Cooperation with Russia/CIS

1st CASE STUDY

1. DIATOMS IN THE BLACK SEA AND LAKE BAYKAL

Based on work by Prof.D.G.Mann (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)

Ever since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, 'biodiversity' has figured prominently in our vocabulary. The term generally refers to the number of species in any given area or community, and this immediately focuses the spotlight on taxonomists. Where the classification of a group of organisms is well established and stable, taxonomists may be called on to give accurate identifications. Often though, and particularly in the case of poorly known groups, the classification is not well established, and here taxonomists' skills really come to the fore. It is they who decide how many species actually exist, by identifying known species, then separating out and describing any new ones - a prerequisite for understanding the ecology of individual species.

Karadag Biological Station on the Black Sea coast is also the headquarters of the Karadag Zapovednik, which includes the volcanic outcrop beyond

There has also, in recent years, been increasing recognition of the importance of single-celled organisms in natural communities (and in unnatural ones, for that matter). Unlike higher plants, birds and mammals - popular among naturalists and scientists for centuries, and so rather well understood - the microorganisms are not so easy. Yet they are equally important in many food webs, if not more so. As we acquire the ability to recognise their characters and measure their properties, so we are beginning to realise their hitherto undreamt-of ecological and species diversity.

Diatoms are a case in point. These unicells may account for one fifth to one quarter of the world's photosynthesis, and have often extraordinarily beautiful cell walls - made of silica, not the cellulose usual in plants. The walls sink when the cell dies, and this accidental fact of density has important implications for mineral cycling and hence population control.

These facts alone justify a major research effort on diatoms. In addition they are useful indicators of climate and other environmental change, not only from one decade to the next but potentially over millions of years. This is possible on account of their density and durability, and the continual sedimentation occurring over those periods of time at the bottom of ancient water bodies - pre-eminently Lake Baykal.

The use of diatoms for ecological monitoring depends crucially on sound taxonomy and a knowledge of the ecological properties of each species. About 15,000 species have so far been described, but work by Professor David Mann (DM) at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh suggests that this is a gross underestimate of the total world diatom flora. 200,000 may be more realistic. Rapid advances in diatom taxonomy can be expected through traditional morphology, molecular methods, and attention to the breeding behaviour of the living cells.

The Crimea, Sea of Azov and northern Black Sea

It was particularly the application of breeding behaviour to diatom taxonomy, at a time when few other people were working on it, which led to the new insights. Then out of the blue, in 1993, a letter reached DM from Aleksey Mikhaylovich Roshchin (AR) and Viktor Aleksandrovich Chepurnov (VC) at the Karadag Biological Station on the north coast of the Black Sea. In his letter VC described their work and sent reprints and a list of publications. They had learnt of DM's work through the literature. For him it was not so easy reading their papers: ‘I could understand the titles and abstracts (in English); the rest of the paper was a mystery'. Nevertheless it was clear that their work was of great relevance, and in some ways more advanced than DM's. He was left with mixed feelings. Was it really what it seemed, could it be trusted? If so, it was of exceptional interest. To check, he had one of the papers translated professionally.

At about this time there was a call to submit proposals for INTAS funding to promote cooperation between EU countries (and one or two others) and the former Soviet Union (fSU). At a minimum one fSU and two European partners were required. DM had met a few Moscow and St Petersburg diatomists at conferences, particularly at one in Finland in 1988, so knew something of the Russian work. He decided to submit an application for a large grant in 1993, to cover three years. The result was a partial success - a much smaller grant for just one year. Still, 20,000 ecu can go a long way, especially in the former Soviet Union, so he decided to proceed.

There followed two years in which the project was designed and evaluated. Slow progress in this stage was partly due to poor communications between UK and Ukraine. To begin with there was no e-mail, and faxes could be received only in the local town. Phoning was difficult, on account of DM's non-existent Ukrainian and VC's (at that time) poor English. The mail was unreliable. Even after the project was agreed in principle with INTAS, many loose ends needed tidying up for the formal contract. The project was slimmed down to fit the funds available, and the original three European partners (UK, Austria, Germany) were reduced to two, the second being the Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung in Bremerhaven. The participant there was Dr R.M.Crawford (RC), Curator of the Friedrich Hustedt Herbarium (one of the largest collections of European diatoms), who and whose work were already known to DM. RC had links with a group working on Lake Baykal at the Limnological Institute in Irkutsk. Thus four partners were eventually involved in the collaboration.

In the first year DM made two visits to Karadag, of about two weeks each - the first as soon as practicable in November 1995. On his visits he hoped to do practical work, but the station was somewhat run down and the equipment not good enough for taxonomic research. There were also problems with the heating, power cuts and water supply, and the staff were receiving no salaries. The visits were however valuable in other respects. DM was able to confirm at first hand that the Ukrainian results were sound and all that they were made out to be. He studied their techniques and watched their diatoms mating in laboratory conditions. This was important for building confidence. It is not to say that all doubts vanished on that first visit: for instance the scientific backgrounds of the two sides were so different that just for each to understand the other's approach would take time. But it was an important start.

