Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2011 number 5

Regularities of the distribution of background soil of oil deposits in the middle taiga of West Siberia were studied. The features of morphogenetic and physicochemical properties of soils were revealed. It was proved experimentally that the danger of soil pollution with oil components depends on the position of soil in the elementary landscape-geochemical systems (ELGS), on the granulometric composition and buffer capacity. The results may be used to perform soil ecological monitoring and soil revegetation.

Fire influence on the water-extractable organic carbon (WEOC) content in litters and soil profile of post-fire associations under the conditions of permafrost soil of different ages (1, 11, 15, 24, and 54 years) was studied. It was shown that the ground fires cause significant decrease in the content of water-soluble fraction of organic matter in litters and top 5 cm layer of soil in mounds, which most strongly experience the action of fire. In deeper soil horizons, the differences in WEOC content between intact stands and post-fire areas were not detected.

Humus profiles of soil in Siberia under different conditions and models of soil formation are considered. It is shown that the humus profiles of soil formed in the regions of shifts of landscape and soil borders and developing according to the polygenetic model, as well as the soils of syn-lithogenous type of pedogenesis, have a complicated structure. Simple structure of the humus profile characterizes the kinds of soil developing within the framework of a simple (ideal, normal) model of soil formation.

Distributed GIS developed to assess the soil carbon resources includes digital maps «Vegetation» and «Soil» of the boreal zone of West Siberia, middle-scale soil maps of the key sites of landscape provinces that have been created on the basis of interpretation of satellite images, and the software for updating and management of the database Carbon in soils of Siberia. According to preliminary estimates, the resources of С_org in the soil of the boreal zone is 83,6 ^. 10⁸ t, which is 28,2 % of the resources of С_org in the soils of Russia, or 15,2 % of its world reserves.

Particularities of the shaping emission flows of carbon dioxide and methane in forest-steppe raised Sphagnum bogs were studied in connection with coenotic structure and damage to the vegetation as a result of fire. The reasons of relatively low methane fluxes in pine-dwarf shrub Sphagnum bogs under the marginal conditions were anаlyzed. The concentrations of СН₄ and СО₂ in bog waters were presented.

The humus formation and elemental composition of the macromolecules of humic acids have been considered for the example of automorphic soils of Siberia such as grey forest soils, chernozems and chestnut soils as compared to those of the analogous soils of the European part of Russia. It has been revealed that with an increase in the continentality of climate the essential changes in the structure of humic acids in soils of similar genesis occur in the meridional direction.

It is demonstrated that it is necessary to perform the investigation of material migration fluxes within the boundaries of catchment basins. Allocation and determination of different morphometric characteristics of watersheds became possible with the use of GIS technologies and the construction of the digital model of the relief.

The data are presented concerning the amount of mobile compounds of chemical elements (ChE) in soils under various kinds of human impact (acetate-ammonium buffer at pH 4,8) and the plants of ripple-seed plantain (Plantago major L.) (extracting agents such as diluted 1:1 HCl, 10 % HCl, distilled H₂O). The content of total ash, mineral admixtures of soil origin, water-soluble forms of ChE, polysaccharides and chlorophyll were determined in plants. The data obtained were compared with those for other regions. The ecological state of Plantago major L. was estimated and a conclusion was drawn about its possible use as a medicinal raw material.

Changes in the composition of microbial complexes and their biochemical activity in soil in the vicinity of a strong source of HF emission HF were studied. A sharp decrease of the biomass, the number of asporous bacteria and actinomycetes, and a smaller decrease of the number of microscopic fungi was revealed, along with a decrease in the enzymatic and respiratory activity of polluted soil with the relative increase in the fraction of soporiferous bacteria. On the basis of the response of introduced population of Bacillus subtilis to different doses of HF, NaF, Na₂SO₃ microbiological norm-fixing for technogenic soil ecosystems was carried out.

Changes of plant communities in sand and sabulous pits during overgrowing for different time intervals in the northern taiga of West Siberia were studied during the recent 13 years. It was demonstrated that at the first stage of overgrowing the species composition of the communities depends on the physical properties of the ground. Either grass or woody species dominate at this stage. Later on, the change of phytocoenoses leads to the development of the forest community of the zonal or derived type. The time of the appearance of the forest phytocoenosis depends on chance factors.

The peculiarity of humus distribution in the structure of embryozems of the technogenic landscapes of the forest-steppe zone of the Kuznetsk Basin and zonal black soil allowed revealing the genetic distinctions which are essential. In turn, this is considered as the diagnostic parameter of the character, intensity and orientation of soil processes and the evolution of the landscapes.

The fractional composition and size distribution of the soil of man-made landscapes is considered. The dependence of the formation of a certain type of embryozems in the forest-steppe zone of Kuzbass on the granulometric composition of soil-forming rocks was revealed. The content of physical clay throughout the profile of embryozems was calculated.

¹³⁷Cs speciation and distribution in such components of biogeocoenosis of the Yenisei's floodplain as soils, rhizosphere, and plants were studied. Investigation was carried out near the zones affected by the Krasnoyarsk KMCPP. The change of the specific activity of radionuclides with an increase in the distance from the source of pollution was demonstrated, the ratio of the specific activities of radionuclides in soil and in the rhizosphere was followed, and their distribution in plant's body was revealed. The variety of forms of ¹³⁷Cs occurrence including mobile ones was revealed. On the basis of the results of laboratory experiments, the amount of ¹³⁷Cs carried out of plants during the flood was calculated.

It is demonstrated that an increase in grazing pressure on the soil of dry steppe in Southern Tyva causes an increase in the content of microbiomass and a decrease in the level of its specific activity, a decrease in the number and species diversity of oribatid mites. During the recovery of the pasture for three years, the content of the microbial biomass decreases, the level of its specific activity increases but the number and species diversity of the oribatid mites community do not recover.

Viable pool of microorganisms detected in the upper layer of technogenic soil formed on coal dumps, ash dumps and ore slurry are considered. The ecological-physiological features of oligotrophic bacteria are analyzed. The biofilms of prokaryotes and tiny colonial forms were revealed. The effect of recultivation and soil improvers on the major groups of microorganisms was demonstrated.

Basic trends of the transformation of meadow soil humus under the influence of long-term flood with surface waters having high mineralization were analyzed. Displacement of the balance between the forms of humic acids differing in binding with soil, forms the contraction of the ratio С_HA/С_FA and the level of humification of organic matter are considered.

Forms of zinc compounds in light-chestnut soil under pollution with zinc, copper, cadmium, lead introduced separately and jointly were studied. It was discovered that for any kinds of pollution the initial relations between the forms of an element change. With an increase in the level of pollution, for all its kinds, accumulation of the most mobile forms of zinc in the soil is observed. It was revealed that ion exchange has the highest significance in the fixation of zinc in polluted soil.