The Laboratory of Biological Monitoring and Resilience of Agroecosystems at the Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture, Biologization, and Digitalization SFSCA RAS summed up the interim results of its work for the first half of 2026.
The Center's department conducts comprehensive studies of agroecosystem conditions in various soil and climate zones of Western Siberia — steppe, forest-steppe, and taiga. The main activities include biological monitoring of farmland, assessing the biodiversity of terrestrial organisms, and studying the resilience of agroecosystems to human and climate impacts.
The lab staff carry out a systematic analysis of soil cover dynamics, microbiological activity, and soil fertility under intensive farming conditions. Field studies cover the key agricultural landscapes of the region, making it possible to identify regional patterns of changes in the ecosystems' biotic components due to human activity.
The results of the work are aimed at developing scientifically-based recommendations for preserving soil fertility, optimizing agricultural practices, and maintaining the ecological balance of agroecosystems in Western Siberia.
The interim scientific results obtained for the first half of 2026:
1. An intra-seasonal agroecological monitoring of the representative agricultural ecosystems was carried out depending on the current agrotechnical, soil-plant, and agrometeorological conditions in different natural zones of Western Siberia;
2. Soil samples (over 750) were collected to study the spatial and temporal variability of organic carbon (C) and ammonium nitrogen (N) in soils, as well as the content of carbon (C_mic) and nitrogen (N_mic) in soil microbial biomass under the influence of agricultural practices and agrometeorological conditions;
3. A chemical analysis of soil samples (around 200) was carried out to study the spatial and temporal variability of soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen;
4. Diagnosis and monitoring of the animal population of agricultural lands were carried out along a gradient of human impact in different natural zones of Western Siberia (Forest-Steppe and Taiga zones).
5. Samples of mesofauna (zoocenoses) were collected, mainly from the diagnostic group of the Carabidae family, inhabiting the representative agroecosystems in various soil-climatic zones of Western Siberia, totaling about 22,000 specimens (Carabidae – 15,000 specimens).