Vol 30, No 4 (2022)

Forests in the cities of the Angara region (Irkutsk, Angarsk, Usolye-Sibirskoye), exposed to aerotechnogenic pollution and recreational load of varying degrees of intensity, were surveyed. In pine and pine-birch forests on natural gray forest soils, 27 sample plots were studied. The current state of the urban environment was assessed by a set of morphostructural, physico-chemical and toxicological indicators of tree plantations (pine, larch, birch) and gray forest soils - the main habitat-forming components. For the first time on the basis of the obtained data and assessment of ecosystem functions of soil cover and tree plantations the results of studies on purification of atmospheric air and preservation of phyto-pedocenoses in the urban environment are presented. The study of biogeochemical redistribution of flows of aerotechnogenic pollutants in urban forests revealed the degree of manifestation of the most important ecosystem function of the soil cover - the ability to accumulate and detoxify man-made pollutants and the function of woody plants - the ability to clean atmospheric air by accumulating toxicants in the needles and leaves. The results obtained made it possible to judge about the sustainability of woody plants and soils of urban forests, about the possibility of purification and restoration of the urban environment.

The level of urbanization in the world is increasing by the year. In Russia, it amounts to about 75%. Green spaces play a leading role in the process of maintaining the ecological balance of urbanized territories. One of the main sources of environmental pollution in cities are cars. Monitoring the condition of woody plants in outdoor plantings is an important part of assessing the condition of urban systems. The purpose of the work is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the ecological state of tree plantations in the street plantings of Balashikha, a city, which is a part of Moscow agglomeration. The study was carried out in 2019-2021 in 20 streets of Balashikha. The species composition, the vital state of tree and shrub vegetation in street plantings according to Alekseev’s methodology and winter hardiness according to Lapin and Sidneva’s methodology were revealed. The following results were obtained: in the street plantings of Balashikha there are 21 species of trees and shrubs, the average age of tree plantations is 30-40 years, the most common ones are Аcеr nеgundo L., Аcеr plаtаnoidеs L., Tiliа cordаtа Mill., single - Acer tataricum L., Pinus sylvestris L., Sorbus aucuparia (L.) Gaertn., Ulmus laevis Pall. In order to maintain sustainable development, it is necessary to change the strategy of urban greening (implement a more diverse species composition, conduct monitoring studies involving not only utilities, but also researchers dealing with urban ecology problems, apply modern maintenance technologies. Recommendations are given on the introduction of new types of woody plants for outdoor plantings to improve the ecological situation in Balashikha.

An actual trend in applied ecology is the development and implementation of innovative environmental protection technologies. Modern methods for extracting heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater are quite diverse. The purpose of the study was to develop and justify new technologies for purification of aqueous media, including adsorption purification, from heavy metal ions (by the example of Ni2+ and Cd2+ ions). Laboratory studies have established that the degree of adsorption extraction of Ni2+ ions by the sorption material from bentonite modified with carbon nanotubes and fired at a temperature of 550 °C increases by 13-14% due to its activation with 18% HCl solution and 38% CaCl2 solution, and the degree of adsorption extraction of Cd2+ ions with this activation of the sorbent, it increases by 16-17%. A technological scheme of a water purification station is proposed, which includes highly efficient adsorption filters with sorption material from bentonite of the specified modification and acid-salt activation.

Soil degradation is one of the common types of which is soil salination, is a serious limited factor of food security and sustainable territory development. It is necessary to pay a special attention on the first soil salination of arid regions, as arid climate leads to the active salt accumulation in the upper rooting soil horizons and gives rise to withdrawal of large land areas from economic turnover. The purpose of the this work is defining of the watersoluble salts specific features in soils of the river Volga delta upper level natural boundaries under the influence of natural factors. Botanic natural sanctuary “Svinoroiny meadow (Meshkovsky)” was chosen as a research object, associated with the new Caspian coastal plain within distribution of the river Volga delta Baer knoll landscape. Water extract ions analysis and soil solution toxicity calculation on the area were carried out from 1979 till 2020. It was revealed that dynamics direction of salination types are defined by the ascent of water predominanceon over descending on the area in the conditions of the territory exudative water regime. Salination increase to a great extent depends on the great volumes of spring-summer floods and appropriate ground water level rise, area desalination is defined by atmospheric precipitations quantity.

The results of the experimental development of the method and the hard-software framework for a remote-operated underwater vehicle are presented in this work. The method of laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and a small-sized laser spectrometer are designed to monitor of the dissolved oil products pollution of underwater areas and to assess the impact of pollution on the phytoplankton community state. The excitation technique of the sea water LIF was experimentally tested to simultaneously measure the concentration of chlorophyll A, the specific reproduction of dissolved organic matter by phytoplankton cells, and the concentration of oil products dissolved in sea water. It has been experimentally shown that to implement this technique, it is necessary to carry out the excitation of the LIF by two wavelength radiation. To measure the concentration of chlorophyll A and the specific reproduction of dissolved organic matter (DOM), it is necessary to use excitation by radiation in the green region of the spectrum (532 nm in this work). To measure the concentration of dissolved petroleum products in sea water, it is necessary to use UV radiation (278 nm in this work). The results of tests of the spectrometer under laboratory conditions on sea water samples containing phytoplankton cells and solutions of petroleum products are described. The results of the work create a methodological and software-hardware basis for carrying out the mission of ecological monitoring of underwater areas with the simultaneous solution of the problem of detecting oil pollution and assessing its impact on the phytoplankton community.

A comparative analysis of classical and synchronous fluorescent methods selectivity for ecotoxicants determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was carried out. PAHs sorption preconcentration from aqueous cetyltrimethylammonium bromide micellar solutions and spectra recording on a viscose matrix were used. In the case of complex environmental samples, the scope of fluorimetric analysis can be expanded by registering synchronous fluorescence spectra obtained by simultaneously scanning the excitation and emission wavelengths with a constant shift: λem - λex = Δλ = const. The composition of PAHs mixture (phenanthrene, anthracene, fluorene, pyrene) was experimentally evaluated by classical fluorescence with selective excitation and synchronous fluorescence. It was concluded that the use of synchronous spectra makes it possible to improve the selectivity of the PAHs fluorescence analysis in a mixture. These methods can be successfully applied to identify individual PAHs in monitoring of environment water bodies.

A statistical model of the actual pollution of the magnetic field industrial frequency created by overhead lines has been developed for the initial assessment of the actual electromagnetic situation near the overhead lines, epidemiological studies and to supplement the already completed environmental work with dosimetric characteristics.

Industry, electric power, utilities, agriculture, mining, construction, shipbuilding, transport and fishing have a constant anthropogenic impact on the Northern Dvina river basin. Identification and qualitative assessment of factors of anthropogenic impact on the fish fauna of the Northern Dvina river basin within the boundaries of the Arkhangelsk region is the aim of the research. Open data of public authorities on anthropogenic impact and scientific publications are the basis for the research. The main factors of anthropogenic impact on fish fauna have been identified. The impact is multifactorial. Fishing reduces the number of fish populations, and economic activities in the water area and the banks of the water body worsen the conditions of the fish habitat. This leads to a change in the parameters of fish populations. Reconstruction of existing wastewater systems and construction of new ones, as well as the introduction of restrictions on the use of forest resources in the coastal zone are directions for reducing the anthropogenic impact.