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This article discusses the features of the tribal composition, population and settlement of the Evenks of the Barguzin Baikal region in the period from the 17 ^th to the 20 ^th centuries. The study was conducted using the methods of cultural geography, statistical data of the population, archival documents and other historical sources. The paper also applies the concept of ethno-cultural landscape, which allows studying the relationship between community, cultural tradition and place. The study is focused on the tribal composition, number and distribution of the Evenks, taking into account ethno-contact zones and socio-cultural standards. The main sources of data are the works of researchers, archival materials and field studies of the authors. The analysis made it possible to characterize the processes of formation of the number and identification of the Evenks of the Barguzin Baikal region. The natural landscape has an impact on the economy and settlement of the ethnic group. The areal stability of settlement and confinement to the necessary natural resources for life support have been revealed. It is shown that the tribal composition of the Evenks exhibits relative stability, but at the same time it is subjected to the influence of migratory mobility and intercultural contacts. The main areas of the historical settlement of the Evenks are associated with hunting, fishing and cattle-breeding complexes. The largest number of Evenks and the number of settlements with a share of the Evenk population were recorded in the pre-revolutionary period. During the Soviet period, there were changes in settlement and a radical geocultural restructuring of the Evenks’ way of life. From that time to the present, the transformation of the traditional way of life and identity of the Barguzin Evenks has continued. On the basis of the historical-geographical approach, the data on the settlement of the Evenk ethnic group, confined to the cattle-breeding and hunting-trading areas, are summarized. The materials of field observations confirm the continuity of historical memory, cultural traditions of local groups, their features and significance in the habitation of space. Features of the tribal composition and localization of the genera of the Barguzin Evenks of the the 17 ^th - early 19 ^th century influenced the formation of the modern settlement of the Evenk and mixed population of the Barguzin Baikal region.

The article presents, for the first time, the results of determining visitor loads on the natural territories of the Pribaikalsky National Park obtained during the warm seasons of 2018-2021. The study used the method of “Limits of Acceptable Changes” recommended for the World Natural Heritage Site “Lake Baikal”, adapted by the authors of the article for the natural territories surrounding the lake. The obtained numerical values of recreational capacity for the main objects open to the public in the Pribaikalsky National Park should be considered as corresponding to the maximum permissible loads, the excess of which leads to changes in natural conditions and the loss of tourist attractiveness of the object. The study shows that for the Pribaikalsky National Park, which includes more than a quarter of the Baikal coastline, a one-time presence of 5285 people is permissible on 93 sites and trails allowed for visiting, located within ten forestry departments. Examples of determining current capacity estimates are given for three objects, namely: Babushka Bay, Sagan-Zaba Tract and Saraisky Bay. An attempt has been made to compare the data of the maximum loads with the general statistics of the issued visiting permits for the period 2018-2022. About half of them are connected with the Olkhon Island, which accounts for about a third of the total maximum loads, which became possible after the construction of decking trails, isolated canopies, dry closets and platforms for cars in 2018-2021, which made it possible to increase recreational capacity without increasing the load. The practice of admitting visitors to the natural territories of the Pribaikalsky National Park is currently based on estimates obtained using the method of limits of acceptable changes and algorithms for determining the current capacity, which are annually adjusted by environmental monitoring data. Regular construction of new and updating of existing infrastructure are also taken into account, allowing for an increase in the number of visitors simultaneously within the boundaries of the park.

Modern scientific research in the field of geoecology, urban ecology and urban planning focuses on the issues of geoecological assessment and management of sustainable development of urban systems (urban geosystems). In the article highlights both traditional methods of geoecological assessment, including environmental risk assessment, comparison of MPC and MPL indicators, as well as modern methods such as remote sensing of the Earth (analysis of satellite images) and modeling - multifractal analysis of urban geosystems. In addition, the article uses data from state statistics and environmental monitoring of the city and data from its own field research. It has been established that in order to solve the problems of urban planning and management of territories based on the principles of sustainable development, such a system of geoecological assessment is required that would reflect the degree of development of the structure of urban geosystems, including the deviation of the development of urban geosystems from the optimum in conditions of multicomponent anthropogenic loads and risks of disruption of the sustainable functioning of the urban geosystem. Using the fractal modeling of the impact of anthropogenic factors, data on the deficit or redundancy of their impact were calculated. The advantage of territorial planning and the proposal of measures for the sustainable development of the city of Vidnoye based on fractal analysis consists in justifying of the optimal degree of construction and development of the transport network, in reducing the risk of chaotic sprawl of the city and problems (first of all, congestion of roads and pollution of environmental components), and also in achieving a minimum level of spatial fragmentation of the urban environment.

