Vol 26, No 2 (2018)

The article considers diversity of lichen biota as an indicator of the state of the Moscow region park communities. It is a case study of the park of the museum-reserve “Abramtsevo”. The study examined the species diversity. Taxonomic, ecological and sozological analyses of the investigated lichen biota have been carried out. On that basis, an assessment of the level of anthropogenic transformation of the lichen biota has been made. Recommendations are developed for the conservation of the habitats of rare lichen species in the park of the museum-reserve “Abramtsevo”.

Lack of iron leads to a weakening of plant growth and lower yields. A promising solution to this problem is the use of nanoparticles of iron, iron oxides as biostimulators of growth of agricultural plants. However, the special properties of nanoparticles can enhance the mechanisms associated with toxic effects on living organisms, lead to trace elements. The response of plants to the impact of iron is highly variable and depends on their genotype and species. Literature data on the influence of fine iron particles on the elemental composition of the plant species Triticum vulgare Vill (soft wheat) is not enough, in addition, virtually no study of the interaction of these particles with natural sorbents - humic acids, which control the bioavailability and transport of elements in natural objects. Therefore, the article presents data on the content of toxic elements (As, Hg, Cd, Pb) in the aboveground part of wheat plants Triticum vulgare Vill. Wheat is cultivated in the soil under the influence of aqueous solutions Fe0 spherical iron nanoparticles (diameter of 80 ± 5 nm), magnetite Fe3O4 (50- 80 nm width and a height of 4-10 nm), ionic forms of diand trivalent iron sulphate with addition of humic acids isolated from the brown coal of the Tulgan deposit. The results of the study showed that under the influence of iron and magnetite nanoparticles, the replacement of more toxic mercury with less toxic cadmium is observed, but the total number of these elements remains constant. An aqueous solution of trivalent iron sulfate with a concentration of 0.0001 g/l contributes to the maximum reduction of toxic elements (lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium) in the aboveground part of wheat plant.

The analysis of quality of atmospheric air in cities of Russia for 2000-2016 has been carried out. During this period 4 cities (Bratsk, Magnitogorsk, Chita and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk) almost every year fell into the “black lists” of Roshydromet - both chronically and extremely polluted cities. Among Russian regions on high level of atmospheric pollution the cities of Irkutsk region (Bratsk, Irkutsk, Zima, etc.), Krasnoyarsk region (Krasnoyarsk, Norilsk, Minusinsk, etc.), as well as Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Tagil, etc.) and Chelyabinsk (Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, etc.) regions are allocated. The leading factors of formation of environmental situation in cities depending on their localization, specialization and population size have been revealed: 1) large industrial emissions (Norilsk, Novokuznetsk, etc.) and transport emissions (Moscow, Yekaterinburg, etc.); 2) emissions of mostly unidentified sources of pollution (Selenginsk, Zima, etc.); 3) high natural potential of atmospheric pollution (Neryungri, Chita, etc.); 4) “import” of pollution from external sources due to an unfavorable ecological and geographical location (Minusinsk, Yasnaya Polyana, etc.). Possible mutual influences of environmental situation in cities and regional development have been considered.

This paper presents the rationale for environmental policy at the university level, its main constituent elements identified on the basis of the analysis of the environmental policies of Russian and international universities, as well as the fundamental concepts formed for the Russian state. The method on the basis of which it is possible to identify weaknesses of ecological safety of the university requiring special attention is shown. This method is the world ranking of universities GreenMetric (GreenMetric world University Rankings), the purpose of which is to rank universities around the world, depending on the sustainable environmental development of campuses and the creation of an energy-saving model of university management. The calculation is made according to this rating on the example of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia and the reasons for the received values are considered in detail, since these results give the university grounds to strengthen the unfinished moments by the relevant paragraphs of environmental policy.

In the short announcement, we offer an idea about International convention for protection of natural heritage in armed conflicts, based on principles of nature protection, international humanitarian and international environmental law.