LEV ANATOLYEVICH ZHIVOTOVSKY (for his 80th birthday)

Abstract

November 22, 2022 is the 80th birthday of Lev Anatolyevich Zhivotovsky, an outstanding scientist, expert in population and mathematical biology, Professor, PhD in biology and mathematics, head of a laboratory at Research Institute of General Genetics of the Russia Academy of Sciences, principal researcher at All-Russia Research Institute of Fishery and Oceanography, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, laureate of Science and Technology Award of the Russian Federation, of I.I. Schmalhausen Evolutionary Biology Award of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and of The Lancet Award for the Best Article of the Year (2003), and just a wonderful personality. Most of his research focuses on studying natural populations of plants and animals. Jointly with his colleagues, he studied the population structure of oaks in the Caucasus, the genetics of conifers and of agricultural plants (cotton, grapes etc.) and addressed flora restoration in oil production areas in Tyumen Region. Based on these works, patents were obtained for methods of selection and breeding of plant populations. He introduced a new population indicator «efficiency index» and a new classification of normal plant populations («delta-omega»). Based on the concerted application of the efficiency index and the age index suggested by A.A. Uranov, Lev A. developed an ecogeographic approach by proposing the concept of ecogeographic units thereby making a significant contribution to the development of a general theory of species population structure. Lev A. Zhivitovsky has been being a scientific supervisor and participant of many expeditions to the Far East, Siberia and other regions of the Russian Federation. He has authored/coauthored more than 300 research articles and eight monographs, including his fundamental textbook «The Genetics of Natural Populations» (2021).