Shapsha and Khanty-Mansiysk – Days 7 and 8

After arriving back in Shapsha field station, we discussed where best to sample Scots Pine near Khanty-Mansiysk. The predominant pine species in this area is Pinus siberica, the seeds of which are also used as a food source, and Pinus sylvestris is therefore a marginal species, restricted again to forest edges and ryam. We found …

Kondinskie Lakes – Days 5 and 6

Leaving Mukhrino field station, we had a ride in the argocat for the 10km route back to the road (a very impressive machine which made light work of crossing streams and which was a lot faster than walking!) We met Yaroslav in his car by the road and started our journey to Kondinskie lakes nature park …

Ryam, and variations thereof… Days 3 and 4

 We spent the first morning at Mukhrino walking around the raised bogs (the word belies the beauty of them – see the photo) on wooden boardwalks and learning about the work that Elena, Nina, Nadia, Ilya, Evgeniy and Yaroslav do when they come to Mukhrino. They visit at least every week, and a lot of …

Arriving in West Siberia – Days 1 and 2

Unfortunately due to a lack of Wifi, I have been unable to post these blogs as they happened, however we are still in Russia so it sort of counts… We spend most of the first couple of days travelling… After leaving Edinburgh at 8am on Friday, we arrived in Moscow, via Heathrow, at 6pm (+2 …