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One of the world’s largest rivers, Yenisei, is considered in terms of sustainable water management, in accordance with the Water Strategy of the Russian Federation into 2020. For that purpose, the UN indicators of water management and the re gional indicators (developed by the authors previously) were used as well as the hydrobiological indicators which they can be regarded as the measure of ecosystem stability as they reflect the response of hydrobionts to the anthropogenic effect. The system of indicators thus generated includes four criteria: hydrographic characteristics, the socioeconomic state of water management, waste water characteristics, the surface water quality, and biological characteristics. Each of the criteria is represented by sev eral indicators whose contents are filled with statistical material for the period 1993-2015, by numerical estimates made by these authors, and by expedition-based and published data. It is shown that the water discharge within the Yenisei basin is ineffective: the technical status of the water supply systems is in serious decay, the proportion of recycled and reused water is low, and the water consumption indicator per unit of gross domestic product is high. Because of the decline of the production level, freshwater intake and waste water discharge have decreased; however, this has not led to any improvement in surface water quality. The chemical and biological methods of water quality assessment for the Yenisei river have shown similar results corresponding to the «contaminated» and «dirty» classes. Channel storage of the Yenisei changed its thermal regime, resulting in structural rearrange ments of biological communities and triggering a decrease in stability of the aquatic ecosystem.

An analysis is made of the migration and accumulative ability of pollutants to identify their role in formation of the chemical composition of the water environment using, as an example, the Southern-Minusinsk Depression affected by atmospheric pollution from aluminum production. Information is obtained on the chemical composition of water in atmospheric precipitation, rivers, lakes and deep waters of the background territory which are used as a standard of comparison with the analogs from the zone of atmospheric pollution where the content levels of the main pollutants (F^-, Na⁺, Al³⁺, and Ni²⁺) were determined. The fluoride ion was identified as the priority pollutant element, with its weight and toxicity predominating. The area of lands polluted by this element is about 250 km ² . It is established that the water component of the initial segment of the hydrosphere in the atmospheric precipitation → soil solutions → waters of the surface runoff → groundwater sequence underwent the largest effect. It is found that the composition of snow water changed from chloride-hydrocarbonate sodium-calcium to sulfate-fluoride sodium aluminum. The composition of rain water changed from chloride-hydrocarbonate calcium-sodium to hydrocarbonate-fluoride calcium - aluminum-sodium. Soil solutions contain in their composition a larger number of HCO3 and Ca²⁺ ions and are categorized as sulfate-hydrocarbonate calcic with the involvement of F^-, Na⁺ and Mg²⁺ . It is determined that groundwater of the 1 ^st level (as deep as 10 m) remains almost unchanged in its structure but in the vicinity of the plants they contain an increased amount of fluorine. Deep hydrocarbonate magnesium-calcium water used for drinking water supply is characterized by a persistently low fluorine content level. A very small quantity of this element remains in the Yenisei which is in 5 km to the south from the emission source. The increased amount of fluorine and aluminum in lakes is caused mainly by natural factors.

Presented is a generally large-scale scientific reference vegetation map compiled for the first time at a scale of 1:100 000 for the Zeya State Nature Reserve and Tukuringra Range. The map legend is based on original field material, and the contour part of the map was developed by using Landsat and Spot imagery from different seasons. Spatial distribution models of species with a significant role in phytocenosis were used to delineate between vegetation units. The scheme of the altitudinal-belt dif ferentiation of vegetation is refined; in the eastern part of Tukuringra Range, we identified three altitudinal belts: subgoletz, mountain-taiga and subtaiga, with subbelts and altitudinal-climatic belts. The cenotic diversity and structure of vegetation is presented in the context of the altitudinal-belt and intrabelt organization of vegetation cover. The map displays the diversity of plant communities of the territory at the level of groups of associations and, more rarely, associations within formations and provides 72 thematic units including five for tundras, five for elfin wood and open wood, 42 for forests, three for vegetation on rocks and screes, one for meadows, and one for shrubs. A rationale is given to the boundaries of encroachment of the Manchu rian florocenotic complex on Tukuringra Range. An assessment is made of the spatial role of different plant communities. We examine the dynamical states of plant communities and identify the areas occupied by secondary small-leaved forests, and by plant communities of early stages of post-fire rehabilitation. The association of plant communities with the geomorphological structure of the territory is pointed out; more specifically, the valley vegetation on the map is considered in the form of series reflecting the formation stages of vegetation at different ecological and age levels of the floodplain-terrace complex. It is shown that the patterns of ecological and spatial occurrence of plant communities as revealed by mapping them can be extrapolated to neighboring mountains of the Amur river basin.

