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This paper analyzes 2052 marriage records for 1990-2000 in the Khabezsky district of Karachay-Cherkessia. The main marriage and migration characteristics of Circassians are studied: index of endogamy, ethnic mar- riage assortativity, intensity of metisation, and Malecot's parameters of isolation by distance.

The paper deals with an approach to the description of the age and temporal dynamics of cancer, based on the model describing the dynamics of the age of cancer as a second order phase transition. This approach is widely used for studying physical systems. This model of cancer development as second order phase transitions is in a good agreement with medical statistics. The cancer incidence dynamics is described only with two free parameters, easily verified according to statistics and well interpreted. The applicability of the second order phase transition model for description of a non-physical system defines the universal nature of the processes occurring during phase transitions.

The paper estimates the external (due to radionuclides accumulated in the soil) and internal (due to incorporated radionuclides) exposure of rodents that live in the head of the East Urals Radioactive Trace (EURT). It is shown that in the last decades the dose rates were lower than the values that lead to doubling the number of mutations in the allozyme loci in mammals. The variability ofthe eight allozyme loci in populations of northern red-backed voles from the EURT zone and their neighboring plots, as well as the territories of the Urals and Trans-Urals with background levels of radioactive contamination, are analyzed. No differences in the pattern and frequency of allozymes that would distinguish the EURT samples from a number of other populations of the Urals, were found. In the control sample "Sysert", "unique" for the Ural populations of northern red-backed voles, alleles of the loci Got and Sod were marked, conspecific to a closely related species--the bank vole. This fact can be regarded as evidence of recent cross-species hybridization.

The paper gives a historical account of investigations of mosquitoes, black flies and horseflies carried out by the staff of the Laboratory of Parasitology, Zoological Institute RAS, supervised by a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof Yu. S. Balashov, during 1979-1994. The research team of the laboratory explored the local fauna, relative abundance, seasonal dynamics, diurnal activity, longevity of a mass flight activity, annual fluctuations of the number, and age content of populations of various mosquito, black fly and horsefly species in the territory of Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov Provinces. Attack peculiarities of various horse fly species were studied with the use of individual labeling.

Dominance level is traditionally expressed as a ratio between the number of individuals belonging to the most abundant species and the total number of individuals in a biological community. It is known that local species richness is usually higher in biological communities with high dominance level than in communities with low one. Taking into account a complex nature of the dominance phenomenon, the underlying reasons (or mechanisms) may be diverse: 1. Dominance level may be determined by bioecological traits of the most abundant species as well as stochastic impacts. The more abundant is dominant species, the fewer amount of resources goes to concomitant species and, therefore, the lower is community species richness. 2. The part of community resources used by the dominant species may be not a special case but can be a reflection of general pattern of resources distribution among species under specific environmental conditions. Correspondingly, in communities with higher dominance level there might be more "strict" distribution of resources among concomitant species, which, in turn, might influence community species richness. 3. The relationship between dominance level and community species richness may be caused by their dependence on the third variable, namely regional species pool. In the present paper we tackle the problem using arboreal and insectivorous bird communities of the West Caucasus as a case study. The data were collected in different altitudinal belts on both macroslopes of the western part of the Main Caucasian Ridge. The number of tree species and individual trees was counted within homogenous patches of arboreal phytocenoses 300 m2 in area. Species richness and numbers of insectivorous birds were estimated in course of route surveys with a route length being about 5 km. An analysis of empirical data was carried out using univariate and multiple correlation-regression techniques. The results indicate that the relationship between dominance and local species richness is determined to a large extent (by 50-60%) by a dominant taking over greater or lesser amount of the resources (mechanism 1). The role of two other mechanisms (2 and 3) is not so prominent--together, they are responsible for 25-40% of the relationship power. Relative contribution of different mechanisms to the relationship under consideration depends on conformity of species abundance rank structure with the geometric series model. At those sites where this conformity is manifested, the relationship between dominance level and species richness is due mainly to mechanisms 1 and 2, i.e., is determined by local processes. At other sites, where the conformity of species abundance rank structure with the geometric series model is not so good, a certain role belongs to the size of regional species pool (mechanism 3).

