MARINE BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE

RUSSIAN FAR EAST

Konstantin A. LutaenkoA.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Main threats to marine biodiversity in the Russian

region of NOWPAP habitat degradation, fragmentation and loss; global climate change including sea level rise

and coastal water warming; effects of fishing and other forms of

overexploitation; pollution and marine litter; species introduction/invasions; physical alterations of coasts; tourism

Protected areas

(reserves, national parks)

in the Far Eastern Federal District)

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the

NOWPAP region

Number of MPAs in the NOWPAP region by country

Area of the MPAs in the NOWPAP region by country

6500

4800950

2000

27002900

Species richness of marine invertebrates

Formerly (from 1855) known as Victoria Bay, the bay was renamed (1859) to honour Russian Emperor Peter I the Great

Peter the Great Bay is considered among the richest and most productive regions of Russia

by its biological diversity

• in the number of species of marine organisms, the bay significantly exceeds similar areas in the Russian Far East

• the bay is inhabited by more then 3800 species of microorganisms, fungi, plants and animals belonging to 1855 genera, more than 840 families, 104 classes and 52 phyla

• among species inhabiting Peter the Great Bay, 68 species of fish and more than 40 species of invertebrates and plants are commercially important

Peter the Great Bay

52 phyla; 104 classes;840 families; 1855 genera;

3800 species

Cyanophyles – 130Rodophyles – 147Dinophyles – 183Phaeophyles – 72

Diatomophyles – 331Chlorophyles – 76Ciliophora – 157

Fungi – 68Cnidaria – 96

Plathelminthes – 222Nemathelminthes – 178

Annelida – 277Mollusca – 330

Crustacea – 620Echinodermata – 74

Chordata - 332

Far Eastern Marine Biosphere Reserve

A wide variety of environments

Main protected invertebrates • Japanese scallop Mizuhopecten yessoensis

• Japanese sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

• Red king crab Paralithodes kamchaticus

• Sea urchins Strongylocentotus nudus, S. intermedius and others

• North Pacific giant octopus Enteroctopus dofleini

• Giant mussel Crenomytilus grayanus

Main protected species in Far East Biosphere Reserve

Giant mussel Crenomytilus grayanus

Northern East/Japan Sea, Hokkaido, northern Honshu, southern Sea of Okhotsk, South Kurile Isl.

Japanese scallop Mizuhopecten yessoensis

Northern East/Japan Sea, Hokkaido, northern Honshu, southern Sea of Okhotsk, South Kurile Isl.

Far Eastern Marine

Biosphere Reserve

Far East Marine Biosphere Reserve

TREDA -"Tumen River

Development Area"

Integrated investigations ofmarine biological diversity,hydrological and hydro-chemical regimes have beenconducted using dredges,multi-corers, box-corers, planktonic nets, diving, multi-functional probe and loggers.

River mouthEast EEasSea

Tumen River Development Area Project

Tumors of the jaws of needlrfish

Scoliosis of the haarder(Mugil so-iyu)

Wetlands in Tumen River mouth area supports about 200 species of migratory birds with 36 globally endangered species that are listed in the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) Red Data Book

Nature reserves in Russian NOWPAP area with marine protected parts

Primorsky Krai L.G.Kaplanov Lazovskiy State Nature Reserve (133°40' -

134°11' E , 42°49' - 43°23' N, established in 1935)

K.G.Abramov Sikhote-Alin State Nature Biospheric Reserve (135°45' - 136°35' E , 44°49' - 45°41' N, established in 1935)

Kedrovaya Pad’ State Nature Biospheric Reserve(131°24' - 131°36' E , 43°01' - 43°09' N, established in 1916)

Barsovyi Federal Partial Reserve (131°05' - 131°42' E , 42°53' - 43°24' N, established in 1979)

Botchinskiy State Nature Reserve (138°57' - 139°50' E , 47°40' - 48°44' N, established in 1994)

Tumninskiy Federal Partial Reserve (140°00' - 140°30' E , 49°25' - 50°00' N, established in 1987)

Nature reserves in Russian NOWPAP area with marine protected parts

Khabarovsky Krai

Ciona savignyi

IMB (A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology) Research Center:

Far East Center of Monitoring of Ballast Water, Fouling Organisms and Bioinvasions

