Vol 40, No 1 (2019)

Spatial structures of nature management are identified in the form of territorial combinations of extracting enterprises (installations and facilities) and resource-containing components of the geosystems connected by the process of extraction of natural resources and their withdrawal from a natural geosystem. The components of basic (connected with extraction of the basic natural resource), accompanying (connected with extraction and removal of other resources during the extraction of the basic resource) and “reverse” (in the form of change in natural-resource potential due to technogenic impacts) nature management which within a particular territory may overlap with one another. It is emphasized that nature management considered at the territorial, spatially least generalized level is always based on using a combination of natural resources, including the territory, water, air, and the like. It is suggested that regional development be also considered at the regional level in the form of the establishment and development of territorial socioeconomic systems. The main components of them are separate settlements directly connected by transport routes as well as the related spatial (territorial) structures of nature management. The scheme of a matrix model of regional development is suggested, which encompasses and reflects the settlements of territorial socio-economic systems, the natural resources used and the components of the environment. The model provides the means of assessing structural transformations in systems, including when implementing new investment projects. The scheme of regional nature management monitoring is suggested.

The main anthropogenic impacts on the water resources of the rivers in the Arctic basin of Russia. Five main stages of dams’ construction are outlined. The total morphometric parameters of reservoirs, the total loss of water for dead storage filling and additional free-water-surface evaporation since the early 1940s, and the degree of regulation of the river flow are estimated. It is shown that the reservoirs had little effect on the annual river runoff of the entire Arctic basin. Much more significant was the impact on its intra-annual distribution, especially in the Yenisei basin. The effect of water supply intake on the annual flow of the Arctic basin is relatively small as well. Most of the water supply intake and irrecoverable water withdrawals corresponds to Russia, but the aggregate share of Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia is also significant. Currently there occurs a significant decrease in water abstraction and non-recoverable water discharge in the Arctic basin compared to the level of 1990. It is suggested that indirect anthropogenic impacts (measures of rain-fed agriculture, forestry, including forest fires of anthropogenic origin, and urbanization of the territory) influence the runoff in different directions and their impact is mutually compensated. Water consumption and total water losses due to the combined effect of reservoirs and water consumption have also been calculated since the early 1940s till the present. As is the case with some of these impacts, their total impact on the runoff of the Arctic basin is small, but this effect can be significant in a number of areas, mainly located in its southern part. It is shown that the main negative result of anthropogenic impact is the pollution of rivers and water bodies which is especially significant in the Ob basin. The dynamics of water quality in the largest rivers over the past decades is shown, indicating that it remains unsatisfactory.

The spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of industrial frequency electric and magnetic fields in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Belgorod and Petrozavodsk has been studied. It is established that electric fields of significant strengths occur near high voltage transmission lines (HVL) only. It is found that sanitary-protection and exclusion zones of the standard size do not always ensure a decrease in electric field strength to maximum allowable levels on their boundaries. Thus, the electric field strength of four HVL in St. Petersburg increases due to the mass construction of high-rise buildings leading to an increase in power consumption. A dependence of the electric field strength on meteorological factors was also determined, primarily on air humidity (direct dependence), and on atmospheric pressure (indirect inverse relationship). The industrial frequency magnetic field produces a variable city-wide background caused by a set of sources. The more intense is the technogenic load, the higher is magnetic induction, which renders it a convenient geoindicator for mapping. Also, the indicators of magnetic induction reflect the characteristics of power networks. Abnormally high values of magnetic induction were recorded in all cities, which are explained by the influence of electric cables. No exceedances of allowable levels of magnetic induction in residential areas were observed.

We investigated the landscapes and vegetation cover of the Ubur-Dzokoi hollow of the Selenga middle mountains. It was found that according to the physical-geographical zoning, the study area is a hummocky terrain of dry steppe landscape. The geosystems of the hollow include steppe and forest-steppe communities. Barchan relief formation is due to human activities and the dynamics of the wind regime. An analysis of key morphometric parameters of hollow relief is carried out based on the SRTM digital elevation model. As a result of the automated classification of Landsat TM multispectral images with a further identification of landscape types, multitemporal (for the years 1990, 2000 and 2010) landscape maps are created. These maps are validated by field landscape and geo-botanical investigations. The algorithm of the ISODATA unsupervised classification method was used, which allows the outlines with non-contrast structure of spectral brightness to be identified. The maps show clear changes in vegetation cover, indicating a decrease in the forest area, a gradual replacement of sedge-forb steppe communities with free-standing trees as well as an increase of sand deposits on unused arable and fallow lands. The spatial structure of vegetation on aeolian landforms was studied. It was concluded that their main component is psammophyte vegetation. We have made 25 geobotanical descriptions. The floristic composition of the coenocomplex includes 52 species of higher vascular plants. The ecological structure of the florocoenocomplex was identified on the basis of analyzing groups of plants in relation to the factor of soil moisture content. The method of ordination was used to determine the ecological differentiation of vegetation. To identify the spatial and structural organization of vegetation used geobotanical profiles and geobotanical descriptions of the sites, and satellite imagery. A large-scale (1:10 000) vegetation map for aeolian landforms was compiled. A correlation of the species in environmental groups showed a predominance of xerophytes (48%).

