Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2002 number 1

In connection with the development of an ecological crisis and with the awareness of its consequences, the concept of "sustainable development" has been put forward. However, no project or plan of such development has been proposed so far.
In the present work, an approach to creation of a scientific concept of sustainable development is proposed. The approach is based on the "closed state" principle. In accordance with this principle, any system with the chemical transformations going in it can exist during an infinite time only if a complete substance cycle exists within it due to free energy supplied to it from outside.
The problem of possibility of attaining a global closed state of the biosphere together with the technosphere remains disputable; however, the higher the closeness of the system is, the longer existence of the civilization may be planned. In order to approach the global closed state, it is necessary to develop adequate criteria of optimality and estimation of newly created technologies and reconstruction of the old ones, to be able to analyze the openness of at least the main mass flows in the bio-and technosphere, to develop working models. The developed models have to be checked with the help of artificial experimental biosphere.

A methodical approach used at the Analytical Center of the United Institute of Geology, Geophysics and Mineralogy SB RAS for a retrospective estimation of radioactive fallouts is described in the paper.  The method is based on sampling of soils of representative (informative) landscapes. Such landscapes are auto-morphous elementary landscapes of hilltops, water dividing surfaces, flattened slopes where the primary radio-nuclide fallouts are maximally preserved. A comparison of efficiency of this approach and its checking on a regular network is made. Advantages of checking informative landscapes for retrospective estimation of radioactive fallouts over sampling in a regular network are demonstrated.

Pedological-geochemical studies have been carried out in the zone of influence of the Usolye industrial unit - "Usolyekhimprom", a powerful source of technogenous emission of mercury into the environment - is situated. The degree of mercury contamination  of adjacent soils of the left bank of the Bratsk reservoir has been investigated. Patterns of lateral and vertical distribution of mercury in soils of auto-and hydromorphic genesis have been established.  In order to elucidate the degree of anthropogenous transformation of soil properties, the group fraction humus composition has been established with direct estimation of mercury in humic acid extracts. Changes in the fraction composition of the soil humus system have been found, the maximal variation of the mercury/carbon ratio being found in the third fraction of humic acids which is the most strongly attached to the mineral part of the soil and possesses a high sorption capacity for mercury.

Peculiarities of accumulation of the most important natural heavy radionuclides (²³²Th, ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra) by various species of mosses growing under the conditions of taiga landscapes of South Yakutia are elucidated. It is demonstrated that mosses growing under the conditions of technogenous pollution accumulate considerable amounts of natural radionuclides coming from the pollution sources by air of with water.

Results of studies of fungal communities - myceto-consortia formed by higher basidial fungi - macromycetes - of urban cenoses of the Seversk City, Tomsk Region - are presented. Some characteristics of myceto-consortia - heavy metal (Zn, Cu, V, Cd, Pb) content of the most widespread determinant macromycete consortia, a sanitary hygienic estimates of separate fungus species - are presented. Indicator species are prospected. Species composition of myceto-phages of some fungi as indicators of the state of the bio-system are proposed. The opinion of necessity and possibility of using the fungal communities for regional impact monitoring and monitoring of human environment, and as bio-indicators, is expressed.

On the example of one of intensively exploited petroleum deposits of the Komi Republic - the Vozeisky deposit - peculiarities of overgrowing of various forms of technogenous relief in oil extraction sites (borehole clusters) have been followed up.  The species composition of plants from secondary phytocenoses has been studied. It has been demonstrated that the most important limiting fsactors of overgrowing is the phytotoxicity and the water regime of the substrate. Development of plant communities goes as the course of secondary anthropogenous succession with preservation of the zonal features of the flora

Differential and combined influence of petroleum and of boring wastes on the germinating capacity of wheat and pine seeds, on the viability of pine seedlings, the growth rate of wheat, and on the ecological stability of a 10-year-old Siberian cedar culture were studied. It is established that a petroleum content of up to 1 %, and a 20 % concentration of wastes with respect to soil volume stimulated the germination of pine seeds but did not contribute to viability of its seedlings. A 1 % concentration of petroleum also stimulated germination of wheat seeds, but inhibited the growth of its plants. An increase of petroleum concentration to 4-5 % with respect to soil volume exerted a negative influence not only on the growth of wheat plants, but also on the seed germination. A 1 % petroleum concentration in a 20-cm horizon of mineral automorphous soil, with simultaneous application of clean boring wastes stimulated the growth of cedar and increased the resistance of its plantations

The Permian dumps among uneven-age stripping dumps of the Kuznetsk basin are richer than the quaternary ones with respect to the number of species in gramineousl agrophytocenoses. The equal shared participation with respect to the number of blue-green and green alga species witnesses to a zonal character of restoration of technogenous landscapes. In open places and in rhizo-spheres of cereals, algal groups differing from each other in species composition, complex of dominant species and indicators of numbers are formed.

