Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2023 number 1

The four most common types of spatial structure (pattern) of landscape cover are identified. The regular nuclear pattern consists of repeating elements and there is a morphologically pronounced dominant, i. e. a nucleus (one or more). The regular denuclear pattern consists of repeating elements, and the nucleus is not pronounced. The irregular nuclear pattern consists of non-repeating elements and there is a morphologically noticeable dominant, i. e. a nucleus (one or more). The irregular denuclear pattern consists of non-repeating elements, and the nucleus is not pronounced. Based on spatial features, the most common types of integration and differentiation of landscape cover are identified. The background integration is caused by a single process (a set of processes) that organizes the entire space under consideration and often predetermines the uniformity of the territory. The central integration is caused by the impact of the center on the surroundings and the surroundings on the center. The catenary integration is caused by the middle and far lateral flows of any nature and by the impact on them. The border integration is caused by the connections and interactions of neighbouring areas at a common border. The background differentiation is caused by a unified process (a set of processes) which forms heterogeneity due to a different intensity. The central differentiation implies the formation of the center which plays the role of the leading or dominant element in the functioning and development of the geocomplex/geosystem, and is determined by a different nature and a different intensity of its interaction with other elements. The catenary differentiation manifests itself in a directional change of the properties of landscape cover along gradients and is caused by a change in lateral flows. The boundary differentiation is related to the fact that the boundaries are often a result of a barrier effect of some processes and the reason for the formation of a barrier effect for other processes (synecological, geochemical, geophysical, and geological). The locus differentiation consists in the formation of a separate patch in geocomponents and geocomplex, in the isolation of some part or in the division of the geocomplex into parts. It is emphasized that the selected types of spatial structure, integration and differentiation are applicable to geocomplexes/geosystems of all levels and to all geocomponents.

The necessity of identifying a larger (than the biosphere) global ecosystem of geospheric rank, the ecosphere, was substantiated. The boundaries of the ecosphere were determined, which includes all living matter of the planet, the atmosphere up to the thermosphere, the entire hydrosphere and the upper part of the lithosphere with the metamorphic layer. Within this space, a great geological cycle is realized, linking the biosphere and its abiotic environment into a single whole and creating a specific form of its structural and functional organization. The great geological cycle of matter performs the function of a system-forming cyclic process in the ecosphere, which does not have complete closedness. The main factor controlling the degree of closedness of the geological cycle is the exchange of matter at the boundary between the lithosphere and the mantle. The processes of metamorphism occurring outside the biosphere constitute the mechanism of ecosphere organization, which has long supported the existence of life on Earth: they regenerate the products of biospheric metabolism and ensure their return to the biosphere in forms available for re-consumption by living organisms. A characteristic feature of the ecosphere space is the redox nonequilibrium caused by the activity of living organisms. In the ecosphere, a complete life cycle takes place from the formation of living organisms from mineral components to complete transformation into the initial mineral components of living matter and all products of biospheric metabolism. Outside the ecosphere there are neither living organisms nor products of their vital activity that have retained the thermodynamic nonequilibrium acquired in the biosphere.

The characteristic features are analyzed and the problems of the forest monitoring of the Baikal natural territory (BNT) are highlighted. An approach is proposed for digital transformation of forest resource monitoring using a service-oriented paradigm, an infrastructure approach, declarative specifications as well as end-to-end and Web technologies for collecting and processing large amounts of spatio-temporal data. A scheme of a digital forest monitoring platform based on an information-analytical geoportal environment is described, including a system for processing and storing spatio-temporal data, a catalog of basic and thematic services for assessing the consequences of natural and anthropogenic impacts on forests of the BNT. The experience of using deep learning methods based on neural networks to monitor changes in the state of forests is presented. Automated determination of the land cover types is carried out on the basis of Sentinel-2 images. The composition of classes of the training data set created for the BNT is described. The result of the satellite image classification with identified land cover classes is given. The digital platform thus created can be used to assess and predict the state of forest resources of the BNT, and to make managerial decisions on effective forest management.

