Some results of the introduction of useful plants of the flora of Siberia in the North-West of Russia

Some results of cultivation of Siberian flora species in culture at the introduction nursery of useful plantsof the Peter the Great Botanical Garden of the BIN RAS, in St. Petersburg have been summed up. All species are classifiedaccording to biological resistance. The analysis of the introduction resistance of plants in Siberia showed that 83.3 % ofthe species adapted well to the new conditions of existence. According to the duration of the introduction experiment,all plants were divided into 5 groups. 37 % falls on the group of species, the life expectancy of which is more than 60years. 45 species of rare and endangered flora of Southern Siberia, grown in culture, have been identified, most of themcan be attributed to resistant (46.7 %) and highly resistant species (31.1 %). The maximum age of these plants in theexperiment reaches 68–84 years. The data obtained can be used to preserve and enrich regional flora and prepare materialfor repatriation work.

Studying Althaea officinalis L. by an introduction experiment in the Kuzbass Botanical Garden (KuzBS)

Althaea officinalis L. was studied in the Kuzbass Botanical Garden. It’s a perennial herbaceous plant, that is included in the Red Book of the Kemerovo Region with the status 2 - declining. During the first year of life, the following ontogenetic stages are recognized under introduction conditions: seedling, juvenile, immature, virginile, and young generative. A semi-rosette orthotropic monocarpic shoot, branching in a sylleptic way, and a caudex emerge in the first year. In pregenerative plants, there is an increase in ascorbic acid but a decrease in the activity of phenolic compounds and malonic dialdehyde; in generative plants, there is an inverse link.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF THE GENUS ALLIUM L. IN THE STAVROPOL BOTANICAL GARDEN

Species and cultivars of the genus Allium L., family Alliaceae occupy a significant place is in the collection of floral and ornamental herbaceous perennials of the Stavropol Botanical Garden. The first supplies of plants to the exhibition areas of the garden took place in 1962. Nowadays, 34 taxa grow in the collection of herbaceous perennials. Research work on the study of local species and introduced species has been carried out since 2010. In 2020, the results of an introduction experiment to study the seasonal rhythms of plant growth and development, their ecological growth conditions, biomorphological indicators, decorative qualities, and economically valuable features, resistance to adverse weather conditions, pests, and diseases were summed up. Analyzing the data obtained, the author identifies the most promising species and cultivars for the introduction on the territory of the Stavropol upland in the conditions of a sharply continental climate and the zone of unstable moisture. As a result of the final assessment of the adaptive features of bows and their decorative qualities, the following groups were identified: very promising – 21, promising – 7, and unpromising – 6. The research team suggests using highly decorative and decorative species, resistant to cultivation in Stavropol and other localities in the region, in practical floriculture. Low-promising and low-decorative ones are valuable species and cultivars used in medicine or consumed as food and rare and endangered species of the Russian Federation 28 and neighboring countries. Plants of the genus Allium in the collection of the Stavropol Botanical Garden are a scientific base for holding regional environmental seminars for schoolchildren and students of higher educational institutions. Acquaintance with this group of plants is of great interest for landscape design specialists and amateur flower growers.

Elucidating dingo’s ecological roles: contributions from the Pelorus Island feral goat biocontrol project

ABSTRACT Understanding the ecological roles of apex predators remains an important field of study. The influence of apex predators on ecosystems can be either profound or negligible in different situations, and uncertainty still exists about the ecological roles of most top-predators, including Australian dingoes. This uncertainly is maintained by a dearth of experimental evidence investigating their roles. Such evidence is indispensable if dingo management is to be evidence-based. In this report, we discuss a recent experiment where dingoes were released on to an island as vertebrate biocontrol tools intended to eradicate feral goats and restore native vegetation being threatened by the goats. The experiment was successful, and the dingoes reduced the goat population to one or perhaps two male goats within ~2 years. This predator introduction experiment elucidated dingo’s effects on small livestock, their per capita predation rates, and their invasiveness or their ability to adapt and change their environment. The experiment confirmed that dingoes have the capacity to decimate populations of small livestock species and trigger a trophic cascade by reducing herbivory on vegetation. We encourage further manipulative experiments to explore the ubiquity of these results in different contexts.

Experimental translocations to low predation lead to non-parallel increases in relative brain size

Predation is a near ubiquitous factor of nature and a powerful selective force on prey. Moreover, it has recently emerged as an important driver in the evolution of brain anatomy, though population comparisons show ambiguous results with considerable unexplained variation. Here, we test the reproducibility of reduced predation on evolutionary trajectories of brain evolution. We make use of an introduction experiment, whereby guppies ( Poecilia reticulata ) from a single high predation stream were introduced to four low predation streams. After 8–9 years of natural selection in the wild and two generations of common garden conditions in the laboratory, we quantified brain anatomy. Relative brain region sizes did not differ between populations. However, we found a general increase and striking variation in relative brain size of introduced populations, which varied from no change to a 12.5% increase in relative brain weight, relative to the ancestral high predation population. We interpret this as evidence for non-parallel evolution, which implies a weak or inconsistent association of relative brain size with fitness in low predation sites. The evolution of brain anatomy appears sensitive to unknown environmental factors, or contingent on either chance events or historical legacies of environmental change.

Formation of cover, yield and low winter temperature tolerance of lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) on the cutover raised-bog peatlands of Belarusian Lakeland

A long-term introduction experiment conducted in 2009–2016 revealed that in the harshest weather conditions of the northern part of Belarus associated with a difficult environmental situation on a trial area, including weakly-decomposed acid sphagnum peat and the deficiency of artificial watering, lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) due to the significant tolerance to abiotic factors of the environment completely fulfills its bioproductive potential. It is clear, in particular, through the formation of a continuous berry bush cover and its high resistance to cold. A sustainable cultivated phytocenosis forms. It protects a peat substrate from fires, water and wind erosions, and has a high level of positive dynamism of berry productivity during the whole period of record. It proves the appropriateness of the ecological-biological type of the species to the extreme weather and ecological conditions of the experiment. However, lowbush blueberry needs an optimization of mineral nutrition. The implementation of this condition is a guaranty of successful introduction of the plant on the cutover raised-bog peatlands in the North of Belarus.

Introduction: Experiment and the Art of Writing

The general introduction outlines the topic of the study, experimental knowledge-making in Victorian literature and science, and the practice-based method through which it will be explored. To this end, it provides a brief exposition of relevant work in science studies, sociology and anthropology while emphasising the literary critical perspective of the book. Moreover, the introductory chapter situates Artful Experiments in the field of Victorian literature and science scholarship, showing, by means of two examples from the work of Charles Darwin and Robert Browning, how it deviates from the well established ‘two-way traffic’ approach and what it has to offer instead. The relation between experiment and writing is also introduced and clarified here.