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In 2009-2013, we studied the seasonal dynamics of the feeding spectrum and diet of grayling in a stretch of the middle reaches of the Yenisei River (from the dam of Krasnoyarsk Hydro-Electric Plant to the Kan River mouth) and traced its connection with the state of food supply and fish growth. It was shown that the intensity of fish nutrition was relatively stable throughout the year, despite significant fluctuations in zoobenthos biomass. The contribution of groups that were dominant in the diet - amphipods and larvae of caddis flies - changed depending on the month. Amphipods dominated in the diet of fish in the period from June to October, caddis flies - in the winter and spring months. Among caddis flies, a certain small species Apatania crymophila was consumed. The change of the primary diet component during the summer period corresponds to a sharp increase in the coefficients of relative condition factors, with a peak in August and September. It is assumed that the change in the rate of fish biomass accumulation is associated not only with an increase in water temperature, but also with switching of grayling to consumption of nutritionally more valuable amphipods.

Study of the species composition and diversity of insect communities in herb-shrub layer was conducted. Three hundred seventy four species from 10 orders were revealed. Coleoptera, Diрtera, Heteroptera and Auchenorrhyncha predominated. From 2 to 8 species prevailed in each order. These were Cixius similis Kirschbaum, 1868 , Neophilaenus lineatus (Linnаeus, 1758) , Lepyronia coleoptrata (Linnаeus, 1758) (Auchenorrhyncha), Lygus pratensis (Linnаeus, 1758) , Kleidocerys resedae (Panzer, 1797) , Stictopleurus crassicornis (Linnаeus, 1758) (Heteroptera), Lochmaea suturalis (Thomson, 1866) , Cyphon padi (Linnаeus, 1758) , and Plateumaris discolor (Herbst, 1795) (Coleoptera). The communities had a low species diversity and distribution of species by abundance. The most similar were insect complexes of habitats with herbs as well as habitats with predominant of dwart shrubs. A regression analysis showed a significant relation between species richness and diversity of insects and species composition of plants and their projective cover degree. Various methods of multivariant analysis (CCA and PCA) demonstrated the influence of these еnvironment variables on the spatial distribution of concrete species and their preferences of certain habitats.

A cytogenetic analysis of the seed progeny of Pinus sylvestris L. trees growing in the Voronezh Oblast during differing weather conditions (optimal and drought) was performed. It was established that in the years of drought frequency of mitosis pathologies level increased, but did not go beyond the norm. The spectrum of pathologies in these years is expanded, but should be assumed that some of them may contribute to the reallocation of genetic material between chromosomes, that in turn would expand the range of reaction norm of the organism, thereby improving its ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Functionality of soil food webs after forest fires remains generally unexplored. We address this question by studying both burnt and unburnt spruce forests in Central European Russia (Tver Region). In August 2014 we sampled two spatially distant blocks consisting of forest areas burnt in 2010 and the respective unburnt controls. We analyzed biomass and structure of soil food webs as well as carbon mobilization with respect to carbon stocks in the dead wood, litter and soil after burning. The biomass of soil fauna was moderately reduced in the burnt plots. For some groups like testate amoebae and enchytraeids, however, this decrease was highly significant and corresponded with the decreased C-stock in litter. For the other taxa changes in biomass were insignificant. At the same time C-flow through the soil food web after fire was strongly reduced mainly due to the reduction of biomass of active fungi and secondary decomposers. The overall consumption rate of detritus by the soil food web strongly decreased in the burnt forests and was maintained predominantly by the decomposition activity of bacteria instead of fungi. This resulted in the reduction of the total soil food web functionality related with C-mobilization in the forests four years after a fire event.

The effect of plant extracts on susceptibility of several insect’ species to enthomopathogenic microorganisms has been studied. We found that greater wax moth Galleria mellonella weight decreased by 30-50 % under polar and nonpolar extracts of ledum and reindeer lichen treatments. Сrude extract of hemlock enhanced growth rate of larvae by 30 %. Treatment with extract of reindeer lichen led to synergy with virus in gypsy moth Lymantria dispar mortality and with fungal infection in wax moth mortality. It has been established that the main components of the extract are perlatolikovy acid, usnic acid, and also the third component of unknown chemical group. Usnic acid is the main promising additive component to entomopathogenic microorganisms. Treatment by usnic acid led to increase of both colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata and greater wax moth larvae mortality after infection with entomopathogenic fungi Metarhizium robertsii and Beauveria bassianа. The maximum effect was shown only with whole extract because of summation of action of each of extract components, or for the reason that components could change the properties in presence of other components of the whole extract.

Foothill plains along the northwest periphery of the Altai-Sayan mountain area are the northern limit of stony substrates in the West Siberia longitudinal sector. Rock outcrops in this area are rare; their yardage usually does not exceed a few tens of square meters. Despite negligible areas, the rocky outcrops keep nearly half of the foothill moss flora. Twenty six from recorded on rock outcrops of the foothill plaints moss species (22 %) are rare both in West Siberia and in neighboring south mountains. An annotated list of species is given. The features of the species distribution in the longitudinal sector of West Siberia are discussed.

Changes of vegetation properties (biogeochemical, morphological, floristic, phytocenotic) around Sibay chalcopyrite deposits were studied. Areas at different distances from mining facilities were investigated. Heavy metal (HM) content was measured in geographical components: soils, waters, bottom sediments, above-ground vegetation and several plant species ( Artemisia austriaca Salvia stepposa , Thymus marschallianus , Veronica incanа , Caraganа frutex , Phlomis tuberosa , Achilea setacea , Galium verum , Phragmites australis . Groups (pleiads) of species based on interspecific contingency coefficient were identified. The clusters represented ecological conditions and level of anthropogenic stress. The set of features for evaluation of transformation of natural territorial complexes by means of phytoindication was proposed.

The paper considers the question of the degree to which Goodstein's theorem may be considered to be an analogue of a true, but not provable Gödelian sentence. It is shown that such an interpretation leads to Isaacson's thesis, according to which the demonstration of the truth of real mathematical analogues of the Gödelian sentence in the formal language of arithmetic uses conceptual resources that go beyond the resources required to understand the basic arithmetic of finite natural numbers. The plausibility of the thesis is disputed from the point of view of the incomprehensibility of the arithmetic content of the Gödelian sentence.

The article reveals and systematizes philosophical foundations of the unification of physical theories, the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics are taken as the examples. In the ontological aspect, the unification is based on the idea that there exists a fundamental level which determines the diversity of the world phenomena and to which all the other levels may be reduced, as well as on the idea of the interrelation between physical phenomena. In addition, the unification is based on the possibility to build a consistent physical picture of the reality. In the epistemological aspect, the unification is based on the existence of intertheoretical relations between physical theories (those are generalization, reduction, synthesis, and limit passage), as well as on the unity of the cognizer’s self-consciousness.

The article considers the source of discordance between basic concepts and principles which puts obstacles to creating “the Theory of Everything”. This discordance roots in classical scientific ideas many of which are excessively empirical on the one hand and excessively absolutized on the other hand. The path to the general theory lies in the coordination of basic scientific concepts through their operational redefining on the basis of unified universal principles.