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ISSN 00329452, Journal of Ichthyology, 2010, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 221–225. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2010. Original Russian Text © D.S. Pavlov, K.A. Savvaitova, Yu.Yu. Dgebuadze, M.I. Shatunovskiy, 2010, published in Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 2010, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 149–154. 221 On May 6, 2010, it will be the 100th birthday of Georgii Vasil’evich Nikolskiy, one of the greatest ich thyologist of the 20th century, the founder of the Jour nal of Ichthyology. Nikolskiy was Doctor of Science (Biology), Pro fessor, Corresponding Member of USSR Academy of Sciences, founder and the first head of the Laboratory of Lower Vertebrates Ecology at the Institute of Ani mal Morphology of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolu tion, Russian Academy of Sciences), a creator and chairman of the Interdepartmental Ichthyological Commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the USSR Ministry of Fisheries, chairman of the Sci entific Council on Problems of Hydrobiology and Ich thyology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, member G.V. Nikolskiy. The 100th Anniversary DOI: 10.1134/S003294521003001X

G.V. Nikolskiy. The 100th anniversary

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Page 1: G.V. Nikolskiy. The 100th anniversary

ISSN 0032�9452, Journal of Ichthyology, 2010, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 221–225. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2010.Original Russian Text © D.S. Pavlov, K.A. Savvaitova, Yu.Yu. Dgebuadze, M.I. Shatunovskiy, 2010, published in Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 2010, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 149–154.

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On May 6, 2010, it will be the 100th birthday ofGeorgii Vasil’evich Nikolskiy, one of the greatest ich�thyologist of the 20th century, the founder of the Jour�nal of Ichthyology.

Nikolskiy was Doctor of Science (Biology), Pro�fessor, Corresponding Member of USSR Academy ofSciences, founder and the first head of the Laboratoryof Lower Vertebrates Ecology at the Institute of Ani�

mal Morphology of the USSR Academy of Sciences(now the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolu�tion, Russian Academy of Sciences), a creator andchairman of the Interdepartmental IchthyologicalCommission of the USSR Academy of Sciences andthe USSR Ministry of Fisheries, chairman of the Sci�entific Council on Problems of Hydrobiology and Ich�thyology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, member

G.V. Nikolskiy. The 100th AnniversaryDOI: 10.1134/S003294521003001X

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of several commissions of supreme attestation com�mittee on dissertations, participant and leader of over60 expeditions to fresh and marine water bodies, andchief editor of several journals of the Academy and theuniversity. However, this is by far not a complete list ofresponsibilities and occupations of Georgii Vasil’evichin the course of his short life (1910–1977).

Nikolskiy was a member of the International Soci�ety of Ichthyologists and Hydrobiologists, the Ameri�can Fisheries Society, and the International Associa�tion of Limnologists, he held a leading position at theInternational Council for the Exploration of the Sea,lectured in the United States, Canada, Great Britain,Romania, and China, supervised postgraduate stu�dents from the United States, Great Britain, India,Bulgaria, Poland, Vietnam, China, and other coun�tries.

The range of problems investigated by Nikolskiy isstriking; he investigated the fauna and evolution offish, the paleoichthyology, zoogeography, taxonomy,and ecology of particular species, species structure andpatterns of variation of its characters and properties,population dynamics, and problems of fisheries.

The scientific heritage of Nikolskiy comprises over400 publications, including ten monographs and textbooks.

The merits of Nikolskiy were repeatedly marked bygovernmental awards. He was laureate of the USSRState Prize, decorated with the Lenin Order, twicewith the Honor Sign, the medal For Valorous WorkDuring the Great Patriotic War, etc. The work ofNikolskiy was repeatedly awarded with official com�mendations of the Presidium of the USSR Academy ofSciences, the USSR Ministry of Fisheries, the Minis�try of Higher and Specialized Secondary Education,“Znanie” society, etc.