Presented are the results from surveying the swamps in the Altai Republic at permanent stations from 2010 to 2014. At the observation stations located on the Turochak, Kutyushskoe and Balanak swamps, the hydrothermal and gas regimes, and also carbon dioxide and methane emissions were investigated. It is pointed out that during all years of investigation the levels of swamp water remained close to the surface, and the humidity did not fall beyond the limit 0.8 of total moisture capacity. It was found that the extreme values of CO₂ and CH₄ concentrations in the mesotrophic peat deposit varied from 0.05-1.10 mmol/dm³ to 0-0.62 mmol/dm³, respectively. In the eutrophic deposit, these values were higher: 0.07-1.40 for CO₂ and 0-0.65 mmol/dm³ for CH₄. It is established that different weather conditions are not the determining factor for the dynamics of gas regime in the peat deposit of eutrophic and mesotrophic genesis. A significant role is played by other, neglected factors. It was found that the concentration of greenhouse gases in peat deposits of a different genesis varied within small limits, and their dynamics under different weather conditions had an unstable regime, but with a general increasing trend toward the underlying rock. It was confirmed that mountain swamps are not a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Extreme losses of CO₂ and CH₄ in total for the summer period were 29.7 to 76.6 g/(m² summer period) on the Turochak swamp, and 42.1 to 80.9 g/(m² summer period) on the Kutyushskoe swamp, which is by a factor of 15-43 smaller than the net primary production.

Presented are the results from studying the invasion of squat elm (Ulmus pumila L.) into vegetation cover of fallow lands provided with elm shelterbelts. It was found that because of abundant fruiting at a young age and in the presence of a healthy state of individuals, Ulmus pumila L. could become a transformer. But this does not happen because a number of biotic and abiotic factors negatively affect the vital state of woody plants and their ability to bear fruit: the existence of animal grazing, a strong degree of soil degradation, climatic conditions (insufficient moisture, frost weathering and drying of the soil), and strong grass cover. As part of the research it was established that on moderately degraded soils, the Ulmus pumila L. spread to all interstrip fields of the system of shelterbelts; in the first layer of phytocenoses, woody plants withstood the winter period quite well. Within seven years, a tendency for a decrease of the number of undergrowth by a factor of 19.9 was observed. The crown density of the tree and shrub canopy was 0.1-0.7. On slightly degraded soils in the presence of grazing, Ulmus pumila L. occupied 33 % of the study area, and 73 % within eight years. Plants of the first layer were few and weakened. The maximum crown density of 0.5-1.0 was observed near field-protective forest belts. The intensive distribution of Ulmus pumila L. was restrained by grazing and a thick layer of dead litter, reaching 4.2-7.5 q/ha of air-dry matter. It was established that on heavily degraded soils, the density of individuals influenced the vital state of undergrowth. In phytocenoses with a sparse undergrowth, the state of life was assessed as “healthy”, “weakened” or “drying out”, and where the undergrowth was thick, as “drying out”. Identification of patterns of formation and development of facies with the participation of Ulmus pumila L. will help to predict a further course of development of successional processes and landscape dynamics in the south of Middle Siberia.

A critical analysis is made of the available published ideas concerning the role of the leading factors in the formation of Baikal terraces: tectonics, climatic fluctuations of the lake level, and a periodic change of the location of the drain slot. The inconsistency of the assumptions about the dominant role in the creation of lake terraces of different levels (including underwater terraces) of the change of location in the Late Pleistocene of the Irkut direction of the Baikal water discharge to the Angarа direction is shown. These data show that during periods of cooling of the Late Pleistocene, the lake level could presumably decrease by no more than 40-45 m, and its rise during periods of warming could not be higher than the runoff thresholds of the Baikal waters of that time, which rules out the possibility for the formation of a complex of high terraces. The denial of the role of tectonic movements in the formation of lake terraces is in complete contradiction with the actual tectonic activity of the Baikal Depression proven in numerous scientific papers. It is established that tectonic movements play a major role in modeling the relief of the lake basin and determine the hypsometric position of terraced surfaces and their deformation. The available, very few, definitions of the age of terraces do not allow for their correlation. The chief reason for the disagreement on the Baikal terraces is the lack of systematic specialized research on this problem.