We examine the conditions for formation of spring flow of the Transvolga-Ural region (within Orenburg oblast). Material in this paper summarizes data on hydrochemical parameters of more than 3000 springs in four hydrogeological provinces. To generate the database used the capabilities of the licensed version of GIS MapInfo. An analysis is made of the specific features in the manifestation of different factors for landscape differentiation in hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater outlets. This assessment involved comparing the conventional physical-geographical boundaries within Orenburg oblast with the spatial dynamics of key parameters of spring outlets: output, mineralization, elevation and the ratio of cations to anions. Among the leading factors for formation of spring flow, we identified the latitudinal zonality, the geological-geomorphological azonality and the altitudinal-genetic layering. A comparison is made of the characteristics of the pings in the forest-steppe and steppe zones of Orenburg oblast as well as of the parameters of the springs for the altitudinal-genetic stages of the landscape regions of Transvolga and South Ural. An analysis is made of the factors of spring flow for hydrogeological regions and provinces of Transvolga and Southern Ural. The statements of the concept of landscape genesis for spring geosystems are outlined. For the Transvolga-Ural region the characteristic features of the distribution of hydrological and hydrochemical anomalies of the spring waters are due to the local differentiation of natural factors, such as granitoid intrusions, salt tectonics, sand massifs, red and limestone layers, hummocky terrains, and syrt and piedmont-ridge relief). Spring outlets of groundwater have an indication and reference significance for assessing the flow formation conditions, the hydromorphic features in the landscape as well as in evaluating the ecological status of surface waters in a particular region.

Data of large-scale landscape-ecological survey performed on the test ground in the vicinity of the Mendeleev Volcano (Kunashir Island, South Kurile Ridge) were used for empirical-statistical modeling of forest ecosystems characterizing one of the initial stages of geological history of the continental biosphere formation in the Pacific Mobile Belt. The causal mechanisms for the lowering of the boundaries of altitudinal bioclimatic belts and the southward shift of natural zones on extratropical Neo-Pacific islands compared to the neighboring continent were revealed. The evolutionary significance of the insular-arc bioclimatic system is characterized. Two phenomena of structural-functional organization of the Mendeleev volcanic landscape have been revealed. First, there is an exceptionally high system-forming role of forest phytobiota in the formation and development of young volcanic landscapes. The forest communities of the insular Neo-Pacific in the south of the boreal belt are characterized by an annual turnover of plant matter falling into the category of intensive metabolism and being typical only of subtropical forests by the zonal standards. Second, the intense annual turnover of the above-ground phytobiota and the high rate of the entire biological cycle in the southern Kunashir landscapes are the main factors of their stability under the conditions of “cold” oceanicity and, together with magmatic geotherms, contribute to the formation of subboreal “climatically unjustified” forests. The energy bases of productivity of forest communities of the island-arc Neo-Pacific have been analyzed as a focus of local and regional diversity of terrestrial ecosystems, which develops further on the continent. The mechanisms of formation (at the topological level) of new intrazonal types of ecological systems, which serve as the driving force of evolutionary processes, have been revealed. It is shown that evolutionary tendencies in plant cover emerge already at the initial, volcanogenic stage of formation of the continental biosphere.

We suggest the technique for assessing public health using the authors’ assessment algorithm of classification at the level of municipalities of the Russian Federation. As the model region, we used Arkhangelsk oblast as one of the most promising regions for economic development not only within the Russian Arctic and also of the entire country. Arkhangelsk oblast is the largest region of the European North of the Russian Federation in terms of the territorial population size. Moreover, a large number of sources of negative antrhopogenic impact on the environment are concentrated on ist territory, and their correlations with the increased morbidity rates in the oblast’s population were revealed. We determined additional negative factors affecting public health in the last decade: migration outflow, a decline in the share of the working-age population, consequences of climate change, etc. The index takes into account experience of related assessment techniques and seeks to minimize the indicators used in order to focus on the most important of them and ease interpretation of results for decision-makers. The index was developed by using only official statistical data in order to avoid distortions caused by subjective estimations. A calculation of the index is based on the selected quantitative indicators which are simple but most fully reflect the key parameters determining public health. Arkhangelsk oblast has been used as an example to demonstrate the way in which this technique can be used for the purpose of improving the quality of public health monitoring at the municipal level.

An analysis is made of the landscape-forming role of relief, its influence on the formation of the landscape structure of the territory in its dynamic interpretation, i. e. the structure of the radical and variable states of topogeosystems. We examine and compare the concepts of the geomorphological (altitudinal levels, layered structure of relief, and slope microzonality) and factoral-dynamic (factoral seriality, radical, semiradical and serial facies) approaches to investigating geosystems of on the territory of a tableland. The property of geosystems seriality is considered from the factoral-dynamic perspective where the factoral seriality is determined by the nature of influence of local factors on the topogeosystem (excessive moisture, rock outcrops, etc.), while the dynamic properties are connected with the strength of factoral influence determining the degree of deviation of a particular topogeosystem from a radical geosystem. The relative altitude in this context is considered as an indicator of the degree of deviation of the characteristics of a particular topogeosystem from a radical geosystem, i. e. as the indicator of the degree and type of factoral seriality. Using the Olkha Plateau (area of Southern Cisbaikalia) as an example we carried out a comparative investigation into the microzonal geomorphological structure of landscapes and the seriality of geosystems resulting from the modifying influence of various factors. The map for the areas of groups of facies obtained by the method of geosystem mapping with the use of Earth remote sensing data was compared with data of comprehensive route investigations and with the schematic map of the microzonal structure of landscapes calculated in terms of a digital terrain model using data on the relative altitude of the location and the steepness of slopes. The linkage as identified between the microzonal landscape differentiation and the topogeosystems seriality is ambiguous. This is explained by the existence of a large number of local factors shielding a direct influence of the relief on geosystems, which leads to an increase in landscape diversity.