Long-term soil research efforts (1980-2017) in the Baikal drainage basin revealed a widespread occurrence of thin layers of skeletal soils in the tundra zone: peat-lithozems, lithozems coarse humus and humic and dark-humus, and petrozems. A va riety of full-height soils is represented by podburs, peat-podburs, podburs gleyic, podzols and gleysols. It is determined that the soil cover of the mountain-taiga zone is nonuniform because of the manifestation of the vertical zonation, slope aspects and permafrost of different types. The main background of the Khangai soils consists of cryosols and podburs; Khentii - sod-podburs and dark-humus soils; near Lake Khövsgöl - cryosols, podburs and sod-podburs; the Baikal region - podburs, podzols, peat podburs and sod-podzols, and on the windward slopes of the mountain ridges facing Baikal - podburs and coarse humus bu rozems. The occurrence and development of burozem soils in the Baikal region is confirmed. In the forest-steppe zone of Hangai and Khentii, the soil diversity is presented by cryosols, sod-podburs, dark- and gray-humus soils, and in the forest-steppe contact zone - chernozems and castanozems. It is established that in the Selenga middle mountains, the basis for soil cover is provided by sod-podburs, and the accompanying soils are gray metamorphic, light-humic and cryoarid soils. We identified a new type of soils, cespitose-gray soils. Psammozems and light-humic soils occur on sands. Chernozems prevail in the steppe zone, and cas tanozems, cryoarid and, light-humic soils are dominant in the arid steppe zone. It is determined that the floodplain develops soils of different types: immature, alluvial and halophytic. A study is made of the specific character of floodplain soil formation de termined by the mountains on the territory, the regional features of floodplain-alluvial processes, the extremely continental climate, and by the functioning of soils in conditions of the combined manifestation of cryodization and aridization. It is emphasized that the 1:5 000 000 soil map of the Lake Baikal drainage basin was created using a unified methodological framework and a uni fied classification by soil scientists of Russia and Mongolia. It is established that the soils of the Baikal region differ from the soils located at the same latitude of the European territory of Russia. It is found that the mountain zonality has a determining influence on the formation and spatial distribution of soils.

Based on hydrological, hydrochemical and hydrobiological studies made during 2010-2016 and considering the previous data, we discuss seasonal and interannual changes in the content of total and inorganic phosphorus on the Russian territory of the Selenga river. The study period is characterized by low hydraulicity of the river (especially in 2015) and short-lasting sum mer floods in 2012 and 2013. Concentrations of inorganic phosphorus varied within 0-174 μ g/L, and total phosphorus varied from 28 to346 μ g/L. Their maximum values are largely due to phosphorous inputs with sewage from economic facilities. It is shown that inputs of pollutants from the Mongolian territory are responsible for the increased phosphorus content levels in the river (as far as the river mouth) on the Russian territory, with corresponding local increases in phosphorus concentrations content manifesting themselves under the influence of anthropogenic factors. The lowest concentrations of inorganic phosphorus are re corded in the spring-autumn period with low hydraulicity and the mass development of the phytoplankton. During floods, high concentrations of inorganic phosphorus are recorded with an increase in flow velocity as well as with input of suspended solids and pollutants from the catchment area accompanied by a dramatic decrease of algal growth. In conditions of a long-lasting low water level since 1996, the Selenga has shown a tendency for a decrease in average annual concentrations of inorganic phos phorus and for an increase in the content level of its organic compounds. It is shown that outputs of both inorganic and total phosphorus by the river are governed by changes in the water runoff. During the 2010-2016 low water level, the output of in organic phosphorus with the waters of the Selenga river decreased by a factor of 1,9-4,5, whereas the total phosphorus concen tration increased by a factor of 2,9. The structure of phosphorus output to the lake has changed, i.e. outputs of inorganic and organic phosphorus decreased and increased, respectively.