The analysis of data on the chemical composition of wetland waters, groundwaters and river waters in the catchment area of the Poyang lake, obtained in the course of Russian-Chinese hydrogeochemical studies during 2013-2022, was performed. The bulk of the laboratory work was carried out at the Tomsk Polytechnic University using the mass spectrometric method with inductively coupled plasma. It is shown that wetlands that are not used economically are a source of organic substances and their transformation products entering the groundwater of the upper hydrodynamic zone. An anthropogenic impact on surface and groundwaters has also been established, which manifests itself in a rather sharp increase in the concentrations of certain chemical elements and their compounds. But at the same time, a significant ability of the region’s water bodies to self-purify was revealed. Thus, in the low-water periods of 2019 and 2022 a decrease in the contents of As, Cd, Ni, Sb, V, Mo, and W in the waters of the Jinjiang river was noted, which is 17-120 times and more already 100-200 m downstream from wastewater outlets. Based on the analysis of measurement results, thermodynamic calculations, mathematical modeling of hydrogeochemical processes and published materials of other authors, it was concluded that the most likely explanation for this ability is a combination of the following factors: precipitation of poorly soluble substances (calcium and magnesium humates and carbonates, and clay minerals) with the total content of dissolved salts amounting to more than 300-400 mg/dm³; coprecipitation of a number of microelements, which increases with a decrease in the effective diameter of sediment particles (0,003 mm or less); and the involvement of substances removed from the solution in biogeochemical processes, the intensity of which increases under favorable climatic conditions (such as in the catchment area of the Poyang lake).

A vector model of the relationship between geosystems and the geographical environment is proposed. Based on Gauss’s principle of least constraint (deviation), a representation of a geosystem is formed as a set (layer) of changed states that differ minimally from the invariant characteristics of the state of the corresponding environment. The geographical environment as a variety of terrestrial environments has a relief expression in the form of an integrating and evaluation function of many variables. Geographical characteristics of geosystems consist of a constant environment-dependent vector component and a free vector of azonal factor variability, which expresses the measure of constraint (nondeterminism). Minimization of this vector relative to the elements of the environment’s diversity leads to differential equations of the vector geosystem field - a representation of geographical data and knowledge in the space of characteristics that locally has a universal symmetry, which allows us to compare geographical processes and phenomena on a single basis. The resulting relations are explained by the properties of the known geographical models and concepts that are in a dual relationship: objects and subjects of research, factors and conditions of influence, laws and regularities of interaction, and so on. External (exo-) and internal (endo-) environments are selected and taken into account when calculating the equations. The results are illustrated by the example of pre-formation of spatial information obtained by the method of complex ordination, with verification of the hypothesis of environmental homogeneity and territorial integrity of dark coniferous taiga sites at different stages of endogenous dynamics of facies of a subhydromorphic factor series. It is concluded that the relationships of geosystems and their endo- and exo-environments should be taken into account when processing landscape research data, mathematical modeling, and synthetic mapping of territories.

We authors characterize the stadial structure of the formation of technogeosystems of oil and gas fields (TGSOGF) based on field and laboratory studies using remote sensing data from 12 key study plots within of oil and gas fields in the Volga-Ural steppe region. It is suggested that TGSOGF should be considered to mean a complete set of modified natural components and technological facilities that function as a single whole in the process of development of an oil and gas field. Two main principles of formation and functioning of TGSOGF were highlighted. One principle implies temporal stadiality of development determined by the period of development of the field and by the level (variety) of technogenic load on the landscape. The other principle is the reversible and irreversible transformation of landscape components, leading to a change in mutual physical-energy connections of its vertical and horizontal structures. The diffuse-linear distribution of structural links of oil and gas fields forms a specific space of technogenic influence, characterized by the overlap, intersection, and combination of the influence zones of oil and gas production facilities. There are five stages of the initial landscape transformation with varying degrees of involvement of components in the transformation process. The initial landscape structure includes a technogenic block, including with the irreversible introduction of structures of liquidated and/or temporarily closed wells at the final stage of field development. Thus the equifinality is manifested, which means the completion of the oil and gas production process, which is equivalent for landscapes, and the natural invariant is replaced by a natural-technogenic one. Analysis of the characteristics and identification of regularities of functioning of oil and gas fields gave rise to the proposed concept of the formation of TGSOGF, the rationale for optimization of oil and gas fields nature management with respect to the system development principles and stages of TGSOGF.