Nikolskiy was born in Moscow. His father was anengineer and his mother was a teacher of literature. In1924, he graduated from the seven�year school and in1926 graduated from two�year pedagogical courses. In1926, Nikolskiy entered the Biological Department ofthe Physico–Mathematical Faculty, Moscow Univer�sity, and graduated cum laude in 1930.

In 1931, Nikolskiy started his work at the AralFisheries Station as senior scientist. From 1932 until1939, he was in charge of the Ichthyology Departmentof the Zoological Museum of Moscow State Univer�sity while continuing to work at the Aral Station.

In 1936, Nikolskiy received the title of senior sci�entist and the degree of Candidate of Science (Biol�ogy) without the presentation of dissertation. In 1937,his appointment as acting professor of ichthyology wasconfirmed.

In the course of his work at the Aral Station,Nikolskiy acted as a talented manager and was able,under very severe conditions, to launch permanentobservations and to collect and summarize the mate�rial unique in its importance. His investigations in

Central Asia won a high appraisal of ichthyologists andfishery experts.

Nikolskiy described the results of the studies in theAral Sea basin in his doctoral dissertation “The Ich�thyological Fauna of the Aral Sea Basin” which hedefended in 1939.

In 1939, the Laboratory of Ichthyology was formedat the Hydrobiology Department of Moscow StateUniversity. In the end of 1940, it was transformed intoan independent Ichthyology Department and its firsthead was Nikolskiy. In April 1940, his appointment asfull professor was confirmed.

In spite of a heavy load of teaching at the university,Nikolskiy continued to intensively work in expedi�tions. In 1940, within the scope of hydraulic construc�tion on the Syr�Darya, he surveyed its middle andlower reaches from Chinaz to the mouth. In 1941, hewas leader of the Pechora expedition.

During the Great Patriotic War, Nikolskiy orga�nized and was head of several expeditions whose fore�most task was elucidation of possibilities of the supplyof the population with fish and sometimes direct stor�ing of fish. In 1942, he performed fishery surveying ofthe Amu�Darya and the Murghab. In 1943, he workedin Moscow suburban water supply reservoirs on thestoring of fish for the catering of Moscow.

In 1944, Nikolskiy was again the head of thePechora expedition. The results of this expeditionwere summarized in the collective monograph Fishesof the Upper Pechora Basin (1947) for the first timeanalyzing in detail the ichthyofauna of the Pechorabasin, biology of particular species, issues of principalregularities of formation and development of the riverichthyofauna, and distribution of fish.

From 1945 to 1959, the Ichthyology Departmentunder the guidance of Nikolskiy performed regularstudies on fishes of the Amur basin. The first stage ofthis work comprised the period from 1945 to 1949when the Joint Expedition of the Institute of Zoologyof Moscow State University and the Pacific Institute ofFisheries worked, which was assigned by the TechnicalCouncil of the USSR Ministry of Fisheries. The taskof this expedition was the investigation of residentfishes of the Amur, estimation of fishery resources,elucidation of causes of decrease in catches, and elab�oration of measures on productivity enhancement.

The Amur expedition was a major freshwater ich�thyological expedition as to the extension of the studyregion from the mouth lagoon to sources, the scope ofits tasks, and the quantity of its participants. It was anexcellent school which educated Russian ichthyolo�gists. The collected material was the base of numerousdiploma essays and dissertations. The results of thisexpedition were highly significant; this was theachievement of its leader professor Nikolskiy whoseoutstanding scientific and organizational abilitiesmanifested themselves in this expedition especiallyclearly. The obtained materials were published as four

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volumes of Proceedings of the Amur IchthyologicalExpedition. Nikolskiy summarized the materials ofthe expedition in his monograph Fishes of the AmurBasin (1956). In this extensive review, he reportedinformation on biology of all fish species, consideredin detail the origin and distribution of fish, and traits ofreproduction, growth, stock dynamics of resident fish,their trophic interrelations, migrations, and wintering.Special attention was paid to biological substantiationof rational exploitation of the Amur basin fishes. The�oretically, this book is important by the fact thatNikolskiy demonstrated the efficiency of the ecologi�cal method of zoogeographic analysis with the faunis�tic complex as its unit. In addition, the popular sciencebook “The Amur River and Its Fishes” by Nikolskiywas also published.

