We investigated the application of satellite tracking to the conservation of cranes and other waterbirds and the necessity of international cooperation in the conservation of migratory species. Using satellite tracking, we followed 11 White-naped Cranes (Grus vipio) on migration from their breeding grounds in eastern Russia to their wintering grounds in China and Japan. From 1991 to 1993, we captured cranes with the aid of helicopters and attached satellite transmitters (platform transmitter terminals) to captured birds via a harness system. We tracked cranes for 156 days on average, across 2558 km, and obtained an average of 339 locations per crane. Cranes migrated over 8-90 days. During migration, birds spent 1-30 days at 4-12 rest sites. Cranes wintered at two main sites: Poyang Lake, China, and Izumi, Japan. All seven cranes migrating to the Poyang Lake area rested at the Yellow River delta-Bohai Bay, China, and all three traveling to Izumi rested in the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean Peninsula. Other important rest sites were marshes around the Wulagai River, Huainan, Hu-Lun Lake, Linyi, Tangshan, the Three Rivers (Sanjiang) Plain, Tianjin, and the Xar Moron River, all in China, and Lake Khanka-Xinghai at the border of China and Russia. The habitats resting cranes used most frequently were plains, including upland areas, marshes, and rivers. Although nature reserves exist at the two main wintering sites of Poyang Lake and Izumi, rest sites used by cranes were poorly protected. Even when areas used by cranes for resting or wintering were included in nature reserves, reserves were threatened by human encroachment and development. To ensure that cranes can continue to migrate successfully, it is crucial that the establishment of reserves continues at important rest areas and that the areas covered by reserves at wintering sites be extended to include more of the areas utilized by cranes. Also, development and human disturbance should be minimized in reserve areas. Because long-distance migrant birds, including cranes, range over such large areas, conservation of these organisms and their habitats necessitates multinational communication and cooperation. Resumen: Investigamos la aplicación del rastreo por satélite a la conservación de grullas y otras aves acuáticas y la necesidad de cooperación internacional en la conservación de especies migratorias. Utilizando el rastreo por satélite, seguimos la migración de 11 grullas de nuca blanca (Grus vipio), desde susáreas de reproducción en Rusia oriental hasta suárea de hibernación en China y Japón. De 1991 a 1993 capturamos grullas con la ayuda de helicópteros y les colocamos transmisores de satélite (terminales de transmisor de plataforma) mediante un sistema de arnés. Rastreamos a las grullas por 156 días en promedio, a lo largo de 2558 km, y obtuvimos un promedio de 339 localidades por grulla. Las grullas migraron por 8-90 días. Durante la migración, las aves estuvieron de 1-30 días en 4-12 sitios de descanso. Las grullas invernaron en dos sitios principales: L...

Autumn migration routes of red‐crowned cranes, Grus japonensis, from two continental east Asian sites were documented in detail by satellite tracking. Two routes were identified: a 2200 km western route from Russia's Khingansky Nature Reserve to coastal Jiangsu Province, China; and a 900 km eastern route from Lake Khanka (Russia) to the Korean Peninsula and the Demilitarized Zone. The most important rest‐sites were identified as Panjin Marsh (China), coastal mudflats south‐east of Tangshan City (China), the Yellow River mouth (China), Tumen River mouth (North Korea/China/Russia), Kumya (North Korea) and Cholwon (Korean DMZ). Movements within the wintering range were also recorded, including complex commuting between sites by individual cranes and patterns of daily movements within sites. These data should prove useful for conservation of the flyway.

From 1998 through to 2000, we satellite-tracked the movements of 13 Oriental White Storks (Ciconia boyciana) on their autumnal migration in order to identify their important stopover sites for preserving links from the Russian Far East breeding sites to the wintering sites in south-eastern China. New analytical methods of satellite tracking data were employed to derive robust information on the locations of stay sites, the number of stopovers made during migration, and the distance traveled without making stopovers. Based on the derived information, we modeled a stay site network as an abstraction of the storks' potential migration routes from their breeding sites to wintering sites. Using network analysis techniques, we explored how the loss of stopover sites could affect the connectivity of potential migration routes. The results suggested that if the seashore stopover sites facing Bohai Bay in eastern China were lost, the storks' wintering sites along the Yangtze River in south-eastern China would be isolated. Among the seashore stopover sites, Jiantuozhi Gley Mire (39.185∞N, 118.627∞E), located on the northern seashore of Bohai Bay, was considered particularly important for migrating storks, because it was used every year by the storks we tracked. If conservation needs of this critically located site fail to be addressed, the stay site network of storks can create weak links in the chain of migration and, if 'broken', storks will have great difficulties in completing their autumnal migration.

The state of the water bodies located within the city has been analyzed in the paper. The factors influencing the physicochemical and microbiological composition of the urban surface water bodies have been considered. An experimental study of the state of the surface water bodies located within the large industrialized city of Kharkiv (Ukraine) has been carried out. The water of five reservoirs located within the city (Lake Komsomolskoe, Lake Ocheret, Pavlovskiy reservoir, Pond No. 1 in the gorge Hlybokiy Yar, Petrenkiv reservoir) and two reservoirs located outside the city (Lake Glubokoe No. 1 and Lake Glubokoe No. 2) have been analysed in terms of conductivity and mineralization. It has been found that for the urban water bodies, these parameters, in general, have higher values compared to the water bodies located in the recreational zone outside the city. The water of Petrenkiv reservoir and Lake Komsomolskoe is characterized by the highest values of conductivity and mineralization, while Lake Komsomolskoe and Pavlovskiy reservoir, due to the supply peculiarities, are most vulnerable to the influence of the external factors. The average values of conductivity for the studied reservoirs of Kharkiv are 590-910 µS/cm, for Lakes Glubokoe No. 1 and Glubokoe No. 2 they are equal to 500 μS/cm. The typical average mineralization values for the studied urban reservoirs are 400-670 mg/l, and for Lakes Glubokoe No. 1 and Glubokoe No. 2 are 345 mg/l. The error of values in all cases does not exceed 2%.

Опубликовано Российским государственным педагогическим университетом им. А. И. Герцена. Открытый доступ на условиях лицензии CC BY-NC 4.0. Аннотация. Обитание дальневосточного аиста на территории Хабаровского края наблюдается на водно-болотных угодьях Амуро-Уссурийского бассейна. Важные места гнездования входят в состав особо охраняемых природных территорий -заповедника «Болоньский», заказника краевого значения «Аистиный», природного парка «Шереметьевский». Плотность поселений этого вида на территории края в целом невысокая. Самое большое количество жилых и активных гнезд наблюдается в природном парке «Шереметьевский»: 26 гнезд на площади 620 га. По состоянию на 2018 г. общая численность дальневосточного аиста составляет около 105 пар. С 2001 г. на ООПТ успешно реализуются мероприятия по сооружению искусственных опор для гнездования дальневосточных аистов. Ключевые слова: численность, дальневосточный аист Ciconia boyciana, учет гнезд, воспроизводство, особо охраняемая природная территория, искусственная гнездовая опора.