Based on the data from 17 meteorological stations, we have analysed the characteristics of the temperature change within the surface water layer (0,2-0,5 m) in the coastal zone of Lake Baikal. It was determined that during 1970-2016, the average temperature trend in May-September was increasing from Southern Baikal to Central and Northern Baikal due to a combina tion of physical-geographical features (heat from the sun, orography of the coastal mountains and underwater slopes, wind conditions, and water dynamics) in the lake basin. It was established that the low value of the trend in Southern Baikal is due to a relatively poor protection of its water area by the Primorskii Ridge (approximately 800 m high) from strong winds of the western quarter. It was found that an increased wind activity causes a more pronounced wind-wave mixing in the upper layers as well as more frequent upwellings/downwellings which also involve the waters from the deeper layers in the exchange with the upper water layers. In the Central Baikal basin, the influence of the water mass on the atmospheric circulation in the surface layer is the most obvious. Its consequence implies high atmospheric transparency and decreased cloudiness over the lake leading to an increase in incident solar radiation in the upper water layers. The high temperature trends, compared to the other parts of Baikal, correspond to the Northern Baikal basin best protected from the strong westerly winds by the Baikalskii Ridge (up to 2500 m high). Over the past two decades (1994-2016), the trend of warming of the surface water layer has decreased signifi cantly, along with an increase in the warming rate of Central and Southern Baikal. Using data of deep-water temperature monitoring in Southern Baikal, we estimated the spatial scales of the identical response of the surface temperature and the lake water column to climate change.

Presented is the evidence concerning the groundwater and surface water quality on the territory of the settlement of List vyanka which are used by the local population for water supply. The development of the tourism industry in the Baikal region leads to the anthropogenic impact on the Lake Baikal ecosystem and to changes in natural landscapes as well as deteriorating the state of the terrestrial and underground hydrosphere. Detailed hydrogeological sampling of 106 boreholes and wells in the pad’s and narrow valleys of the settlement revealed areas of polluted groundwater. It is established that groundwater within the Sennaya pad’ is generally of good quality and suitable for drinking purposes. In the Bannaya pad’ where the brook of the same name is the main drain, nitrate content slightly exceeds the background values. The Krestovaya pad’ showed the largest number of groundwater sources (mainly public wells) with polluted groundwater. In the Malaya Cheremshanka pad’, the waters are polluted by nitrates, and their content exceeds the requirements laid down in health standards by a factor of 1.1-2.5. In the Bol’shaya Cheremshanka pad’, increased contents of nitrates were also recorded in groundwater from one well and one borehole. Groundwater from the Berezovaya pad’ contains nitrates exceeding by a factor of 2,5-2,9 the permissible concentration. The main pollution source of groundwater is domestic sewage from the numerous hotel complexes located along the valley bottoms and the sides of narrow valleys. On the whole, the content levels of standardized components (nitrates, ammonium and silicon) in groundwater of Listvyanka do not exceed the threshold level value for drinking water.