Distribution of invasive species of barnacle

Amphibalanus improvisus in Amursky Bay (Sea of

Japan/East Sea)

Alien species of bivalve mollusks in north-western Sea of Japan/East Sea

Mytilus galloprovinciallis

(Mytilidae)

introduced in 1970s

Gomphina aequilatera(Veneridae)

introduced in 1990s

Subtropical invasive species into north-western Sea of Japan

Aplysia parvula

2005

2006Gastropod opistobranch

mollusks

A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biologydatabase on biological invasions comprisesdata on about 600 ships sailing in differentocean regions and on 300 hydrotechnicalstructures. As much as 17 fouling speciesintroduced with the hull fouling and ballastwater of ships have been recorded in thenorthwestern part of the Japan Sea

13

More than 60 introduced species have been recorded for the Russian Far East seas. In Peter the Great Bay, 51 species have been identified as non-indigenous;

17 of them are fouling species

Vladivostok

Nakhodka

Peter the Great Bay

17

Hydroides elegans

Molgula manhattensis

Bugula californicaAmphibalanus improvisus

Pseudopotamilla occelata Diogenes nitidimanus

Perinereis aibuhitensis

18

Ciona savignyi

During the regular inspection of the Center in the port of Vladivostok in the ballast water of just two vessels serving Russia-Japan (Sunrise Wisteria) and Russia-China (Minotaur) shipping routes the following organisms were found:- 45 species of microalgae,- 24 zooplankton species,- 22 meroplankton species,-10 species of meiofauna,- 24 species of marine fungi,- strains of pathogenic bacteria.Total: 165 species

dinoflagellates diatoms

Potentially toxic species

Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Acremonium fungi 19

Russian experts contributed to reports on the MIS for the NOWPAP DINRAC (UNEP)

Monitoring of the Okhotsk-Korea population of grey whales and its feeding grounds near theeastern coast of Sakhalin

Sakhalin Island

11

RS

LS

DS VS

Eschrichtius robustus

Individual identification and monitoring ofgray whales of Okhotsk-Korean population

12

Research and Educational Complex Primorsky Aquarium

Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Main planned research activities:

Study on scientific methods and modern technologies of maintenance and breeding of rare and endangered marine organisms

Reproductive biology of rare and endangered species

Research in physiology, ethology and veterinary of marine animals

Study on higher nervous activity and behaviour of marine animals

Research in molecular genetics, biochemistry and biotechnology of rare and endangered marine organisms

Russky Island,

Vladivostok City To be launched in 2012

– industrial and domestic wastewaters of Vladivostok and its suburbs;

– marine transportation;

– agricultural effluents and untreated wastes of other settlements;

– input of pollutants through air and rain-storms;

– dredged material damping site with contaminated Zolotoy Rog Bay deposits (dumping was stopped in 1985)

Major pollution sources in Peter the Great Bay influencing marine biodiversity and ecosystems

Relict and immigrant species of bivalve

mollusks in Peter the Great Bay:

1 – Macoma contabulata2 – Macoma nipponica

3 – Gomphina aequilatera4 – Macoma tokyoensis

5 – Mactra quadrangularis(formerly, veneriformis) 6 – Dosinia penicillata7 – Trapezium liratum

8 – Solen strictus

These species are characteristic of tidal flats in

South and West (Yellow) seas of Korea

Local distribution of

tropical-subtropical bivalves in Peter the Great Bay (north-

western East Sea)

open asterisks –

sites of living mollusks

___________

black asterisks –Holocene

sites

New sewage treatment facilities in Vladivostok City to be launched

in 2011

Vladivostok Northern Sewage

Treatment Plant

Complex study of biodiversity, benthic and plankton communities of polluted Amursky Bay

Habitat degradation and modification due to massive

construction projects

Construction of three bridges in Vladivostok City

Coastline modification – piers, embankments and other hydrotechnical structures in Peter the Great Bay

Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean Oil Pipeline

ESPO pipeline

Kozmino Port

Russky Island in September 2007

Russky Island Development Project - 2009

New piers and a bridge in Russky Island

2011

Biodiversity conservation measures

Environmental and biodiversity monitoring of coastal areas

Fishery limitations and aquaculture control

Control and regulation of tourism

Development and expansion of MPAs

THANK YOU!