In 1953, Nikolskiy was elected CorrespondingMember of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In the 1950–1960s, Nikolskiy organized and per�formed several expeditions on exploration of freshwa�ter and marine fishes.

Nikolskiy was organizer, leader and direct partici�pant of numerous expeditions to diverse, often hardlyaccessible regions of our vast country. Being an excel�lent field scientist, using his personal observations innature, enormous experience and knowledge, withconsideration of theoretical views of outstanding Rus�sian biologists C. Rouillier, N.A. Severtsov,B.M. Zhitkov, V.V. Vasnetsov, S.G. Kryzhanovskiy, etc.he created and developed several major trends in Rus�sian and world ichthyology.

Nikolskiy played an outstanding role in the organi�zation of theoretical investigations in the field of ich�thyology in the system of the USSR Academy of Sci�ences. In 1955, he organized the Laboratory of Ichthy�ology (since 1967 known as the Laboratory of LowerVertebrates Ecology).

During his life Nikolskiy achieved much in thefield of investigations of the fauna, laws of variation,and the problem of the fish species. He investigatedsystematics, morphology, and intraspecies structure ofmany particular fish species. He described quiet anumber of fish faunas: “Fishes of Tadzhikistan”(1938), “Fishes of the Aral Sea” (1940), “Fishes of theUpper Pechora Basin” (1947), and “Fishes of theAmur basin” (1956). Under the guidance ofNikolskiy, a collection of the material on the ichthyo�fauna of water bodies of Mongolia was started, and itlater became the parts of collective monographs Fishesof Mongolian People’s Republic (1983) and Ecology andEconomic Significance of Fishes of Mongolian People’sRepublic (1985).

Nikolskiy paid serious attention to fish systematicsin a wide scope: advancement of general principles ofconstruction of the system of fishes, the problem of thespecies as the base of the system, investigation of fossilfishes, and description of new species and forms. Thestudies on fish systematics made the basis of the lec�

ture course and of the textbook Special Ichthyologycomposed by Nikolskiy and which is now a classicalhandbook on fish science not only in Russia but also inmany countries. The principal distinction of SpecialIchthyology from similar handbooks is its richness inmaterials on fish ecology. The book by Nikolskiy pre�sents an excellent global review of enormous data onfishes.

Nikolskiy suggested the idea on the adaptive signif�icance of the variation range of characters and on theadaptive significance of all characters and propertiesof the species.

In studies on problems of the species and specia�tion, he stressed the reality of the notion of the speciesand its relative morpho�physiologo�ecological stabil�ity in time and in space. According to his opinion, theintraspecies groups are formed as adaptations to theenvironment and ensure the existence of species undervarying conditions. The characters of the speciesreflect adaptations to certain conditions of existence.Variation of characters of a species does not extendbeyond the species specificity and it is higher thehigher are adaptations of the species to more varyingconditions of existence. The process of species forma�tion is a result of restructuring of the system of interre�lations of specimens which form the species with theirenvironment, with adaptation developing both to abi�otic and biotic conditions.

In the field of biogeography, Nikolskiy investigatedthe laws of formation of faunal complexes and elabo�rated methods of biological analysis in zoogeography.He made zoogeographic analysis of the fish fauna ofCentral Asia, the European North, and the Far Eastand demonstrated biological specificity of faunal com�plexes of various origin, in particular, specificity of theChinese lowland complex.

