Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2010 number 6

Problems concerning the migration of mercury vapor through different types of organomineral filters are considered, the absorbing capacities of the formed geochemical barriers are determined. The most promising types of geochemical barriers for the subsurface burial in the forest-steppe landscape zone are revealed. An approach to a decrease in mercury vapor evaporation by transforming into a more conservative phase of metacyanobarite modification of mercury sulfide (HgS) is proposed.

Chromium content of ground, dust and plants from the region near the open pit used to store self-decaying ferrochromium slag of the Chelyabinsk Electrometallugrical Plant was studied by means of X-ray fluorescence anаlysis involving the synchrotron radiation beams (RFA SR).

The effect of temperature on the number and activity of sulfatereducing bacteria was studied under the experimental and field conditions during the winter of 1988 at the Rybinsk water reservoir.

Zooplankton of the pelagian and shelf zones of the eastern coast of the South Baikal in the region of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Plant (BPPP) in summer and autumn periods of the years 2005-2007 was studied. It was established that the development of zooplankton during summer and winter 2005-2007 in the layer 0-50 m proceeded according to the scheme typical for Lake Baikal, in spite of the enhanced anthropogenic load in the region under investigation.

Buffer capacity of humic psammozem, accumulative carbonаte agrozem and agrobrown soil with respect to cadmium was determined. The effect of soil buffer capacity on the dynаmics of the height, biological productivity and the level of cadmium accumulation in the biomass of watercress (Lepidium sativum L.) under increasing metal doses was investigated. The ability of watercress to accumulate large amounts of cadmium exceeding the admissible sanitary-gygienic standards even at low concentrations of the element in the soil was established.

Investigation of the physical and technological characteristics of ash-and-slag wastes from the Kyzyl heat and power plant was carried out. Chemical, elemental and mineral composition of the products of fractional separation was studied. On the basis of the studies of the concentrations of hazardous substances in the fine fractions of ash and in ground water, it was concluded that the dusting fraction of ash-and-slag wastes produces the major effect on the environment as a result of air transport.

Post-fire changes of the functional characteristics of soil microbial coenoses and the complexes of soil invertebrates in the middle-taiga pine forests of Central Siberia were studied. It was revealed that the fire events, independently of their intensity, during the first year cause a decrease in the number of diversity of soil invertebrates, and also have a negative effect on the structure and the functional activity of microbial complexes of sandy podzol. The post-fire recovery of the number and structure of the complexes of soil invertebrates and the functionаl activity of microbial coenoses of sandy podzol is determined both by the action of the pyrogenic factor and by the features of the dynаmics of hydrothermal and trophic conditions of soil in pine forests.

Results of the determinаtion of salt-soluble form of iodine in the chernozem are discussed. This form is considered as the nearest reserve of iodine available for plants. With respect to this form of iodine, the chernozem is similar to hydromorphic soil.

Description of the interactive multiple-entry polyclave electronic key for identification of 102 species and subspecies of Siberian Astragalus is presented. At every step of identification, the program reduces the species list, reduces the state lists for qualitative characters, recalculates diagnostic values of characters and ranks the characters by their diagnostic value. In the process of identification, a user can return to previous steps of identification, to get text descriptions and drawings of a species and the photos of herbarium specimens, to use an interactive monoentry dichotomous key, to change and input new data into the data table. The program is workstation-based and implemented in Microsoft Access 2002.

A variety of vascular plants of two altitudinаl belts in the areas of upper rivers Kygam, Morgel and Lontoko is revealed. The geographical and ecological anаlysis of flora, as well as the anаlysis of life forms of each belt is carried out.
Comparison of three local florae in species composition showed isolation of the florae of golets and under-golets altitudinаl zone belts in the area of the river Lontoko from similar florae in the areas of the rivers Kygam and Morgel. Comparison between the florae in the ratio of latitudinаl elements revealed an intermediate position of the area of the river Kygam between the areas of the rivers Lontoko and Morgel. Comparison with respect to the ratio of ecological groups of species and life forms showed the similarity between the golets altitudinal zone and sub-golets altitudinal zone belts of the areas of the Lontoko and the Kygam, and their difference from the area of the river Morgel.
In the past (in the end of the small glacial age of Holocene), the Longtokojsky Stone ridge differed in flora from the florae of the basic area of the western part of Putoransky mountains stronger than it does today. This is connected with the less significant role of the Atlantic transfer in this region in the past and the more significant role of the Siberian anticyclone.

Results of the studies of variability of the morphological attributes and numbers of chromosomes in the populations of R. altaicus s.l., R. sulphureus subsp. exaltatus and R. schmakovii are presented. The methods of unidimensionаl and multivariate analysis were applied: princiрal-component method, discriminаnt and variance anаlysis. As a result, two buttercup subspecies were distinguished at the territory of the Altay mountain territory (R. altaicus subsp. altaicus, R. altaicus subsp. frigidus), as well as new taxons R. sulphureus subsp. exaltatus и R. schmakovii.

Analysis of the spatial arrangement of abies undergrowth with respect to abies, aspen and birch trees was carried out in the climax community of the dark forest by means of radial functions. The results of analysis showed that the abies undergrowth is concentrated mainly in the vicinity of old abies trees but its occurrence near abies stumps is much below the expected level. Such an arrangement of the undergrowth should inevitably lead to a decrease in the area occupied by the population of abies, and its number. The abies undergrowth is mostly concentrated in the vicinity of parvifoliate species where dense abies curtains are formed. Thus, the populations of parvifoliate species are the stabilizing factor with respect to the population of dominant species of the dark abies forests.

The objective of the research was to study phenology and the process of flowering of Gentianа scabra Bunge. Flowers in raceme blossom out from top downward. The flowering period of one flower is 10 days, and that of the whole plant is 30 days. 13 species of possible agents for pollen transference are found. It is shown that bumble-bees are the primary pollinating insects. Stigma receptivity to pollen decreases significantly 8 days after unfolding of stigma. G. scabra flowers are capable of self-pollinаtion. The main type of pollinаtion of G. scabra flowers is xenogamy which is consistent with geitonogamy.

Ecological and biological features of Pteridium aquilinum allowing the species not only to get adapted to the conditions of the moderate zone but also to dominate in the grass of the communities and get adjusted to new territories within the habitat are revealed. It is established that the conditions of the oceanic climate most completely correspond to the ecological optimum of Pteridium aquilinum, while in Siberia the species is at the Northern limit of its habitat.

Statistically significant effect of the factors of habitat conditions and the weather conditions of the year under investigation on the majority of morphometric parameters of the vegetative and generative spheres of four natural coenopopulations of Hylotelephium stepposum (Boriss.) Tzvel. and three coenopopulations of H. triphyllum (Haw.) Holub. was revealed with the help of two-factor variance analysis.

The review of the proceedings of the 2^nd International Conference on Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources in Siberia that taken place in August 3-9, 2009 in Novosibirsk, Russia is presented.