The present paper contains the results of our microbiological and biogeochemical investigations carried out during a series of expeditions to the White Sea in 2002-2006. The studies were conducted in the open part of the White Sea, as well as in the Onega, Dvina, and Kandalaksha bays. In August 2006, the photosynthetic productivity in the surface water layer was low (47-145 mg C m(-2) day(-1)). Quantitative characteristics of microbial numbers and activity of the the key microbial processes occurring in the water column of the White Sea were explored. Over the 5-year period of observations, the total number of bacterial cells in the surface layer of the water column varied from 50 to 600 thousand cells ml(-1). In August 2006, bacterioplankton production (BP) was estimated to be 0.26-3.3 microg C l(-1) day(-1); the P/B coefficient varied from 0.22 to 0.93. The suspended organic matter had a lighter isotope composition (from -28.0 to -30.5 per thousand) due to the predominance of terrigenous organic matter delivered by the Northern Dvina waters. The interseasonal and interannual variation coefficients for phytoplankton production and BP numbers are compared. The bacterioplankton community of the White Sea's deep water was found to be more stable than that of the surface layer. In the surface layer of bottom sediments, methane concentration was 0.2-5.2 microl dm(-3); the rate of bacterial sulfate reduction was 18-260 microg S dm(-3) day(-1); and the rates of methane production and oxidation were 24-123 and 6-13 nl CH4 dm(-3) day(-1) respectively. We demonstrated that the rates of microbial processes of the carbon and sulfur cycles occurring in the sediments of the White Sea basin were low.

The paper deals with the microbiological characterization of water-saturated horizons in permafrost soils (cryopegs) found on the Varandei Peninsula (Barents Sea coast), 4-20 m deep. The total quantity of bacteria in the water of cryopegs was 3.5 x 10(8) cells/ml. The population of cultivated aerobic heterotrophic bacteria was 3-4 x 10(7) cells/ml and the number of anaerobic heterotrophic bacteria varied from 10(2) to 10(5) cells/ml depending on cultivation temperature and salinity. Sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea were found as hundreds and tens of cells per ml of water, respectively. A pure culture of a sulfate-reducing strain B15 was isolated from borehole 21 and characterized. Phylogenetic analysis has shown that the new bacterium is a member of the genus Desulfovibrio with Desulfovibrio mexicanus as its closest relative (96.5% similarity). However, the significant phenotypic differences suggest that strain B15 is a new species of sulfate-reducing bacteria.

The paper reports the results of eight-year investigations on the ectoparasites of rodents and insectivores carried out in southern taiga of the Ilmen-Volkhov lowland (Novgorod Region) and Kurgolovsky reserve (Leningrad Region). Twelve species of small mammals were captured including three dominate species--bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus (2722 specimens), common shrew Sorex araneus (1658 specimens), and wood mouse Apodemus uralensis (367 specimens). Parasite community of the bank vole comprises 34 species of mites, ticks, and insects, the community of common shrew comprises 25 species, and the community of A. uralensis includes 28 species. Taxonomic diversity of the ectoparasite communities was shown to be based on the diversity of types of parasitism and ecological nishes of the host body. Permanent ectoparasites are found to be represented by 2 species of lie and 14 species of acariform mites. The group of temporary parasites includes 13 species of fleas, 10 species of gamasid mites. 3 ixodid species and 1 Trombiculidae. There is a common pool of temporary parasites of small mammals in the ecological system of taiga. Significance of different shrew and rodent species as hosts were found to be dependent on the population density in possible hosts and many other factors. Species diversity in the parasite communities of different small mammal species is dependent on the number of possible ecological nishes in the host body. Actual infill of these nishes by ectoparasites is usually lesser than potential one. Species composition of temporary parasites, their occurrence and abundance changes according to season. Interspecific competition in the temporary parasite species can decrease because of the seasonal disjunction of their population peaks. Diversification of the ecological niches of ectoparasites allow simultaneous feeding of more parasite individuals on one host, than in the case of parasitising of single species or several species with similar ecological nishes. The distribution of parasites on their hosts was also studied. The aggregative distribution has been found in ixodid larvae only, and the distribution of fleas was close to the Poisson distribution. Deviations from the aggregative distribution can be an effect of several independent factors, including limited ability of small mammals for providing numerous parasites with food. On the most part of hosts simultaneous parasitizing of no more than 1-3 individuals of each tick, mite, and flea species was registered. Excessive infestation by ectoparasites may probably be limited by effective reactions of self-purification in the mammal hosts.

