processes, and suggests possible ways to conserve these ecosystems. Evidence of the negative impact of hydraulic construction, embanking of floodplains, channelizing...

Abstract. The factors infuencing molluscs distribution in a small steppe stream were investigated to assess the impact of beavers on their diversity and abundance. Twenty stations—in unafected streams, beaver ponds at diferent stages of development, and anthropogenic ponds—were sampled in May 2019 and June 2021. In each pond, a nearshore area of 1...

The aim of our study was to identify the main abiotic factors that influence the biodiversity of forest-steppe oxbows in limnophase. Experiments were performed in 2016–2017 in Penza oblast, Central Russia. In addition to disturbed water exchange, isolated oxbows experienced such human influence as logging and plowing on watersides, and the construc...

The aim of our study was to assess the ecosystem state of floodplain pondscapes by analyzing differences in fish assemblages between water bodies. Using QGIS, we identified 634 water bodies and delineated 49 pondscapes in the upper reaches of the Khoper River (Black Sea Basin), which is located in the center of European Russia. We surveyed 36 water...

Обобщается информация об основных негативных факторах, влияющих на состояние пойменных водоемов, описываются самые распространенные последствия абиотических и биотических процессов, предлагаются возможные пути для сохранения пойменных водоемов. Приводятся свидетельства негативного влияния гидростроительства, обвалования пойм, спрямления русел, сель...

Under conditions of low floods and disturbed water exchange with the river, small floodplain water bodies gradually dry up, which leads to a decrease in biodiversity of the entire floodplain area. The zooplankton is one of the main indicators of the ecosystem status in aquatic ecosystems. Hence, this study was aimed to investigate the structure of...

Predictive maps of the distribution of the marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) in Russia under the conditions of global climate change up to 2100 are presented. It is shown that under the influence of global climate change, the range will expand and the centroid will shift to the north-east. The patterns of the formation of the invasive part of the...

As a result of analyses of fatty acid (FA) composition in the grass snake Natrix natrix and its food objects, tadpoles and metamorphs of two amphibian species: the moor frog Rana arvalis and the Pallas spadefoot toad Pelobates vespertinus , it was shown for the first time that the high total content of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DH...

As a result of analyses of fatty acid (FA) composition in the grass snake Natrix natrix and its food objects, tadpoles and metamorphs of two amphibian species: the moor frog Rana arvalis and the Pallas’ spadefoot Pelobates vespertinus, it was shown for the first time that the high total content of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) ac...

Trematode infection of the second intermediate hosts can lead to changes in their fitness and, as a result, a change in the invasion rate of animal communities. It is especially pronounced during the invasion of parasite species that reduce activity due to the manipulation of hosts through the changes of their morphology and physiology. One of thes...

The transfer of biomass and polyunsaturated fatty acids by the spadefoot P. vespertinus (previously subspecies of P. fuscus) from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems was studied for five years in small floodplain water bodies of a forest-steppe zone. Average emergence of metamorphs from unit of water area, wet mass was 6.7 g m-2 year-1. A ratio of th...

The anomaly P is a mass morphological anomaly found in some populations of anuran amphibians (water frogs of the genus Pelophylax and toads of the genera Bufo and Bufotes) caused by the parasitic flatworm Strigea robusta. Minimum dose of cercariae for the appearance of the anomaly P remains unknown. However, it is important information for understa...

This study shows how beaver digging activity can affect water body morphology and local biota under modern environmental conditions in a small floodplain lake. The total area of microhabitats created by beavers was found to reach 7% of water body area and 30% of littoral-zone area. It was noted that the zoogenic microhabitats are different when dep...

Определение охранного статуса обыкновенного бобра (Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758) в городе Москва в 2022 г.

Modern climatic processes, together with the anthropogenic disturbance of the hydrological regime of rivers, lead to the cessation of water exchange of floodplain water bodies with main river channels, which creates significant changes in aquatic communities. Along with the alteration of aquatic ecosystems, in recent decades, there has been a recov...

The anomaly P is a mass morphological anomaly reported in some water frog populations across Europe. It was found that polydactyly is only a mild attenuated form of heavy cases of the anomaly P syndrome, which have strong deformations of the hindlimbs and, partly, forelimbs. It was shown that the anomaly P is caused by the trematode Strigea robusta...