Presented are the results from studying the structural-dynamic organization of the forests in basins of large rivers flowing into Lake Baikal and having a considerable influence on changes in its hydrologic regimes. It is known that annual discharge of rivers essentially depends on the state of the forests growing in their basins. The stability of the hydrologic regime of the rivers accounting for the main volume of water transported into the lake is directly dependent on the functional properties of forests. The preservation of the environment-protective and water-regulatory functions of the forests contributes to a stable functioning of catchment basins of the rivers ensuring lake sustainability in general as an integrated ecosystem within the Lake Baikal drainage basin. It is pointed out that the secular dynamics of forests associated with the succession of forest-forming species (which is typical for the zonal types of vegetation) under climate change promotes the formation of polydominant dark-light-coniferous and light-coniferous forests, also influences the hydrologic regimes of rivers in the study areas. We identified the structural-dynamic organization of forest communities under different physical-geographical conditions and the characteristics of their formation, which made it possible to forecast the vector of possible development of forests within the Lake Baikal drainage basin. It is shown that changes in the structure and dynamics as well as in the spatial organization of forests within the lake’s drainage basin as a consequence of an intensification of fires over the last several decades and recent industrial harvesting affect the river discharge and, as a result, the relatively abrupt water level fluctuations in the lake from year to year. It is established that the trends in forest formation within the basins of the rivers flowing into Baikal are responsible for the relationships in the “forest structure-period of flooding of rivers”, which will influence optimization of forest use within the Lake Baikal drainage basin as a whole.

Based on a statistical analysis of long-term observations, an assessment is made of the spatio-temporal distribution of frosts in the southern taiga of Western Siberia. In spite of the fact that a steady crossing of the average daily temperature of 5 °C during the last 15 years occurred 5-7 days earlier, on average, there still remains a high likelihood for the onset of frosts every year throughout the study territory. A spatial differentiation of the duration and intensity of frosts is observed; the average annual number of days with frosts from May to September changes from 7.5 in the south-west to 12 in the north-east and significantly varies from year to year. Over the last 35-year period the largest number of days with frosts was recorded in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2006 and 2010. The range of variability in the average long-term period without frosts is about 40 days. Frosts are a significant risk-forming factor for agriculture in the study area. To reduce risks in plant production, the probability that frosts occur in spring, summer and autumn is calculated for 10-day periods. It is noted that the greatest risks to the local system of plant production depend on late spring frosts. The probability of frosts in the third 10-day period of May is from 18 to 32 %, and the probability of frosts in the first 10-day period of June for the northwestern part exceeds 10 %. In recent decades, however, the number of events with the most dangerous late spring frosts with the temperature drops to -3 °C and below for most weather stations in the study area has been decreasing. In the region as a whole, a high probability of frosts in the following years cannot be excluded, especially for the spring-summer period.

This paper addresses the possible consequences of the construction of the Uldza river reservoir in Mongolia which are associated with a change in the hydrological regime of the Torey Lakes and the transboundary basin. Based on data of hydrological observations from 1965-2020, the features of the climatic and hydrological characteristics of the Uldza river and the Torey Lakes are analyzed. It is noted that that the main factor for variability in their hydrological regimes is the cyclic behavior of climate change accompanied by a large amplitude of temperature fluctuations, an extremely uneven distribution of precipitation over seasons and individual years, high water filtration and evaporation losses (often exceeding the local runoff), and periodic drying up of rivers and lakes. Available material of the tender documentation for the Mongolian Onon-Ulz project, open raster data of satellite sounding of the Earth and various GIS sources, and other global data were used to simulate the configuration of the projected reservoir, and its filling and drawdown modes under different water conditions. Based on the simulation results, the quantitative estimates of the possible average monthly deviations of the regulated runoff, levels and area of the water surface of Lake Barun-Torey from the natural conditions were obtained. Calculations of the operating conditions of the designed reservoir show that it can only be filled when the flow rate is 50 % or lower. Thus it will remain unfilled for a long time, which casts some doubt upon the economic expediency of its creation. Despite the low absolute values of the runoff, its relative deviations from the natural conditions vary widely (from 3 to 192 %). The most substantial influence of the reservoir on the deviation of runoff indices, levels, and area of the lakes compared to natural conditions occurs in dry periods. Thus the reservoir creation can lead to a significant change in the natural hydrological conditions of the Uldza river and Torey Lakes and negative consequences for the ecosystem.

