Chemical composition of the small mammal reproductive system as an indicator of enterprise technogenic impact on the environment

In this paper we consider the indicative role of chemical composition of the small mammal (specifically, the bank vole, or Myodes glareolus) reproductive system with the purpose of studying the impact of a large-scale nonferrous metal-processing enterprise on living organisms through the expample of Middle Ural copper-smelting plant OJSC. We have analysed the chemical composition of the placenta-embryo system in the areas which are 2 km and 30 km away from the plant

Geochemistry of grass biocenoses: Biogenic cycles of chemical elements at contamination of the environment with heavy metals

The paper addresses the involvement of grass communities in biogenic cycles of chemical elements (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Mn, Co, Cr, Ni, and Fe). Both the species composition and the suprasoil phytomass of phytocenoses in the Central Urals are modified in a gradient of contamination with heavy metals. The bioproductivity and subsequent mineralization of plant remnants are discussed with reference to two soil types that differ in agrochemical parameters. The contribution of agrobotanical groups to the biological exchange of chemical elements is proved to be controlled not only by the volume of annually dying suprasoil biomass but also by the intensity of processes mineralizing plant remnants in the contamination gradient. This modifies the cycles of chemical elements in natural contaminated biocenoses. The reaction of grass communities on environmental contamination can be viewed as partial counterbalancing of the adverse effect of chemical stress via maintaining a high enough level of the biological exchange of chemical elements. © 2015, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.Russian Academy of Sciences, РФФИ: 12-I-4-2051Russian Foundation for Basic Research, 13-04-960056-r_ural_a

Dynamics of Projective Coverage and Species Diversity of Grass Communities During Restoration Succession on Fallows and Dumps

The temporal dynamics of species diversity and projective coverage of herbaceous communities formed on fallows and dumps was studied. Annual studies of these phytocoenotic indicators were carried out in four groups on the territory of the Tagil zone of the Middle Urals in 2006-2019. The successional development of communities depends on edaphic factors. Phytocenoses with a projective coverage and species diversity typical for meadow communities on the background territories develop on agrozems and technozems under conditions of low soil contamination with heavy metals. The meadow stage under conditions of high pollution is short, and it is characterized by low values of the studied parameters. Other trajectories of succession: a long delay in the grass stage or skipping the meadow stage and transition from grass to tree-shrub stage, are also possible. The species diversity of communities is more conservative compared with the total projective coverage of species, the rate of development of which is largely determined by the successional age of the community than by the type of substrate

Dynamics of Alpha Diversity During the Restoration Succession of Grass Communities of Fallow Lands and Pits

The features of the restoration of the diversity of plant communities formed under different edaphic conditions were studied. In the period of 2006-2020, restorative successions on the territory of the Tagil zone of the Middle Urals were observed on nine sites, five of which were fallow lands, and four were overgrown anthropogenic pits. In the course of direct observations of the communities of fallow lands and pits, four groups of phytocenoses were identified, reflecting successive stages of succession: gramineous phytocenoses with maintaining their status during the study period; gramineous phytocenoses with subsequent transition to the meadow stage; and early meadow and formed meadow phytocenoses. The temporal dynamics of their species composition and alpha diversity was studied. Differences in indicators of diversity of communities associated with their successional age and physicochemical parameters of soils (agrozems and technozems) were established. Communities of agrozems and technozems differed in the rate of change in alpha diversity indicators. The increase in these indicators occurred significantly faster on agrozems than on technozems. The transition between stages was not accompanied by a significant increase in the diversity of communities on technozems.The study was carried out within the framework of the state assignment of the Nizhny Tagil State Social and Pedagogical Institute of the Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University and the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Intraspecific Variability of Metal Tolerance in Taraxacum officinale Wigg. s.l. Seed Progeny: Analysis Based on Dose–Response Relationship

Abstract—: Based on the analysis of dose–response relationships under exposure to a wide range of copper sulfate concentrations, the metal tolerance of seed progeny was assessed using the root elongation test in two morphological forms of Taraxacum officinale Wigg. s.l. growing in background and technogenically transformed areas (industrial waste dumps). Since previous studies in the same areas showed that these forms differed in their abundance and ratio in the coenopopulations and in the level of copper accumulation, it was assumed that they would also differ in the metal tolerance of seed progeny. It was found that the average values of effective copper sulfate concentrations inhibiting root growth in seedlings by 10, 50, and 90%, did not differ between the study areas and between the morphological forms of dandelion. © 2019, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.The work was performed under state assignment for the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences and supported by the Integrated Research Program of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (project no. 18-4-4-9)

Biogeochemistry of Impact Regions: the Role of Edaphic and Phytocoenotic Environmental Factors

The paper addresses the removal of chemical elements by suprasoil and subsoil phytomasses of herbaceous phytocenoses and their subsequent return to soil during decomposition of plant remnants. The obtained results allowed us to evaluate the biogeochemical cycles of essential (Zn, Cu) and toxic (Pb, Cd) elements in natural biogeocenoses of the Middle Urals. It has been shown that the intensity of such an exchange in areas subjected to variable anthropogenic impact is determined not only by the direct influence of mobile forms of chemical elements, which are contained in soils and operate as environmental pollutants, but also by a combination of edaphic (physicochemical parameters of soils), coenotic (abundance and correlation of agrobotanical groups in phytocenosis) and microbiological (level of evolution of soil microbiocenosis) conditions. © 2020, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

The Structural and Functional State of Soil Microbiota in a Chemically Polluted Environment

The structural and functional diversity of the main ecological trophic groups of soil microorganisms in meadow soils of the Central Urals anthropogenically contaminated with heavy metals was studied. The increase in the total numbers of these microorganisms in technozems, in comparison with those in agrozems, is due to the higher abundance of iron-reducing, denitrifying, nitrogen-fixing, and sulfate-reducing bacteria, an increase in cellulolytic activity, and the dependence of these characteristics on the toxic load of the soil. A reductive structure of the microbial community with the predominance of r-strategists, which reflects earlier stages of microbiocenoses succession under soil contamination, is formed under soil pollution with heavy metals. © 2017, Pleiades Publishing, Inc.Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences: 12-I-4-2051ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was supported by the Government of Sverdlovsk oblast, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 13-04-96056-r_ural_a), and a Program of the Presidium of the Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (project no. 12-I-4-2051)

Specific features of soils and herbaceous plant communities in industrially polluted areas of the Middle Urals

Anthropogenic transformation of soils and specific features of herbaceous plant communities have been studied in areas polluted with heavy metals. With regard to landscape and edaphic conditions, all test areas have been divided into two groups: agrozems and technozems. Phytocenoses in test areas of the background and buffer zones belong to the glycophytic variant of meadow vegetation type and to the premeadow stage of progressive succession, respectively. Chemical pollution leads to a decrease in coefficients of similarity between communities and an increase in taxonomic diversity due to reduction in species saturation of genera and families, with a rise in the proportion of monotypic taxa. The influence of chemical pollution on the species saturation of plant communities is stronger than that of community type and coverage of species. © 2015, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.Russian Academy of Sciences: 12-I-4-2051, 12-I-4-2057Russian Foundation for Basic Research: 13-04-96056-r_ural_