The paper presents allele frequencies at 15 STR loci (D3S1358, vWA, FGA, TH01, TPOX, CSFIPO, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, D2Sl338, D8S1179, D21S1l, D18S51, D19S433), used in forensic medicine, in Russian sample (n = 176) representing population of the European part of the Russian Federation. The combined power of discrimination (PD) and the combined power of exclusion (PE) for the 15 STR loci were 0.999 999 999 999 999 986 and 0.999 999 331 310 171 000, respectively. The data obtained for allele and genotype frequencies conformed to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. According to the presented data, loci D2S1338, D18S51, D21Sll and FGA are the most informative markers for Russians. The data obtained may be used as reference database for forensic medicine laboratories in Russian Federation.

Thorough data on 67 coccidian species of the genera Eimeria, Goussia, and Isospora parasitizing fishes in the continental waters of Russia are given. Authors, year of description, synonyms, morphofunctional organization, and list of the hosts are reported for each species. The paper is supplied with figures of the exogenic stages of coccidia (oocysts).

The paper represents an attempt to apply the general principles of modelling vegetation dynamics under climate changes to a study of the long-term vegetation dynamics in the forest-steppe zone of the European territory of Russia, with a purpose to forecast under special climatic scenarios. An original technique is used to construct a Markov chain as a model of vegetation succession. The technique emanated from gebotanic knowledge generalized as a scheme of successional transitions with estimates of the average duration for certain stages of succession. Whenever the knowledge related the stage duration to certain (climate-sensitive) factors of the environment, the fundamental potentiality arises to model the temporal course of succession as a function of a given scenario for how the key factors change. In the formal terms, the model represents a random chain of the Markov kind with a finite number of states and discrete time of transitions by the given scheme. Relative square distributions of succession stages under concern at any time moment (within an adopted scenario) appear as the model outcome (forecasts), as well as estimates of the attainment time for certain states of the vegetation in the territory under study. A method is proposed to describe dynamics of the phytomass production and stores (and the corresponding model trajectories are obtained) for a given scenario.

The paper is concerned with some problems of terminology, in particular the term "bioinformatics". In the last few years, the term "bioinformatics" has been intensively used among molecular biologists to indicate a subject that is only a constituent of genomics and is considered to involve a computer-assisted analysis of all data on nucleotide sequences of DNA. However, a wide circle of scientists, including biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and specialists in the field of cybernetics, informatics, and other disciplines have accepted and accept, as a rule, the "bioinformatics" as a synonym of science cybernetics and as a successor of this science. In this case, the subject of science "bioinformatics" should embrace not only genomics but practically all sections of the biological science. It should involve a study of information processes (storage, transfer, and processing of information, etc.) participating in the regulation and control at all levels of living systems, from macromolecules to the brain of higher animals and human.

The use of differential statistics to test for treatment effect with data from experiments where either treatments were not replicated (though samples may be) or replicates are not statistically independent leads to serious methodological problem. This problem, discovered by Hurbert (1984), is called pseudoreplication. Due to unknown reasons, pseudoreplication issue was completely overlooked by the Russian ecologists, in spite of the fact that the international scientific community is aware of pseudoreplication for almost twenty years. As the result, up to 47% of the experimental ecological papers, published in six Russian academic journals (Botanicheskij zhurnal, Ekologia, Izvestija RAN Ser. Biol., Lesovedenie, Zhurnal Obshchei Biologii, Zooligicheskij zhurnal) in 1998-2001, are pseudoreplicated; this proportion is nearly twice as high as the proportion of pseudoreplicated studies in international journals during 1960-1980, e.g. before the problem was discovered by Hurlbert (1984). This situation is alarming, especially because a substantial part of pseudoreplication arise from incorrect use of statistics, not from incorrect designing of experiments. By using several examples from the recent papers of Russian ecologists I shortly review the situations where pseudoreplication may occur and discuss some aspects of the experimental design, which are critical for correct processing and interpretation of ecological data.

