Articles

An approach is proposed for the assessment of ecosystem services of various components of the landscape of urban forest parks. The methodology takes into account the environmental and recreational functions of the territory, is based on the interconnection of ecosystem services, ecological functions and the properties of individual components of the landscape. The assessment is carried out in a differentiated way, taking into account the decrease in the quality of the services provided in conditions of significant anthropogenic load. It is shown that the greatest contribution to the cost of services is made by the soil.

The problem of elaboration and implementation of innovative, feasible, ecologically friendly nature-like technologies aiming at an increase in carbon (C) stock and significant reduction in greenhouse gas (GG) emission from all agricultural areas, including those under rice cultivation, is critically important. In field tests conducted in Hunan Province, China, carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration by roots of rice plants was evaluated as influenced by silicon (Si) fertilizers. The amount of additional CO₂ sequestrated was dependent on the content of plant-available Si in agrochemicals, frequency and duration of their application and granulometric composition of soil. The data obtained evidences the potential of Si fertilizers to promote the process of C sequestration and reduction in GG emission under rice cultivation. Their application provided an increase in rice yield by 12,1 to 71,2% and in the CO₂ fixation by root system by 0,95 to 14,9 t ha^-1 over one season. Returning C to soil and fertility reproduction could be provided via enhanced plant root system development and increased root debris after harvesting. Agrochemicals containing silicon available for plants should be included in the technology for the implementation of 4R-STRATEGY of mineral nutrition of agricultural crops.

Expression of the total chemical analysis in the form of oxides has significant drawbacks: this conditional form does not correspond to the actual content of soil minerals. Oxide form distorts the view of the relationship between the different elements in the soil. It is obvious that the total chemical composition should be expressed in the form of elements including oxygen - the element with the maximal Clarke. Thus it is necessary to consider the amendment on oxygen loss on ignition of the soil. The studied soil on amendments to oxygen can be divided into three groups. For spodosols of Russian plain after amendments oxygen content increases slightly and total chemical composition of practically does not change. For vertisols of southern Siberia after amendments oxygen content increases by 3 - 4%. Not accounting for this fact leads to a noticeable error in the content of K. For oxisols in Norfolk Island with a high proportion of unstable gibbsite after amendments content O increases by 7 - 8%. This leads to a noticeable error in the contents: O, Al, Fe and Ti in particular. For oxisols the amendment of oxygen is required.

The dynamics of mineralization of organic substances in soil solutions sampled by the tension lysimeters from podzolic soil has been studied. The stability of dissolved organic matter (DOM) varies with the horizon. The greatest content of resistant to biodegradation DOM (was mineralized less than 50%) was found in the upper organic horizons, down the profile it is decreased. The fraction of mineralized carbon is inversely proportional to the relative content of hydrophobic and phenolic fractions in DOM. The lowest percentage of mineralized carbon (23%) resides in the upper Elhi-horizon, where DOM is contained maximum of hydrophobic fraction (44%). In the course of oxidative transformation the degree of aromaticity of the DOM and the proportion of phenolic compounds increased (SUVA280 - by 2-12 times; phenols - 2 to 10 fold), while molecular masses decreased up to 5-5,5 kDa. These changes are manifested more intensively in solutions from the lower horizons, thus, the non-decomposable residue of this DOM is represented by substances most resistant to the decomposition.

The levels of phthalate esters in the upper soil layers of Moscow-city were considered. The sum of concentrations of five phthalate esters (dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, di-n-butyl phthalate, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) in the soils falls in the range 4,39-397,00 mg/kg (with mean value of 62,70 mg/kg and median of 31,22 mg/kg) and was characterized by lognormal distribution. The shares of those phthalates in the sum of concentrations were 0,6; 0,7; 14,2; 57,9, and 26,6% correspondently. The significant positive correlations were found between concentrations of the phthalate esters. The sum of phthalate concentrations was higher in the soils of reserve and residential areas than that in the soils of roadside and park areas.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of content and distribution of oil hydrocarbons in the soils of geochemical landscapes of the southern Sakhalin. It is discussed the main types of soil formed in this region, and the parameters determining the migration of oil hydrocarbons in the landscapes. It was shown that the soils of transit-accumulative and accumulative landscapes are characterized by the highest content and the depth of oil hydrocarbons penetration into the soil profile. In the case of accidental oil spills, along with lateral migration significant role will play vertical migration of oil hydrocarbons to the accumulative landscapes.

The degree of spatial variation of agrochemically important properties of plowing horizon (pH KCl, hydrolytic acidity, absorption capacity, the degree of saturation of bases, humus content, mobile phosphorus and exchange potassium) is estimated. It is shown that the partition of the set into subsets corresponding to classification units significantly reduces the degree of variation of humus and physico-chemical properties, practically without changing the variability of pH, the content of mobile phosphorus and exchange potassium. Discriminant analysis shows that the arable horizons of sod-medium podzolic, gray forest and dark gray forest soils are satisfactorily classified for a given set of properties. Poorly classified bog-podzolic and gray forest gleyed soils. Light gray forest soils occupy an intermediate position, gravitating toward gray forest soils.

The concentrations of potassium were measured in 1 М NH₄OAc, 2 M HCl, and hot 10% HCl extracts from samples of the rhizosphere of Norway maple ( Acer platanoides ) and of bulk soil taken in five replicates from the (AO)EL horizon of a podzolic soil. The rhizosphere soil was found to contain reliably more exchangeable potassium due to higher content of OM and more potassium compounds extractable with hot 10% HCl. According to the existing guidelines on growing the leaf-bearing trees the rhizosphere soil and the bulk soil can be referred to highly and moderately provided with available potassium respectively. The higher content of potassium soluble in hot 10% HCl in the rhizosphere soil can be explained by the dissolution of the finest poorly crystallized illite particles. These particles can be accumulated in the rhizosphere soil due to intensification of two processes: illitization and physical disintegration of illite particles enhanced by growing roots.

The joint development of sod-podzolic and lightgray forest soils is investigated on the land released from agricultural use situated within the southern slope of Gorokhovetsky spur of the North-East of the Vladimir region. Morphological and physico-chemical properties of light gray forest and sod-podzolic soils influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors are analyzed.

Forest litter of some coniferous and deciduous plantations within the Botanical Garden of the Moscow State University is studied. It is established that in the conditions of the deciduous plantations, forest litters of destructive types develop, whereas in the coniferous plantations - fermentative and humified ones. The total reserves of forest litters range from 500-800 g/m² in deciduous plantations, up to 1000-5000 g/m² in coniferous ones. It is shown that small-leaved plantations are characterized by high rates of cycling, with a significant decrease in the coniferous ecosystems. It was shown for the first time that with an increase in the proportion of leaves in the litter, the overall decomposition rate of terrestrial litter increases substantially, which is confirmed by the theory of “hot points” proposed in the scientific literature.