We examine the patterns of formation and distribution of therapeutic marine sulphide-silt muds and the prospects for increasing their resources on the sea coast of the Far East of the Russian Federation. Accumulations of this type of therapeutic mud are known on the coast of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk in the areas of development of accumulative and abrasion-accumulative shores. It is shown that muds are similar in composition and medicinal properties, and their waters are chloride sodium-magnesium, with salinity ranging from brackish to 42 g/dm³. Geologically, these accumulations are confined to sedimentary basins, promising for oil, gas, methane-bearing coals, mostly flooded by the sea. In the contact zone of their subaerial and submarine areas at the bottom of lagoons and bays, centers of discharge of groundwater and hydrocarbon gases are formed, which participate in the sulfate reduction reaction with the sulfate of sea waters. The fact of the leading role of this process in the formation of modern therapeutic muds is confirmed by material obtained in areas of widespread sulfide peloids at the bottom of the Black Sea. It can be assumed that subaerial areas, possibly the oil and gas bearing East Siberian, Chukchi, Anadyr and other sedimentary basins, are promising in relation to the discovery of new accumulations of therapeutic sulfide-silt muds. In carrying out oil and gas prospecting in the waters of the poorly studied northern seas, sulfide silts should be considered an indicator of the oil and gas potential of submarine sedimentary basins.

A comparison is made of two waves of internationalization of the global aviation industry, the first of which took place according to the classical scenario of inter-country cooperation, and the second gave rise to such a form of interaction as the supply chain. The reasons that made it extremely difficult for new participants to enter the industry during the first wave are explained, as well as the opportunities that opened up to them at a new stage and allowed them to dramatically expand the space where the aviation industry is present. The half-century history of filling the aircraft map of the world with new enterprises is considered. Groups of countries whose activity in the aircraft industry falls on different time periods have been identified and cartographically recorded. The modern territorial structure of the industry is analyzed. The comparison of the location of the main aircraft factories relative to the state capitals in two groups of countries with different histories of the industry development is made. A forecast is made, suggesting a reduction in the scale of international cooperation in the aviation industry.

This article is devoted to the problem of the conditionality of the results of the All-Russian vote on the issue of approval of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in the Baikal territories having environmental restrictions on economic activities. The study revealed a heterogeneity of the electoral behavior of the population at the district and regional levels. An analysis of the results of the All-Russian vote made it possible to determine that the level of support for the governmental initiative in the Republic of Buryatia is much higher than in Irkutsk oblast. The main ecological and economic prerequisites for the formation of local positive and negative public consensus regarding amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation are considered. Using the example of the Olkhonskii district of Irkutsk oblast where voters did not approve of the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, it is shown that environmental and socio-economic factors, in aggregate, can prevail over socio-cultural ones and cast doubt on the established stereotypes associated with ethnic voting. It is noted that the increased voter turnout in the Olkhonskii district has become an expression of protest electoral behavior, whereas an increased support for the state initiatives is characteristic for the national formations of Russia in general, and for the ethnically similar municipal districts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the Baikal region in particular. The place of the tourism industry in the economic sector of a district is considered. It was found that tourism, as one of the decisive modern directions of development of the Baikal territories and almost the only source of livelihood for the local population, has a high potential for involving territories, which is significantly limited in the conditions of the central ecological zone of the Baikal natural territory. The perception of the amendments introduced to the Basic Law of the country as a source of further deepening of environmental and economic contradictions, has become the cause of political tension and, as a result, a negative electoral behavior.

Polysystem analysis procedures are revealed in the unity of mathematical, statistical and logical methods of spatial data processing for studying landscape-zonal geospace by using the Volga basin territory as an example. We proceed from L.S. Berg’s conceptual position about the zonal conditionality of the features of the geographical landscape, which is expressed in the ratio of background (zonal) conditions and local (zonal) factors and characteristics of natural components, the interaction of which unites them into a landscape and zonal whole. On the basis of cartographic material, regional features of the influence of the geographic environment on the formation of the areas of groups of landscape species on the territory and in the system of factor spaces and fields with a spatial framework of the organization of landscape geosystems are revealed. The methodology of polysystem analysis is based on the procedures of stratification of holistic formation into many non-intersecting system layers (monosystems), the study of each of which is carried out independently by special methods of specific theories that model earthly reality in special terms. Three layers-types of a theoretical explanation of the connectivity of groups of landscape species have been identified: a functional model of the “attribute-attribute” relationship, a model of object-typological differentiation of the “object-object” territory, and a cluster taxonomic “object-attribute” model. Based on mathematical relationships, the functions of background, frame, landscape-typological and process components of the territorial diversity of the natural environment are determined.