The paper presents the results of investigation of the total abundance and the biomass of bacterioplankton, the abundance of heterotrophic bacteria, and the activity of microbiological processes involved in the carbon cycle in the water of the Bay of Tugur of the Sea of Okhotsk. In different regions of the bay, the total abundance of bacterioplankton was found to vary from 0.51 x 10(6) to 2.54 x 10(6) cells/ml; the bacterioplankton biomass, from 8.5 to 46.5 micrograms C/l; the abundance of heterotrophic bacteria, from 0.06 x 10(3) to 2.12 x 10(3) cells/ml; the bacterial assimilation of CO2, glucose, acetate, and protein hydrolysate, from 0.8 to 6.3, from 0.11 to 1.88, from 0.07 to 0.56, and from 0.01 to 0.22 mg C/(m3 day), respectively; the degradation of organic matter ranged from 28 to 221 mg C/(m3 day); and the intensity of methane oxidation, from 0.0005 to 0.17 microliter CH4/l. The spatial pattern and the functional characteristics of bacterioplankton in the Bay of Tugur were found to be dependent on the tidal dynamics.

The paper provides data on the invasion of Acipenser ruthenus (sterlet) in the North Dvina River by Polypodium hydriforme (Cnidaria). Prevalence and intensity of invasion proved to be similar for two fishing sites. Prevalence of invasion exceeded 88%, thus being exceptionally high for P. hydriforme. Intensity of invasion was from 1 to 436 eggs per female. A verage percentage of infected eggs was about 1%.

The study of RNA polymerase initiated by R.B. Khesin is conducted for about forty years at the laboratory founded by him (since 1989, in collaboration with A. Goldfarb's laboratory). Genetic methods are used in combination with methods of the specific chemical crosslinks of nucleic acids with proteins. The paper assesses the main results of the study in comparison with the X-ray crystallographic data of high resolution obtained recently. A short comparative summary of the RNA polymerase structure has been done for bacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotic organelles and nuclei. A brief history of the RNA polymerase study is also presented.

A new class of diagnostic magnetometric devices--magnetic storm indicators was created at the IZMIRAN. Magnetic storm indicators have the following advantages: small weight and dimensions, efficiency, low power consumption and low prices. Magnetic storm indicators could be used in medicine, in geophysics and for special purposes. Magnetic storm indicators could be used to determine and indicate the magnetic storm amplitudes in any region of the Earth in real time scale. In the paper we summarized the results of experimental works in clinics and shown a principle possibility of magnetometric equipment application for magnetic storm registration under conditions of industrial noises in urban environment.

The results of a genetic and demographic study of two "split" isolates of small native ethnic groups of Daghestan are described. Parts of these populations were resettled from habitual highland ecological conditions to radically new lowland conditions in the 1940s. These split isolates were compared with a population of native inhabitants of the Daghestan lowland. It was found that, since resettling, separated populations originating from split isolates became significantly different in both marriage and genetic structures. This is manifested in different phenotypic and allelic frequencies of a number of physiological and biochemical markers and in levels of their heterozygosity. To explain the differences revealed, a hypothesis was proposed about the relationship between levels of inbreeding, heterozygosity, and physiologic sensitivity that account for the differential adaptability of members of the isolated populations to changing environmental conditions. This is the first report of a series of papers describing the experimental testing of this hypothesis. While testing the validity of the hypothesis in this study, a positive linear correlation was found between inbreeding and homozygosity levels.

The paper presents the results of studies on the effect of wastes of the Cherepovets iron-and-steel works containing phenol, naphthaline and oil products on fish parasites of the Sheksna part of the Rybinsk water reservoir (the Volga river system). It has been shown that the number of highly sensitive ectoparasites of Abramis brama (Protozoa, Dactylogyrus monogeneans, Ergasilus sieboldi crustaceans and Caspiobdella fadejewi leeches) considerably decreases in the zone of pollution. It has been first suggested to use Diplozoon paradoxum and Caryophyllaeus laticeps, parasites of bream highly resistant to toxic effect, the number of which considerably increases in the zone of pollution, as indicators of anthropogenic pollution and ecological state of a water body. Among diplozoons there have been first discovered individuals having structural anomalies (reduction of the attachment organs, violation in the symmetry of arrangement and number of valves) that serves as evidence of mutagenic effect of toxic substances of polluted waters on morphogenesis of the parasite.

In order to estimate the absolute number of Stomoxys calcitrans subpopulation in housings of a dairy farm the capture-mark-recapture method has been used. It has been established that the absolute number of S. calcitrans subpopulation can be as high as 100,000 specimens per a farmyard. The possibilities of using indices of the relative number of flies (caught on fly-paper) for estimation of the absolute number of these insects in the housings of farms have been found out.

