In Kamchatka, in the unique lake Palanskoe, scientists witnessed the evolutionary processes taking place in real time. The expedition, organized by a team of researchers from Vitus Bering Kamchatka State University and the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the support of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka network of natural parks, brought sensational preliminary results. The lake, which is a natural monument of regional importance, turned out to be a real “living laboratory” where isolated fish populations began to form new species and forms.
Lake Palanskoe, located in the Tigil district, is an ecosystem isolated from the outside world by nature itself. Its name, derived from the Koryak word “Pylylyn” — “river with waterfalls”, it got from the Palana River flowing from it. It is on this river that there is a five-kilometer cascade of rapids formed in a narrow canyon. This natural barrier, which also has the status of a natural monument, cut off lake inhabitants from their riverine relatives, creating ideal conditions for independent evolutionary development. The passing forms of char and mikizhi from the Palana River cannot overcome the rapids and enter the lake, which triggered unique adaptive mechanisms.
In the course of a comprehensive study, which for the first time covered all the permanent inhabitants of the reservoir, scientists have discovered striking changes in salmonids. For example, malma, one of the species of char, has split into two distinct ecological forms. One of them adapted to life at the very bottom, while the other mastered the water column, occupying different food niches. The local mikizhi population shows initial signs of divergence into lake and river groups, which already differ in appearance, coloration, and even in the composition of the parasites. If this fact is confirmed by laboratory tests, this will be the first documented case of such speciation in mycizhi in Eurasia.
Kunja also found its own way of adaptation, which specialized as a coastal predator in the conditions of the lake, reaching large sizes and demonstrating rapid growth rates. In addition to salmon, millennia of isolation have led to the formation of isolated residential populations of the three-needle and nine-needle stickleback. These discoveries were made possible by comprehensive field work, during which numerous samples were collected. Now the scientists will have to confirm their findings using genetic and morphological analyses in the laboratory.
Lake Palanskoe is known not only as a place of unique evolutionary processes, but also as home to the third largest sockeye salmon herd in Eurasia. Coho and chum salmon also come here to spawn. The reservoir’s research has its own history: back in the 1950s, famous Soviet ichthyologists worked here, and in the 1990s, phytoplankton, important for the sockeye salmon’s food supply, were studied. However, the current expedition, conducted as part of the Interdepartmental Integrated Scientific Research Program of the Kamchatka Peninsula, allowed us to look at the ecosystem of the lake from a completely new angle, revealing it as an arena of rapid evolution.
Current research highlights the enormous scientific value of such isolated natural sites and proves how important it is to preserve untouched corners of wildlife. The discoveries made on Lake Palanskoe allow humanity to look into the mysteries of the origin of new species and better understand the fundamental laws of life on the planet.