IBSS Scientists Present at International Conference in Teberda

From 1 to 5 July, the International Teberda Scientific and Practical Conference—"Challenges of Sustainable Development in Mountain Territories Amid Global Change” (5th Field Session of the North Caucasus Scientific Cooperation)—was held in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Organised in Teberda National Park, the event brought together leading researchers from Russia’s foremost scientific institutions, as well as specialists from near and far abroad, to discuss the findings of comprehensive studies in the Caucasus region.

The A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBSS) was represented by five researchers from the Laboratory of Landscape Ecology and Geomatics: Vladimir Tabunshchik, Ekaterina Kashirina, Yaroslav Lebedev, Maria Safonova, and Alexandra Nikiforova. They delivered the following presentations:

• Senior Researcher Ekaterina Kashirina, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, discussed the role of floristic indicators in geoecological assessments of mountain territories.

• Junior Researcher Alexandra Nikiforova presented her work on “Spatio-temporal variability of ecosystem services under changing hydrological regimes in the Suja River Basin (1992–2020): modelling using the InVEST software.”

• Researcher Yaroslav Lebedev shared the results of a geoecological assessment of soils in Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, Vietnam.

• Researcher Maria Safonova delivered a talk on predicting the dynamics of juniper forest structure in the Karadag Nature Reserve under different climate change scenarios.

All presentations generated significant interest within the scientific community, showcasing a comprehensive approach to studying ecological challenges and developing evidence-based strategies for the sustainable development of mountain and other vulnerable territories.

Background:

The conference, now in its fifth year, is held as a field session of the North Caucasus Scientific Cooperation Network (NCSC), established under the initiative of the Mountain Group of UNESCO’s MAB-6 Programme—"Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions”—at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Its aim is to strengthen scientific collaboration in implementing UNESCO’s “Man and the Biosphere” Programme as part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), founded by UN General Assembly Resolution No. 2997 of 15 December 1972.