Том 73, № 5 (2018)

This article considers the aspects of agriculture of the Nizhegorodskaya gubernia in the 19th and 21st centuries. It utilizes information contained in historical materials from the reports of the Nizhny Novgorod expedition under the leadership of V.V. Dokuchaev, as well as data on areas of cultivated crops in 2006. In the 19th century, the types of cultivated crops, the planted area, and the proportion of fertilized arable land largely depended on the composition of the soil cover and meteorological conditions, as well as on the harvest of the previous years. In the 21st century, there were no notable influence of differences in natural conditions, the share of fertilized arable land in different parts of the region was practically the same, and it did not depend on the composition of the soil cover.

In this paper, the contents of nitrates, chlorides, mobile phosphates, petroleum products (PPs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils at different distances (100, 200, 300, 750 m) from the Torbeevo (the Lubertsy region of Moscow oblast) solid waste landfill (SWL) along two rhumb lines are determined. The distribution of toxicants in the profiles of soddy–podzolic and soddy–gleyey soils near the landfill is considered. The study reveals the alkalization of the medium in the upper soil layer at a distance of 100–200 m from the landfill, contamination of roadside zones with petroleum products, and multiple excess of the background PAH content and benz(a)pyrene maximum permissible concentration at a distance of 100 m from the landfill near a road. For high-molecular PAHs, the contamination halos extend to 750 m from the SWL.

Formica pratensis anthills, which occur in great numbers in the Bryansk Opolie fallow land areas covered with the grey-luvic phaeozems, change both the local microrelief and the soil properties. The soil pH_KCL in their dome is higher than that in the surrounding soils by an average of 0.6 units. In the top 5-cm soil layer, increased contents of the organic matter and the mobile phosphorus and potassium are recorded, while the cation exchange capacity and the hydrolytic acidity are decreased. The natural radionuclide distribution under and outside the anthill is uniform. The technogenic ¹³⁷Cs in its maximum is found at a greater depth under the anthill. It may be explained by the ant pedoturbation activities.

This study presents the results of a model experiment with Picea abies determining the role of root exudates in the intake of radiocaesium into soil solution. It has been established that the amount of consumed ¹³⁷Cs depends on the weight of the root system, with the majority of the radionuclide presumably accumulating in the primary cortex of the root; i.e., it was not redistributed further between the structural components of the plant. The amount of ¹³⁷Cs entering the aerial part is approximately 2.5% of its total storage in the plant. During the experiment (7 days), 37.4–53.8% of the radionuclide accumulated in the assimilating organs were transported into pure solution with root exudates and the radiocaesium storage transported into the solution exceeded that of the roots. The movement of ¹³⁷Cs in the aqueous film on the surface of the root systems have not been recorded.