International Symposium “Mires of Northern Eurasia: biosphere functions, diversity and management” (Petrozavodsk, September 25–28, 2023)
Authors: Ivchenko T. G. , Znamenskiy S. R. , Neshataeva V. Yu. , Galanina O. V. , Liksakova N. S. 
Published: December 2023

International Symposium “Mires of Northern Eurasia: Biosphere functions, diversity and management”, held on September 25–28, 2023 in Petrozavodsk, continued the traditions of the previous symposums organized by Karelian specialists in 2005 and 2015. Totally 101 participants from 21 regions of Russia and Belarus attended the Symposium. They represented 42 organizations: Universities and Research Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, environmental organizations, Nature reserves and industrial enterprises. 86 scientists arrived to Petrozavodsk, 9 specialists presented online reports.

During the two days of the Symposium, 6 plenary and 56 sectional oral presentations and 28 posters were presented. Six plenary presentations were devoted to the history of mire research in different regions, the diversity of types of mires and mire vegetation, the history of climate and vegetation dynamics in the Holocene, the importance of mires in the exchange of greenhouse gases and the development of modern methodological approaches to the study of mire dynamics.

The most extensive section called “Diversity, structure, dynamics and functioning of mire ecosystems” contained 32 oral presentations. The issues of the typology of mire massifs of different regions of Russia, diversity and originality of mire plant communities, their dynamics, geographical distribution of mires, and conservation value of mire communities were highlighted. Such classical studies continue the traditions of the Russian and Soviet geobotanical school and provide a new level of insight into mire ecosystems and form the basis for solving such current problems as assessment of climate change, carbon balance, protection of rare species.

The traditional part of the mire conferences are the presentations devoted to paleoecology, based on the results of analysis of the peat deposit structure, were. Within the section “Mires and climate in the Holocene, Paleoecology” 15 oral presentations were devoted to the impact of climate change to the Holocene vegetation, the frequency of natural fires that have left traces in the peat sediments, reconstruction of vegetation successions on mires and their connections with archaeological research of the Middle Ages. Separately, a wide range of methods used by paleo ecologists was noted. Along them together with traditional spore-pollen analysis and analysis of plant macrofossils, some modern methods of analyzing arthropods and mollusks and testate amoebas were used.

At the section entitled “Research methods, management of mire ecosystems and their restoration” nine reports were presented, covering such topics as the influence of cranberry pickers’ on the mire vegetation, remote sensing methods used for monitoring plant successions and typology of mire ecosystems, the growth of sphagnum mosses as an indicator of activity of ultraviolet, and thermal analysis of organic matter of peat soils.

Twenty eight posters were exhibited at the poster session, their topics mostly repeated such of sectional presentations, but were more specific. The works of young scientists and students were presented there. The youngest participant of the session and the entire Symposium was a student of the Lomonosov Lyceum from Arkhangelsk, who presented a poster on the features of cranberries cultivated in the White Sea region.

An important part of the symposium were field trips. During two days participants were able to visit two remarkable sites in the southern part of Karelia. Small eutrophic fens near the village of Kolatselga (150 km west of Petrozavodsk) had a specific floristic composition. In 1942–43, two Finnish botanists have described these mires. Their publication provided an excellent comparative data for the further researchers. The participants of the Symposium visited four of these fens and assessed their current state. Another object of excursion were the mires of the Kivach Nature Reserve situated 80 km north from Petrozavodsk. The Reserve is a popular tourist attraction for visiting the Kivach Waterfall on the Suna River. However, the local nature is quite rich, diverse and picturesque, so the reserve serves as a traditional place for environmental research in Karelia. Local mires are also well studied; the participants of the Symposium visited some of them.

Video broadcasts of the symposium sessions are available on Youtube channel of the Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a collection of abstracts has been published (Mires…, 2023).