OLGA SMIRNOVA AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF HER SCIENTIFIC AND PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITIES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREST BIOGEOCOENOLOGY

The article is written in memory of Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Olga Vsevolodovna Smirnova (10.09.1939–12.30.2024), who was the editor-in-chief of the journal «Russian Journal of Ecosystem Ecology». The article describes her path in science and teaching activities. At the beginning of her research activity (1960s), she studied the population biology of forest herbs. Together with A.A. Uranov and a team of his students and collaborators, she contributed to the development of theoretical ideas about the structure and dynamics of plant populations. In the 1970–1980s, she expanded the scope of plant investigation and obtained a large amount of systematized data on the ecological strategies of several dozen herb species growing in broad-leaved forests. She published her monograph in 1987, describing methods and results of studying plant population strategies, becoming a pioneer on this subject in the Russian-language literature. At the same period, under the guidance or with the active participation of O.V. Smirnova, annual expeditions were conducted to study the population organization of various synusia in the communities of broad-leaved forests and mixed coniferous-broad-leaved forests. The scientific interests of the team gradually shifted to the population life of tree species, which are key species in forest ecosystems and impact the spatial structure of forest vegetation and soils, then, in turn, to the relationships of tree species populations with heterotroph populations of different taxonomic groups and trophic levels. During the expeditions, the research was not only descriptive, but sometimes also experimental: the structure of tree species populations was regulated in order to increase the structural and taxonomic diversity of forests. Comprehensive studies created a basis for reinforcing and developing theoretical concepts of world population biology and ecology, describing the structural and functional organization and self-regulation of ecosystems. Those were ideas about the mosaic-cyclic dynamics of ecosystems, key species of biota and the role of their population life, complementarity in interspecific relationships and its impact on biological diversity, as well as large-scale centuries-old anthropogenic transformation of ecosystems, which suppresses all the processes listed. Developing these concepts, O.V. Smirnova attached great importance to the mathematical modelling of populations, ecosystems and the processes they are involved in. She often initiated collaboration between population biologists and other field ecologists and mathematicians. In the 1990s and subsequently, the geography of plant-population and complex biogeocenotic studies covered all climatic zones where forests can be found, throughout the European part of Russia and various regions of the Asian part. Among the publications released based on the results of the conducted studies, the most famous was the 2-volume collective monograph «Eastern European Forests: History in the Holocene and the Present» (2004). When writing it, O.V. Smirnova was the editor-in-chief and inspired work of 49 authors from 19 scientific organizations. In the 2000s, as a sufficient theoretical result of her long-term work, O.V. Smirnova substantiated diagnostic criteria for assessing the successional status of forest ecosystems. She continued population and biogeocenotic studies until the last years of her life. She also always sought to disseminate among other researchers the concepts and methods that she used, for this she was actively involved in pedagogical work. In particular, in the 1990s and 2000s, O.V. Smirnova headed the master’s degree educational programme «Biogeocenology and Forest Ecology» at Pushchino State University, delivered the lecture courses «Biogeocenology» and «Historical Ecology» there and, by invitation, at other universities in Russia. Besides, she supervised numerous qualifying works of master’s degree students and post-graduate students, several applicants for the academic degree of Doctor in Biological Sciences. In addition to conducting scientific field research, O.V. Smirnova participated in expeditions with nature conservation aimsin the 1990s-2010s, using her knowledge and experience to justify the establishment of specially protected natural areas. Another practical application of the scientific concepts she developed was the repeatedly published practical recommendations for forest users. In the last years of her life, O.V. Smirnova was actively involved in popularizing the scientific views that she had been developing for a long time; for this purpose, she gave a course of lectures called “Ecology for Everyone”. O.V. Smirnova’s scientific heritage includes more than 300 publications, e.g. 28 monographs and 243 articles in peer-reviewed journals. One can read her works on her personal page in the Istina information system (https://istina.msu.ru/workers/7762639/).