At the turn of the century an actual change of environment preservation paradigm took place in the world: it became necessary to shift from protection and control on the level of limiting the use of resources and from the efforts to maintain minimum gene pool of the known life forms within the limited areas to effective and sustainable use of biodiversity in all the variety of its existing forms, processes and phenomena.

         The solution of such a super task requires skillful prioritization of efforts, preparation of well adjusted justifications and precise selection of objects, forms and methods of maintaining biodiversity on the chosen territories, as well as convincing theoretical developments and specific knowledge obtained with the help of assessment and monitoring procedures.

         A variant of taxonomic inventory of biota diversity is a result of a creative endeavor by the team of the far-eastern researchers^* for the vast territory of the Russian Far East. They mapped the distribution of three model groups of species (arboreal plants, Diurnal Lepidoptera and nesting birds) within the administrative boundaries of Khabarovsky and Primorsky Krais, as well as Amurskaya and Jewish Autonomous Oblasts on the basis of their personal observations and published data. Species abundance, integral assessments of seasonal phenomena, representation of endemic and red-list species in the region were estimated on the basis of permanent and temporal indices of biofilota.

         It should be noted that though initially the Far-Eastern Ecoregion was considered as an area within the territorial boundaries proposed by the WWF Program GLOBAL 2000, later the boundaries were reconsidered and adjusted. For the purposes of research planning and implementing conservation efforts under the project an original zoning map was developed.

         Based on such zoning, which combines zonal and azonal territorial principles of differentiation, the levels and types of priority were highlighted in relation to the most significant regions in terms of biodiversity preservation within the borders of the Far-Eastern ecoregional complex. Five main biofilotic components are represented within its boundaries: Bering Arctic and Alpine, Taiga (predominantly East-Siberian), East Asian broad-leaved forests and Daurian-Mongolian forest-steppe. According to this division zonal ecosystems of the region are classified, where additional independent type is formed of intrazonal inundated ecosystems.

         Classification analysis of correspondence allowed to substantiate five leading types for the priority in selection of conservation measures: ecoregion of high inventory and differentiating biodiversity (Sikhote-Alin Mountains); ecoregion of high inventory biodiversity of mixed nature (Eastern-Manchurian Mountains and Prikhankaiskaya Lowland); region of high differentiating biodiversity (Bureinskoe Upland); region with high "ornithological" biodiversity (Zeya-Bureya and Sredneamursky plain, Nizhneamursky Mountain-Valley ecoregions); region with high level of forest biodiversity in large virgin taiga forests ("northern" territories).

Abundance of dendroflora species
Abundance of Diurnal Lepidoptera Species
Abundance of Nesting Birds Species
Seasonal Phenomena
Endemism
"Red-book" Species Content
Specially Protected Natural Zones

         In addition to integral description we offer an on-line cartographic data base, which contains original lists and extents of areal distribution for all species included into model systematic groups that are used in assessing the biodiversity of the Far-Eastern region.