Scientific heritage of professor Akira Osawa

The article includes a biographical essay of Professor Akira Osawa (Japan) and a brief analysis of his scientific legacy. A. Osawa was born and raised in the post-war period, which became the period of the formation of a sovereign Japanese state and its tremendous economic growth (Japanese economic miracle). He was educated and received a Doctor of Philosophy Degree at the prestigious Yale University (USA), where he gained the first experience of an international scientific cooperation. Knowledge in the fields of general and forest ecology, forestry and environmental protection A. Osawa successfully applied carrying out research projects, preparing his articles and books, reviewing manuscripts of the other authors as well as teaching university and postgraduate students and conducting international environmental assessments of the Japanese Government. His scientific research was focused on self-thinning phenomenon, stand growth and development, natural catastrophic disturbances and their consequences, and ecosystem carbon dynamics. Boreal forests in North America, Siberia and Scandinavia have been the major subjects of his studies. The main achievement of A. Osawa’s investigations was the new method proposed for quantitatively (stand density and stem parameters) reconstructing structural development over time of even-aged monospecific forests and applied to a larch (Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr.) stand in the permafrost zone of Siberia. It relies on samples obtained from one-time observation that is of great importance for vast Siberian territories. Akira Osawa was the author and co-author of many scientific articles and chapters of monographs published in leading world journals and publishing houses, an active member of professional scientific communities and organizations. A. Osawa’s biographical data were listed in Marquis Who’s Who in the World (1995). The article contains a list of his main scientific publications, which gives an idea of the research topics, their geography and significance.