T is shown that the unfavorable intra-annual distribution of river runoff, and low-water and high-water periods complicate the use of water resources of the Novosibirsk reservoir and are accompanied by a number of negative consequences. The possi bilities of creating reservoirs in the basin and their influence on the runoff of the Upper Ob are analyzed. The Novosibirsk res ervoir is considered as an example of water resources management in the extreme hydraulicity conditions of the river. It is noted that in spite of the shallow seasonal flow regulation, the reservoir allows the negative consequences of floods and low-water situations to be reduced. At present, the Upper Ob is characterized by an increase in the recurrence frequency of low-water years and low-water cycles consisting of two years or more. For the period 1959-2015, 21 years were high-water, 11 years - moderate water and 24 years - low-water. We examine changes in hydraulicity of the Upper Ob for the period 2012-2015, including extremely low-water, high-water and moderate-water years. An analysis of the use of the water resourc es of the Novosibirsk reservoir in the low-water conditions shows that forecasts of the spring inflow into the reservoir do not permit any reasonably high-quality management decision-making corresponding to the extreme conditions of formation of the annual low inflow. In some periods, warm spring weather causes intense snowmelt in Altai, which leads to a rise of the water levels in local rivers, and the inflow into the reservoir increases up to seven times. Generally, almost a third of the high-water inflow is accumulated in the Novosibirsk reservoir, which makes it possible to influence the processes of flooding and underflood ing in the downstream. As a result of the studies carried out, a need for a deeper regulation of the Upper river flow has been revealed.

A set of climate-induced changes in the typical landscapes of the Siberian taiga at the southern periphery of the permafrost zone is discussed. The results obtained are based on long-term field investigations made in the key areas within the eastern margin of the West Siberian Plain, in the northern part of the Yenisei Ridge and the western Central Siberian Plateau. Analysis of primary climatic data shows that since the early 1980s the mean annual temperature in the boreal areas of Siberia increased by 1-2 ° C against the previous cooling period 1950s-1970s. Winters became warmer and springs and autumns longer. It is established that such changes have influence primarily on the state of ecotone landscapes located in the vicinities of their eco logical borders. A study is made of the boreal landscapes of the permafrost ecotone corresponding zonal-geographically to the natural complexes of the middle taiga. These geosystems are characterized by the highest vulnerability to any external influ ences, which renders them particularly informative for studying the consequences of climate changes. On the basis of using visu ally observed landscape indicators representing complex links between their components, combined with instrumental data, the main trends in geosystem changes in the areas of sporadic and discontinuous high-temperature ice-bounded ground are revealed. These trends are considered in the form of the following response processes observed in the Siberian taiga in the south of the permafrost zone: degradation of ice-bounded ground and intensification of solifluction in dark-coniferous landscapes of glacial plains; local replacement of solifluction with land sliding; melting of goletz ice in kurums; mudding of kurums with fine earth and their further overgrowing with mosses, lichens and small-leaved forests; changes in animal habitats, and deterioration of the worsening conditions for taiga bioresources reproduction, etc.

A landscape and ecological analysis is made of the structure of soil zoocenoses in the Tunka depression and the foothill area of Khamar-Daban. We examine the patterns of change in quantitative characteristics and taxonomic diversity of invertebrate communities in the landscape-ecological range under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. Taxonomic diversity and structure change mainly in the gradient of edapho-climatic and phytocenotic conditions which vary with the location of a biogeo cenosis in the landscape. Within the taiga and forest landscapes, the general regularity of distribution of soil invertebrates is an increase in the number of species from steppificated pine and larch forests to dark coniferous-fir and mixed sufficiently moist biogeocenoses of the mountain forest belt. The relatively low heat availability of the root layer, combined with high humidity, and also the high temperatures that lead to drying of the soil, negatively affect on the taxonomic diversity of the mesopopulation. The main trend of change in taxonomic diversity of pedobiont communities is a decrease of the number of species in the gradient of increasing climate aridity, and an enhancement in hypothermaia and anthropogenic pressure. A structural and dynamical analy sis identified two main types of structure of the communities: mesothermohygrophile (with a relatively small contribution from of insects and a large contribution from annelids), and xeroresistant (with a significant involvement of representatives of the insecta class. The first type includes zoocomplexes of taiga, forest, meadow and wetland biogeocenoses represented mainly by moisture-loving forms; the second type includes steppificated, steppe and radically anthropogenically disturbed biogeocenoses, the composi tion of which is dominated by invertebrates with relatively short development cycles and largely adapted to moisture deficit.