The paper reports the initial stages of the formation of ecological parasitology in the Leningrad University in thirties. A special attention is paid to the activities of A. A. Philipchenko (1884-1940) whose role has been little known up to now.

The paper deals with the effect of assortative matings on some parameters of population structure. To solve this problem, two rural populations near Archangelsk (river Peosa region) were used. Some genetic and demographic characteristics of these populations were described in previous publications. A comparison between random matches through a random number generator and true marriages was made by computer estimation of the spouses kinship coefficients. Significant avoidance of first and second cousins marriages in real populations was discovered. As a consequence of this avoidance of consanguinity, the effective breeding size of villages is increased twofold. Similar results were obtained by estimation os isonymy.

This paper presents the results and analysis of the distribution frequencies of orofacial features in a population and among the relatives of 325 probands with cleft lip and palate. Our results indicate that some of the features (diastema, nostril asymmetry and others) are more frequent in the relatives of children with clefting than in a general population. These studies suggest that several minor clinical conditions in parents may be important for medico-genetical consultations.

The paper presents results of investigations of fleas from Citellus pygmaeus obtained during epizootological surveys in 1972-1974 (the Ergenin ridge, Kalmyk ASSR). The most high number of the main species of fleas of C. pygmaeus was observed in the first year of epizootic on the background of great abundance of the host (over 30 specimens per 1 hectare). In the following years the decrease in the number of C. pygmaeus was accompanied by the fall in the fleas number. The distribution of different species of fleas in a microbiotope is uneven in various periods. In all periods in nests fleas of N. setosa were dominant while fleas of C. tesquorum were most abundant on the host. In burrows there was noted a change of dominant species: in the period of intensive epizootic of 1972 they were Ct. pollex and C. tesquorum, in 1973 during a slump of epizootic--C. tesquorum and N. setosa and in 1974 when epizootic was not discovered at all--N. setosa.

The paper presents data on the variability of attachment organs in the cestode Triaenophorus crassus, a parasite of freshwater fishes. The greatest range of variability of all the characters is typical of whitefish, a fish with a long life cycle, while the shortest one is characteristic of vendace and young of trout. It is suggested that the stay of the parasite in fishes, associated with host age, is accompanied by the increase in average sizes of hooks and variability range. Such an approach together with the analysis of hooks variability gives the possibility to estimate the participation of secondary intermediate hosts in the circulation of the parasite in the water body.

The parasite fauna of Coregonus peled, C. autumnalis migratorius, C. lavaretus, C. albula, Salmo irideus and Ciprinus carpio was investigated. Ciliata and Diplostomatidae were found to be most abundant. The paper discusses the effect of certain factors (the character of a water body, food, mode of life of fishes) on the parasite fauna of fishes introduced to small lakes of Karelia.

The paper presents the data on the effect of X-rays on the incidence of chromosome aberrations and on the mitotic activity of bone marrow cells in two geographical populations of Clethrionomys glareolus. It is shown that the percentage of aberrant cells at different intervals after the irradiation (350 r) is higher in the Moscow population than in the Komi ASSR population. The fractionation radiation results in different increase in the number of aberrant cells. The change of the mitotic activity after X-irradiation was also different in these two geographical populations.

The paper deals with the distribution of genetic markers (systems ABO, Rh, Hp, PTC) and a number of phenotyping traits (folding of arms, hand clasping, tongue rolling, right- and left-handedness, the type of ear lobe, the types of dermatoglyphics patterns) in the inhabitants of 5 villages in the Pinezhsky district of the Arkhangelsky region of the RSFSR. The data presented in this work were obtained in the course of examination of over 900 persons. Among the systems analysed there was a statistically significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg's equlibrium. It took place in two the least villages. In one case--for ABO blood groups, in another--for Hp system. There are an interesting fact of the excess of heterozygotes 2-1 and some excess of the group 0. Statistically significant differences between villages were shown for four genetic systems. Data on migrations, distribution of gene frequencies and estimated genetic and phenotype distances between villages of the same village community and between two communities suggest, that each village community can be considered as separate subdivided population. Considering the uniformity of the environmental pressure in the region examined, the heterogeneity of the population studied is apparently associated with a random genetic drift.