The paper presents the study’s results of ash content of twigs and leaves debris from forest plants of primary mid-mountain tropical forests of Сentral Vietnam (Bidoup Nui Ba National Park) in order to identify and clarify the elements that enter the soil during their decomposition. A difference in the ratio of twigs and leaves debris in mortmass samples collected in different landscape conditions is shown. At the same time, the influence of periodical and stagnant moisture conditions on the conduct of migratory soil processes is considered. The sampling points of the twigs and leaves debris correspond to the locations of the soil catena within the structural ridge, its top, slope and foothill. This allows us to relate the results obtained on the elemental composition of the twigs and leaves debris to the geochemical migration of chemical elements in different geochemical landscape conditions, from automorphic to accumulative. An attempt has been made to establish the volumes of matter migrating from the mortmass into the soil together with the aqueous solution. Differences in the accumulation of ash elements in the twigs and leaves debris depending on the position in different landscape conditions are revealed. The composition of elements entering the soil with twigs and leaves debris and involved in geochemical migration is established, and the contribution of leaves and twigs debris to the accumulation and migration of elements under different moisture conditions is evaluated. A dependence of geochemical migration processes on the position of the elementary geochemical landscape facies in the catena is pointed out, which manifests itself in a change not only in the total ash content of the twigs and leaves debris, but also in the ratio of ash content of twigs debris to that of leaves debris.

Land-use has considerable influences on runoff in the semi-arid basin of the Yellow River. Assessing the impacts of land-use changes on runoff characteristics is a vital role for water resources managers. The goal of this study is to evaluate the land-use change impacts on water resources by using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. This assessment is needed for a rational organization of water economy activity in the country. Considerable land-use changes have been noticed in the study area. The conversion of land-use to urban land causes uncertainty of parameters in the SWAT model. The results obtained indicate that the SWAT model can be used successfully to assess the impacts of land-use variability on water resources of the study basin. The findings of this research could provide an important reference for soil and water conservation and eco-hydrology of the river basin.

The geomorphological and topographic landscapes of Yazd (Iran) are considered, the study of which is effective not only for the dispersal or selection of this or that human activity, but also represents one of the effective factors in the formation of physical structures of spatial constructions. It is revealed that the analysis of urbanization can be influenced by the conceptualization of phenomenology, because from this point of view the basis of human settlement development is primarily a spatial identity. According to the theory of «lakes of the 4^th period of urban civilization in Iran», lakes are considered as the components of urbanism in Iran that form the identity. The present study is intended to complement other geomorphological studies in this area by focusing on the Lake Yazd Lake located in the large Yazd-Meybod-Siyahkuh drainage basin. The work is based on a set of archaeological, geomorphological, sedimentological, space and syntax studies as well as on field data. It is shown that there are separate lakes in the Yazd-Meybod-Siyahkuh watershed, one of which is Lake Yazd. It is established that during the glacial period the lakes merged and ended up in the Siahkuh desert. It is concluded that large cities of Yazd province (Yazd, Meybod and Erdekan) owe their urbanism to the spatial identity, namely the existence of these lakes, while the spatial indeterminacy of smaller cities (Islamabad (Farasha), Taft, Hezrabad and Mehriz)) depends on the water-ice equilibrium line.

Over more than 60 years of research, the Institute of Geography SB RAS has developed a scientific landscape-geochemical school of experimental study of territories at both regional and local levels, the founder of which was V.A. Snytko. The contribution of experimental monitoring studies of the material component of geosystems to knowledge of their dynamics and evolution in natural and anthropogenic disturbed conditions is considered. It is shown that the uniqueness of the Irkutsk landscape and geochemical school consists not only in the clearly pronounced geographical aspect of its development, but also in the ecological and biotic aspect. When summarizing the experience of landscape-geochemical and soil-geographical studies in Siberia, their important role in providing information for complex physical geography, and in the differentiated assessment of the territory on a material basis is highlighted.