A special part of these studies was investigation ofthe quaternary ichthyofauna and first of all, of themiddens at settlements of ancient man. Nikolskiy dis�covered and described the warm�water fauna of fresh�water fishes which lived in the subboreal time in theWhite Sea basin which became extinct in the begin�ning of our time. He elaborated methods of biologicalanalysis of subfossil faunas and described exploitedfaunas of ancient man from settlements at the Kuban,Desna, Volga, Amu�Darya, and Onega. Nikolskiyrevealed regularities of the impact of fisheries on com�mercial fish stocks.

The studies on fossil ichthyofauna started byNikolskiy in 1935 were successfully developed at theIchthyology Department of Moscow State Universityin the 1950s.

Biogeographic investigations enabled Nikolskiy toformulate ideas on the faunal complex as a group ofspecies of different systematic status formed anddeveloped in a particular geographic environmentwith specific trophic conditions. The complex is char�acterized by a certain species composition and abun�

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dance of species adapted to the type and way of feed�ing. Within the complex, particular species diverge infeeding and the strain of interspecies competition forfood alleviates.

Nikolskiy paid much attention to issues of ecologyand population dynamics of fish. He investigated theecology of many particular species.

Nikolskiy developed original notions on the type ofstock dynamics of fish as an adaptive property of fishspecies. These notions are described in the monographTheory of Fish Stock Dynamics as the Biological Foun�dation of Rational Exploitation and Reproduction ofFish Resources (published in 1965 and reprinted in1974). In this book, the notion is developed of thepopulation as a self�regulated system automaticallyproviding in connection with changing life conditionsthe change of the rate and quality of its reproduction.According to the author’s opinion, this notion maymake the basis for mathematical modeling of fish pop�ulation dynamics. In this monograph, the methodsand principles of potential catch forecasting and ofenhancement of fish populations productivity are dis�cussed. In case of a correct management, the totalproductivity of the biosphere not only will notdecrease but also may be considerably increased.

In the last period of his life, Nikolskiy initiatedstudies on the variation of ecologo�physiological char�acteristics (growth, fecundity, fatness) of species withwide geographic areas (flounder, bream, perch) as amajor approach to analysis of adaptation mechanismsof fish to various environmental conditions.

Many studies of Nikolskiy deal with the methodol�ogy and history of science.

He wrote on the data on ecology of animals in theIndian epos “The Mahabharata” and “The Ramay�ana” (1956), on principal stages of development ofRussian biological fishery investigations during the last100 years (1961), on the development of ichthyologyand hydrobiology in our country during the Sovietrule, on prominent Russian scientists—C. Rouillier,L.S. Berg, and others.

His articles deal with general issues of biology, itsrole in the complex of natural sciences, relationshipswith physics and chemistry. In these studies, Nikolskiystressed the specificity of biological processes. Heconsidered theoretical foundations and tasks of ecol�ogy, morphology, and hydrobiology. He was interestedin dialectic relationships of the organism and the envi�ronment. The latter issue is considered in his pamphlet“Notion of the Unity of the Organism and the Envi�ronment as a Theoretical Foundation of the EconomyBased on Animal and Plant Resources” (1960).

Problems of fisheries were always of a high interestto Nikolskiy. All his studies more or less concern theurgent problems of organization of rational fishery inour country. As a result of investigations in CentralAsia, he composed the first fishery map of the Aral Seabasin, elucidated several items of fisheries related to

irrigational construction in this region. Several publi�cations of Nikolskiy deal with the formation anddevelopment of the ichthyofauna of reservoirs, in par�ticular geographic zones of the USSR (1948), and withpossibilities of exploitation of water supply reservoirsby fisheries (1949).