Peculiarities of the chemical composition and the accumulating capacity of coniferous needles of Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) growing in various districts of the Kemerovo City have been elucidated. It has been established that the maximal accumulation of chemical elements of the technogenous group (Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe) as well as that of sulphur and nitrogen which are the main components of gaseous pollutants of the atmosphere (sulphur, nitrogen and ammonia oxides) is characteristic of coniferous needles of the Siberian spruce growing in the Kirovsky and Rudnichny districts of the city, which permits concluding that they are the most polluted ones.

Accumulation of heavy metals and anatomical changes in the epidermis of leaves of Betula verrucosa and Plantago maior under the conditions of techno-genous contamination is considered. An increase in Cu, Zn and Pb content of vegetative organs of Plantago maior, as well as in the sap and leaves of Betula verrucosa in a gradient of toxic load has been found. The reaction of leaf epidermis is expressed in a decrease of the number of stomata in the two species.

The time course of electro-phoretic peroxidase forms from coniferous needles of pine during vegetation has been studied. In the control and in the experiment (air pollution with NO₂ and SO₂), the same peroxidase forms (in the experiment, by 1 form more) were observed. However, the occurrence frequency (an indicator analogous to probability)of its 9 to 14 forms (21 in the control)( in each month of study (from May to September) in the experiment was significantly different from the control. In total occurrence frequencies (throughout the investigation period),significant differences between the experiment and the control were found with respect to 12 peroxidase forms, including the form that occurred only in the experiment. In this case, higher frequencies of any peroxidase forms in the experiment as compared to the control were compensated for by an identical increase of occurrence frequencies of other forms in the control, i.e. a redistribution of occurrence frequencies of some peroxidase forms between the experiment and the control was observed.

Observations of the change of the species composition and distribution of lichens in fellings, burns and in derivative forests in the East Sayan piedmonts have been made. Morphological changes of lichens under the influence of environmental changes are described.

The resistance of terrestrial ecosystems of the Baikal Region to acid precipitations has been studied, maps of distribution of the current acidity load and of critical loads of acidity on ecosystems of West Buruyatia (the Tunkin Hollow and its mountainous surroundings) and of the South-West Baikal (the Primorsky Range) have been drawn up.  It is established that the values of the current load of acidity are maximal in upper altitude zones of mountainous systems remote from industrial and agricultural centers. On the whole, the picture of spatial distribution of the critical load values follows the general laws of formation of the soil cover under the conditions of vertical zonality, becoming complicated due to spatial variability of intra-soil weathering values and of the biological circulation capacity.

The problem of estimating the level of technogenous load in industrial centers  on adjacent landscapes across snow cover contamination aureoles deciphered by spacecraft photographs is analyzed. For the industrial zone of Krasnoyarsk City, a correlation between the snoe cover contamination zones distinguished by means of NOAA/AVHRR photographs on the one hand, and the terrestrial data on the heavy meetal content of the snow cover and technogenous dust, on the other hand, has been found. The distinguished contamination zones correlate with the level of cancer diseases.

Results of analysis of snow samples collected in various districts of Barnaul City immediately after snowfall are presented.  In the samples collected, the solid phase content, and after thawing, concentration of sulphates and nitrates, as well as pH, in the liquid phase, were measured.

In monitoring studies (1992-1997), an estimation of CO₂ emission from arable soils in fallows an winter wheat sowings has been carried out. Its dependence on hydrothermal conditions, and a correlation with humus content and the magnitude of gaseous carbon losses have been demonstrated. The causes of the increase of CO₂ emission from the soils under the conditions of technogenous pollution are discussed. It is found that the cointribution of direct local technogenous CO₂ discharges into the atmosphere is not considerable as compared to the indirect influence of pollution on the increase of CO₂ from soils in agroecosystems

The dynamics of pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands polluted by fluorine-containing emissions was being studied for some decades - from the moment when emissions appeared till at present. Condition of the pine stands was estimated by contents of the pollutants in the needle, and a number of physiological and morphometrical parameters of the trees. Some stages in the forest decline under fluorine-containing emissions were revealed. On the base of the data obtained and the regressive analysis, situations were forecasted according to the following scenarios: a) emission load will not be changed, b) emission load will be increased, c) emission load will be decreased, d) emission load will be eliminated.