In recent decades, the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) has once again become the keystone species in small river ecosystems in Russia. In many places, beaver activity has resulted in a significant change in lotic habitats, affecting the diversity, density, and biomass of aquatic organisms, including fish. While many studies have considered the ecosy...

The impact of the European beaver (Castor fiber) on the water coverage of natural territories was assessed by analys-ing public available satellite images. Four model squares with a total area of 900 km2 were chosen, with coverage of the vicinity of four sectors of the Privolzhskaya Lesostep’ State Nature Reserve (Penza region). This study showed t...

Knowledge about the distribution of living organisms on Earth is very important for many areas of biological science and understanding of the surrounding world. However, much of the existing distributional data are scattered throughout a multitude of sources, such as taxonomic publications, checklists and natural history collections and often, brin...

The structure and dynamic of mollusk communities, as well as environmental factors influencing them, were analysed under conditions of small oxbow lakes in the forest-steppe zone (a case of the Khoper river valley, Penza region). 19 species of mollusks were found in the studied water bodies. The oxbows were characterized by relatively low alpha-div...

The mollusk fauna of beaver ponds on small steppe river on the territory of the Privolzhskaya Lesostep nature reserve (Penza oblast) is analyzed. 15 species of mollusks were found. The occurrence of 100% was noted for two species – Planorbarius corneus and Lymnaea stagnalis. The total number of mollusks averaged 59±54.9 ind./m2, biomass – 19.7±4 g/...

Background: Cases of polydactyly in natural populations of amphibians have attracted great interest from biologists. At the end of the 1940s, the French biologist Jean Rostand discovered a polymorphic syndrome in some water frog (Anura: Pelophylax) populations that included polydactyly and some severe morphological anomalies (he called it 'anomaly...

The anomaly P in green frogs was firstly found in 1952 in France by French writer and scientist Jean Rostand. Mild form of anomaly P manifestation includes polydactyly, while complex morphological transformations affect the fore and hindlimbs and include combinations of traits: polydactyly, brachymely, hind limb flexion, small additional limbs, bon...

Here we present the first new data about the mysterious "anomaly P" of green frogs (genus Pelophylax) in about 50 years. We established that the gastropod Planorbarius corneus could be an intermediate host (or vector) of the infectious agent of the anomaly P. Symmetrical cases of polydactyly, the anomaly "cross" and heavy cases of the anomaly P, wh...

The “anomaly P” was described in Palearctic water frogs of the genus Pelophylax by Jean Rostand as complex morphological anomalies of water frogs, including polydactyly, brachymely, hind limb oedema, bone outgrowths, spikes, flexions and additional limbs in the inguinal region. In 2016, the anomaly P syndrome was rediscovered in central Russia, con...

The aim of the study is to assess concentrations of compounds of biogenic elements (nitrates, nitrites, ammonium, phosphates) and to analyze their distribution in water bodies and water courses of the forest-steppe, where beavers have been reintroduced recently. The study was carried out in the State Nature Reserve Privolzhskaya Lesostep (Penza Reg...

An estimation of sedimentation rate of suspended matter was done in beaver (Castor fiber) ponds and oxbows of the River Khoper valley (State Nature Reserve «Privolzhskaya Lesostep’», Penza region, Russia). In beaver ponds the sedimentation rate varied from 7.33 g/m2 per day to 71.81 g/m2 per day, in oxbows – from 7.83 g/m2 per day to 10.69 g/m2 per...

This is the first record of specific morphological deviations in the marsh frog on the territory of Russia. Similar anomalies were discovered by Jean Rostand in the 1950s in France and named by him as the "anomaly P". Our observations were made on the territory of the Privolzhskaya Lesostep' Nature Reserve (Penza region, Central Russia) in 2016 and...

The most dangerous invasive species of Russia (TOP-100) / Eds. Yu.Yu. Dgebuadze, V.G. Petrosyan, L.A. Khlyap. M.: KMK Scientific Press, 2018, 688 p. The book is devoted to biological invasions of alien species. It is the first presentation of the list and summarized information on the 100 worst invasive species (TOP-100) in Russia which can pose th...

