Olga Vyacheslavovna Semenyuk

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 features of the dynamics of the morphology and chemical properties of forest litter during post-agrogenic reforestation of arable land in the southern taiga subzone are studied. The relationship between the dynamics of the structure of litter with the floristic composition and the ecological-coenotic structure of the soil cover is shown. The increase in stocks, as well as the diversity of the structure and the degree of spatial variation of the main morphological indicators of litter as the regeneration of the stand has been established. Acidification and a decrease in the ash content of litter, as well as a decrease in the fraction of easily decomposed fractions, are adequately reflected in the composition of the soil cover, in which the role of species adapted for increased acidity and low content of nutrients in the substrate increases. After spruce enters the first tier, the spatial distribution of the structure, reserves, power, and fractional composition of litter is determined by the position in the tesser. In general, the course of succession, as well as the dynamics of the morphology and chemical properties of litter, indicates a decrease in the rate of circulation in biogeocenosis. The ecological scales of Ellenberg, Landolt, Tsyganov and Ramensky as applied to ground cover can serve as an important tool in analyzing the dynamics of forest litter in forest ecosystems.

The article discusses the existing methodological approaches used in Russian and foreign studies of urban soils. The analysis of methods for studying the soil cover as an object of landscape design, considering its formation and functioning on the example of the Moscow city. Information is provided on the territorial and functional organization of urban space. From the point of view of methodological approaches for the study of urban soils, it is proposed to divide them into two groups: uneven-aged soils with bulk surface horizons from various recultivants, formed according to design documents, and natural and surface-transformed soils without filling layer. The features of methodological approaches for studying each soil group are considered. It is noted that the material composition of the ground materials from which urban soils are formed has a significant impact on their structure, properties and functioning. The use of ground materials of different composition and properties for the formation of the upper part of urban soils, sometimes an unknown history of their functioning and land use, and possible numerous violations cause extremely high and most often unsystematic spatial and temporal variability of urban soils. With the increasing interest of the scientific community in the qualitative assessment of the urban environment, the most promising is the development of methods for studying the resulting ecological functions of urban soils using integral indicators, as well as the development of approaches, methods and technologies for creating urban soils that meet the criteria of green environmental management.

Key words: soils of Moscow city, zoning of urban areas, soil science methods, urban ecology, ecological functions of soils, ground materials.

The features of the ground cover in connection with the use of care in typical urban plantings in Moscow are determined. The character of plantings care determines the main features of ground cover more than the type of tree species. As a result of planting care, nemoral shade-tolerant species in the grass layer are actively replaced by meadow nitrophilic and ruderal species belonging to annuals and turf grasses, which contributes to an increase the biological cycle intensity.  In urban ecosystems, the indicative role of plants in relation to soil properties is reduced due to the lack of direct long-term relationships between these components.

For the purposes of ecological monitoring, the features of living ground cover and forest floor in spruce stands within Moscow urban territory were studied. Using ecological scales by Nitsenko, Ramensky, Ellenberg and Landolt, let to consider, that ruderalization of living overground cover is a result of recreation. Independently of spruce forest type, the absence of undergrowth results in increasing light penetrating and increasing species quantity. Variety of ecological spaces is a result of moderate trampling, which is mostly expressed in between-crown spaces. Hight trophy index by L.G. Ramensky is a result of increased weediness of overground cover. It is shown, that living overground cover characterizes the variety of tree layer and the level of anthropogenic impact on phytocenosis.

The forest floor in urban spruce stands is sensitive to changes in functioning conditions and can be used for ecological monitoring. Availability of forest floor studying and simplicity of parameter estimation allows getting information about organic matter accumulation in express-regime under various degrees of anthropogenic impact on urban ecosystems.

Within the system of trunk, crown and open space, the simplification of litter structure and decreasing organic matter total deposit are observed — this can be considered an invariant process.

Maximal uniformity of coverless spaces litter, composed by needles and branches, results from absence of living overground cover, in combination with low recreation in these spaces. This fact let to conclude, that coverless spaces are able to be used as most important objects for comparing spruce ecosystems with different overground cover. Two groups of indexes, characterizing structure-functional litter organization, are proposed. Indexes, characterizing structural litter organization, include the total deposit of litter and L horizon deposit. Indexes, characterizing functional litter features, include deposit and proportion of detritus as well as the same for easy-decomposed components, ratio of thickness (deposit) of L horizon and F horizon. The peculiarities of long-term spatial functioning are characterized by litter typology in the system trunk-crown-open space.