Various forms of Achnanthes longipes - one of the diatom species studied in this research cooperation.

DM was particularly impressed that AR's and VC's studies of diatom reproductive biology had been launched at all - a project which might never have been undertaken in the West. Without precedent or preconception AR considered it worth trying, and was fortunate in working at a branch of the parent institute that was sufficiently remote from the latter that he could follow his nose without excessive supervision. VC on the other hand was just starting research - once again without preconceptions about diatoms and how they should be studied. They learnt what they could from the literature, gaining in the process a healthy respect for some of the Austrian and German work, and rolled up their sleeves.

In 1996 AR was on the point of retiring. However, VC had a family to support and no income from the institute. Once the INTAS-funded project started he gained some support from that source, but otherwise was obliged, as someone qualified in Graeco-Roman wrestling, to give lessons in wrestling and Keep Fit to support his family and his research. A couple of years later, in 1998, his English had improved and he could give English lessons too. (How many Western biologists would make similar sacrifices to keep their research going?)

DM muses about the ‘Darwinian selection' these conditions are imposing on the populations of CIS scientists. The institute directors could have a powerful effect, weeding out the time servers and rewarding the talented and dedicated. M.A.Grachev at the Limnological Institute in Irkutsk is doing just that, rewarding (very generously) his staff who publish in properly peer-reviewed English-language international journals. Applied widely, this could result in a slimmer higher-quality research system throughout the CIS.

VC paid two visits to Edinburgh in the first year, the first for one and a half months and the second somewhat longer. He worked very hard, perhaps trying to do too much, but a few projects selected themselves and were completed successfully. At the same time he learnt more about DM's approach to taxonomy and in the process strengthened his confidence in the collaboration.

This particular joint project does not involve both sides studying the same group of diatoms, but is rather based on a common approach to diatoms in general, making use of complementary skills. VC specialises in culturing the organisms, observing their behaviour when different races or strains are mixed, isolating the progeny of crosses, and following them for several generations. DM's strengths on the other hand are in the anatomy, morphology and mechanics of the process. He is primarily a taxonomist, needing to know about reproductive biology, while VC is a reproductive biologist needing to know about taxonomy. In short - complementarity of needs and skills, leading to an unexpectedly rich mutual fertilisation of ideas.

The outcome of the work done so far is a series of papers on the research of both partners under joint authorship, even when the bulk of the work has been done by just one of them. By the end of 1996 enough results had accumulated for about ten papers, with one already published and the rest in preparation.

In the first year, the INTAS funding was supporting two separate joint projects, Edinburgh/Karadag and Baykal/Bremerhaven - the latter involving RM working with Yelena Valentinovna Likhoshvay on a particular group of diatoms. One of the most important outcomes during the year was the building of working and personal relationships between the respective partners. With that successfully achieved 75,000 ecu were granted by INTAS for a further two years. During this phase the remaining links in the partnerships will come together, with DM visiting Baykal (July 1997 and July 1998) and VC working at Bremerhaven, though in the latter case the Bremerhaven institute is making an important financial contribution. This second stage will enable salary support to be given to four workers in Irkutsk, including a translator (into English). When the INTAS grant runs out in 1999, it will be necessary to seek further support from other sources.

Cooperation between Bremerhaven and Baykal involves a particular group of planktonic diatoms, including some species endemic to the lake. The various morphological, fine-structure, molecular and systematic studies are shared between the two centres, and they are also compiling a world-wide data base for the genus. The collaboration will then be extended to another group of endemic species in Baykal, this time also including life-cycle and ecological work.

On DM's two three-week trips to Lake Baykal he took the opportunity to discuss the INTAS project. The visits however were primarily under the auspices of the Darwin Initiative and organised by a group based at University College and the Natural History Museum, both in London. The main purpose was to establish a collection of benthic diatoms in Irkutsk for the Limnological Institute, and to provide a sound taxonomy of them. The collection should be of benefit not only to the institute's staff but also to foreign workers coming to BICER (Baikal International Centre for Ecological Research).

In 1997, the visitors sailed on one of the institute's research vessels up to the north end of the lake and back. It was intended to collect epilithic material from all around the shore, specifically from depths 1m and 20m, every 30km. Unfortunately not all the sites had exposed rocks: often the bottom was gravel, sand or silt instead. Accordingly the sampling was modified to include sediments. Some collecting was by Ekman grab from the ship, but otherwise two excellent divers from the Baykal Ecological Museum at Listvyanka brought up the material. In 1998 the circuit of the lake was completed, by sampling the more polluted southern basin.

One set of collected material was left in Irkutsk, and another brought back to the Natural History Museum. Material from both sets will be distributed to experts, including DM, for work on particular groups of diatoms. DM also collected material for his own use, some of it alive for the INTAS project to assist with molecular, reproductive and systematic investigations. The Natural History Museum material will be studied by more conventional methods to identify species and hopefully add to the 200 Baykal endemics already known. Once the taxonomy is established, biogeographical and ecological patterns can be investigated.