Professor Nikolskiy was widely known as an out�standing ichthyologist and a specialist in fisheries notonly in our country but also beyond its limits. His sci�entific prestige was very high there and he was repeat�edly invited to lecture and deliver reports in variousscientific and fishery institutions of the world. Manyproblems of international organization of fisherieswere solved with his participation. In 1956, as a mem�ber of the Soviet fishery delegation, Nikolskiy tookpart in preparation and signing of the agreement onfishery research and consulted preparation of the12�year plan of development of science and econom�ics of China. He also delivered several reports at ich�thyological institutions of China. In 1958, he waselected a permanent member of the InternationalCommittee for West Pacific Fishery Research. He wasat the head of the section for aquatic resources conser�vation, and took part in activities of the third plenarysession of the International Pacific Committee inPyongyang. Since 1956, Nikolskiy was permanentrepresentative of the USSR at the International Coun�cil for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES, Copen�hagen), from 1969 until 1972 he was vice�president,from 1972 to 1975�first vice�president, and in 1975–1976 he was president of this most authoritative inter�national organization.

The scientific activities of Nikolskiy are insepara�ble from his pedagogical work. He applied all hisenergy and experience to the training of young ichthy�ologists. During the period when Nikolskiy was incharge of the Ichthyology Department, over400 students were educated. Under his direct guid�ance, 30 persons completed the postgraduate courseand defended a candidat’s dissertations, many of themlater became doctors of science. Among those whotook the postgraduate course and were trained underthe guidance of Nikolskiy there were citizens of India,Egypt, Sudan, Germany, People’s Republic of China,Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Mexico, and Bulgaria.

He created the largest and leading in our countryschool of specialist ichthyologists of the ecological ori�entation.

Nikolskiy created numerous lecture courses. Hedelivered the original lecture courses “Special Ichthy�ology,” “Ecology of Fish,” “Zoogeography of Fish,”“USSR Fisheries,” and “Methods of IchthyologicalInvestigations.” In addition to lectures, Nikolskiypermanently was engaged in the guidance of seminars,practical courses, and field practice of students at theZvenigorod and the White Sea biostations of the MSUBiological Faculty, in supervision of yearly projectsand diploma essays of students.

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Nikolskiy composed the study programs of manycourses. In the education of high�level specialists, agreat role belonged to the textbooks written by Nikol�skiy: Special Ichthyology (1950, 1954, 1971) and FishEcology (1961, 1963, 1974). Both books were pub�lished in several editions not only in our country bustalso abroad. Special Ichthyology was published intranslation in the United States, Germany, Poland,and the People’s Republic of China; Fish Ecology waspublished in translation in the United States, GreatBritain, Japan, the People’s Republic of China, Viet�nam, Romania, Israel, and Cuba. These books werehighly appraised in the scientific community.

In addition to the education of postgraduate stu�dents and undergraduate students, Nikolskiy paidmuch attention to the elaboration of their skill of workunder field conditions. In the formation of field skillsin his pupils he assumed that each student, togetherwith his seniors, is responsible for the success of thefield work.

Today, representatives of the scientific school ofGeorgiy Vasilyevich Nikolskiy are guided by his atti�tude to work formulated as: “This success is made pos�sible only on condition of permanent support fromcolleagues, of the ability to live and work under any sit�uation which might occur during investigations”

(“Moskovskiy Universitet” (newspaper), January 31,1956).

Recollecting life of Professor Nikolskiy we have tomention his exceptional human qualities. He was manof principle but never transferred scientific controver�sies to personal relations with his opponents. Healways held a high respect for the opinions of personswith more modest knowledge and experience. Every�one who was lucky to contact Nikolskiy in studies orwork always noted his exceptional goodwill, tact, andrefinement in cooperation.

It is over 30 years since Nikolskiy’s decease. How�ever, during this period his theoretical concepts havenot lost their importance. On the contrary, timeproved the competence of his concepts and theirremaining up�to�date. The ecological approaches ofNikolskiy turned out to be surprisingly timely at thebackground of ecological disasters and global warm�ing. In his remarkable studies, Nikolskiy laid founda�tions of modern knowledge of fish and provided ich�thyologists with a tool (ecological approach) for prog�nostication, situational management, and adequatesolution of problems.

D.S. Pavlov, K.A. Savvaitova,Yu.Yu. Dgebuadze, M.I. Shatunovskiy