We examine the age structure of the population as one of the main indicators that characterize the dynamics of demographic potential development. On the basis of a statistical analysis (2010-2019), an assessment is made of the age structure of the population of Asian Russia and neighboring territories of Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. Cartographic representation of the spatial and demographic dynamics used the triple coding method. This method is based on a triangular Pere diagram where demographic parameters are synthesized and have their own colour code. The color scale of age structures of the population is represented as follows: yellow - population older than the employable age; blue - employable; and purple - younger than the employable age. On the basis of the results obtained, we suggest a classification of the regional age structure of the population in the Asian part of Russia and border regions of Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China and generated schematic maps to visualize spatio-temporal changes in the demographic structure of the population in the regions considered. The research indicates that the triple coding method is complete and informative and has an applications significance for practical purposes.

Theoretical constructs of economic and recreational geography are identified, which could reflect the specifics of regional rural tourism. In this regard, the usefulness of using classical economic and geographical constructs is emphasized: “territorial socio-economic system”, “countryside” and “geosystem”. It is suggested that rural tourism in the Russian regions may develop according to certain models. Which are directly dependent on the natural resource, production and spiritual and other subsystems of the territorial socio-economic system. Attention is paid to the development of a methodological approach to assessing resource potential, because it has not received proper development. It has been shown that increased research in this area has contributed to the recourse to economic categories. To assess the resource potential of rural tourism, it is proposed to use the index of concentration of resource potential. The proposed theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of resource potential for the organization of rural tourism are tested by the example of municipal districts of Rostov oblast. The selection of this southern territory is due to the socio-economic efficiency of the development of rural tourism in typical agricultural regions and the suitable potential of rural areas without a clearly pronounced coastal-beach and medical-mineral specialization. Based on this approach, a typology of municipal districts of Rostov oblast was carried out and conclusions were drawn about the resource component of the rural area of Rostov oblast for organizing rural tourism. It was found that Rostov oblast is a multi-resource territory for the organization of rural tourism and diverse models of the development of rural tourism based on both the production and spiritual spheres apply to rural areas.

An assessment is made of the non-carcinogenic risk to human health in Rostov-on-Don from observations at fixed stations of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of the Russian Federation, in particular, data of the Rostov Center for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring for the period 2015-2017. Analysis of information available showed that the largest contribution to the risk of health disorders of the population of the city is made by suspended matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde. Motor transport is the main source of air pollution in the city. To assess the non-carcinogenic risk within the city limits, three separate district-specific activities of the population and, as a consequence, the emerging impact on human health were identified: one is located in the central part of the city; the other is industrial, and the third is in the residential zone. Based on the results of the risk assessment of chronic intoxication, it was found that in the first and second districts, suspended substances are the most dangerous. In the third, the most dangerous substance is formaldehyde. The total risk of immediate action in the first and second areas is defined as the maximum risk associated with exposure of the population to suspended substances, and in the third area - with exposure to carbon monoxide. Summarizing the results of the non-carcinogenic risk assessment, we can conclude that in the central part of Rostov-on-Don, the level of air pollution in 2015-2017 reached dangerous values for human health.

An assessment is made of the impact on the environment from several mining and mining and processing enterprises of the Altai Republic, including the Veselyi and Kalgutinskii mines, and the abandoned Aktash mining and metallurgical enterprise. The industrial zone is located 2150-2200 m above the sea level in the upper reaches of the Yarlyamry river (the Chuya river basin, Southeastern Altai). The territory of the Karakul deposit of polymetallic ores belongs to Southeastern Altai. A comparative analysis is made of the content of toxicant elements in environmental components in the zone of influence of the mining enterprises. A study is made of the content of trace elements in industrial mining landscapes of Altai. It is found that the waste ores are the main contributors of pollutants; therefore, environmental measures should be focused on decreasing their emissions to the environment. The pollutants in wastewaters from the mining enterprises of the Altai Republic are represented by three main groups, with heavy metals posing the greatest ecological hazard to the environment components; chemical reagents, petroleum products, phenols, etc. are dangerous to a lesser degree. Pollution of wastewaters with trace elements of a general composition is, in general, insignificant.