The work presents the first results of annual monitoring of a beaver population on the territory of Ostrovtsovskaya Lesostep' (State Nature Reserve Privolzhskaya Lesostep', Penza region). In 2014–2017 all water-courses and water-bodies, including the River Khoper, River Selimutka, River Yuzhnaya and several oxbows of the Khoper were investigated tw...

A high level of biological diversity, including amphibians, is characteristic for Protected Areas. The group of the European green frogs has a special interest because they are characterised by unique genetic and ecological interactions in the process of hybridogenic reproduction. In 2000–2018 in the Middle Volga Region we studied green frogs in fi...

In summer 2016, we investigated Ostrovtsovskaya Lesostep’ (Penza region, Russia) and caught more than 130 specimens belonging to 4 species of anuran amphibians. We found a symmetric case of “hyperxanthism” of the eyes (a new type of anomaly among amphibians) in one Rana arvalis specimen, one asymmetric amely in Bombina bombina, and 21 specimens of...

2 Институт проблем экологии и эволюции им. А. Н. Северцова РАН Россия, 117071, Москва, Ленинский просп., 33 3 Государственный природный заповедник «Присурский» Россия, 428034, Чебоксары, пос. Лесной, 9 Поступила в редакцию 31.07.16 г. О влиянии деятельности речного бобра – Castor fiber (Castoridae, Mammalia) на биоразнообразие экосистем малых рек л...

The study of the composition of fatty acid markers of tadpoles of cohabiting amphibian species for the first time revealed differences in their diets: the moor frog Rana arvalis prefers bacteria not associated with plant detritus, whereas the diet of the common spadefoot Pelobates fuscus is based on cyanobacteria, green algae, diatoms, and possibly...

There are many locations in Russia where Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) populations have been restored. As a keystone species, beavers provide wide-ranging direct and indirect impacts on aquatic ecosystems. In particular, beaver-created ponds are sites for spawning and nursery places for tadpoles of the brown frog (genus Rana). Because of such impa...

The study of beaver's (Castor fiber) impact on steppe rivers' ecosystems was held within the Privolzhskaya Lesostep' State Nature Reserve (Penza Province, Russia). We investigated how pond age and permanence of beaver ponds influenced the abundance and diversity of fishes and amphibians. The majority of beaver ponds in our study area were small and...

The study of beaver (Castor fiber) impact on steppe river ecosystems was conducted on the territory of the Nature Reserve Privolzhskaya Lesostep' (Penza region). Beavers settled the rivers from 2004 to 2012. The lack of food resources and permanent watercourses limits beavers spreading in steppe. The formation of stable long-term ponds is possible...

В работе проведено исследование фауны амфибий заселенных бобрами лесостепных водотоков Пензенской области в пределах заповедника «Приволжская лесостепь». Всего в водотоках нерестится 5 видов амфибий — обыкновенный тритон, зеленая жаба, обыкновенная чесночница, остромордая и прудовая лягушки. На водотоках без бобрового воздействия нерестится лишь ос...

A study aimed at the assessment of the effect of European beaver reintroduction in the valleys of small rivers on amphibians was carried out. The research covered the areas of the state nature reserves, Rdeiskii, Prioksko-Terrasny, and Privolzhskaya Lesostep. Small rivers of the area under study were inhabited by European beavers in different years...

Our aim was to verify information on amphibians of forest and steppe parts of the nature reserve «Privolzhskaya Lesostep» and the adjacent areas. We found new data about distribution of some amphibian species (crested newt, red-bellied toad, green toad) within the nature reserve and the Penza region. Assessment of the role of the reserve in conserv...

Проведено исследование последствий реинтродукции бобров в долины малых рек для амфибий. Работа проходила на базе заповедников Рдейский, Приокско-Террасный и Приволжская лесостепь. Малые реки районов исследования были заселены бобрами в разные годы, в результате чего степень преобразования бобрами долин различалась. Это позволило рассмотреть реакцию...

The effect of beaver (Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758) activity on amphibian reproduction was studied in the small river valleys in Novgorod oblast. At sites not subjected to beaver activity, the reproduction rate of amphibians was low. In spring the water in beaver ponds warms up quickly, which attracts amphibians for reproduction. The maximal abundan...