The paper deals with the distribution of genetic markers (systems ABO, MN, Rh (D), Hp, PTC) and a number of demographic (folding of arms, hand clasping, tongue rolling, right- and left-handedness, of the type of ear lobe, of the types of dermatoglyphic patterns) in the inhabitants of 6 villages in the Mezen District of the Archangelsk Region of the RSFSR (river Peosa basin). The data presented in this work were obtained in the course of examination of over 800 persons. Differences in the interpretation of the results of generally adopted methods of statistical analysis of samples from small populations are discussed. Among the systems analysed in one third of all the cases there was a statistically significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg's ratios. For the MN blood groups and haptoglobins this was caused by the excess of heterozygotes. The test of Hardy--Weinberg's ratios at the level of two-loci phenotypes revealed no statistically significant deviations either in separate villages or in all the villages taken together. The analysis of heterogeneity with respect to markers inherited according to Mendel's law revealed statistically significant differences between villages in all the systems except haptoglobins. A considerable heterogeneity in the distribution of family names, the frequencies of some of them varying from village to village from 0 to 90%. Statistically significant differences between villages were shown for all the anthropogenetic characters except arm folding, hand clasping and right-left-handedness. Considering the uniformity of the environmental pressure in the region examined, the heterogeneity of the population studied is apparently associated with a random genetic differentiation (genetic drift) and, possibly, with the effect of the progenitor.

The paper presents data concerning the activity of microflora in water and ooze deposits of lakes of the Yaroslavl Region. Microbiological processes in water depend mainly on the rate of production or organic substance at the account of phytoplankton photosynthesis, which varies from 0.18 to 6.3 gC/m2. Destruction of organic substance in water of most lakes exceeded production. Production of bacterial biomass was within limits of 0.2--5.8 gC/m2/day and lower, as a rule, than production of phytoplankton. The number of bacteria in different lakes varied from 1.7 to 35 X 10(6) per 1 ml. Heterotrophic assimilation of carbon dioxide was rather high and reached 34 mcgC/litre/day, its ratio to biomass being ca. 6.8%. The total number of bacteria in ooze deposits of lakes varied from 0.6 to 2.7 X 10(9) g/m2. Aerobic destruction varied from 0.03 to 0.78 gC/m2.

The paper presents the analytical data for the hydrochemical and microbiological composition of the water in a stratum undergoing changes as a result of artificial flooding. The highest accumulation of biogenic H2S and the carbon of dissolved organic substance was found in diluted bed waters with mineralization of 17.17 g/litre. The composition of the bitumen carbon of dissolved organic substances changed with dilution of the stratum brine. The data thus obtained suggest the existence of an indirect relationship; oxidized dissolved organic substance--the rate of sulphate reduction. The nature of organic substance appearing in the petroleum stratum is discussed.

The paper deals with infection of Meriones (M.) tamariscinus Pallas, 1773 caused by Rhabditis strongyloides Schn., 1866 first recorded in the USSR. The clinical picture of the disease is described and data of pathoanatomical autopsy of dead animals are given. The way of infection of the animals in nature and in laboratory conditions is suggested. Under favourable conditions domestic animals can be infected with R. strongyloides too.

The data on natural-nidal diseases typical for cities, urban agglomerations and culture coenoses are summarized in the paper in the light of academician E. N. Pavlovsky's theory. According to the ecological principle all infections with natural nidality are classified into two large groups. Concrete data from the north-western region show the role of leptospirosis, haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, tick--borne encephalitis and pseudotuberculosis in urbanized landscapes. Modern epidemiological tendences of these diseases, associated with functioning of their natural and economic nidi, are stressed.

The paper deals with two demographic characteristics of 6 villages in the Archangelsk Region of the RSFSR (river Peosa region) significant from the genetical standpoint. These data were obtained by means of the examination of 843 persons (75,07% of the total number of inhabitants) and of the analysis of complete list of inhabitants permanently living in the villages studied. The proportion of the reproductivity age class was 28.94%, the numbers of men and woman among them being about equal. The average number of children per family in families that have already completed their reproductive period was 3.87, the variance being 4.51 (the data obtained on the basis of examination of over 90 families). The average age of marriage was established to be about 24 years, the duration of each generation being about 32 years. The average index of endogamy per village was observed to be 58.40%, the contribution of the gametes of the preceding generation per village being 72.86%. The migrational influx of gametes from other localities per total of 6 villages was 2.52%. It was shown by the comparison of the character of migrations with mathematical models that the matrix migrational model is the most adequate one.