Calculation of parameters of soil particles detached and transported by shallow flows upon rill erosion

A procedure was developed for calculating the size of detached and transported soil particles (aggregates), their fractional distribution, and the eroding velocities in the region of low hydrodynamic impacts of shallow flows based on the examination of pulsation of bottom velocities and soil heterogeneity in terms of aggregate composition and cohesion. The procedure was tested under field conditions for the rill erosion of soils in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.     

Aftereffect of heat shock on activity of the photosynthetic apparatus and lipid peroxidation in wheat leaves

The dynamics of development of oxidative stress and poststress recovery of the photosynthetic apparatus in leaves of 10-day-old wheat seedlings subjected to heat shock (40, 42, and 44°C) for 20 min and exposed to light for 72 h are studied. The effect of pretreatment temperature and light intensity on recovery of the photosynthetic apparatus and its resistance to photostress and repeated heat shock is examined. Original Russian Text ? V.D. Kreslavskii, V.Yu. Lyubimov, N.I. Shabnova, T.I. Balakhnina, E.D. Kuznetsov, A.A. Kosobryukhov, 2007, published in Doklady Rossiiskoi Akademii Sel’skokhozyaistvennykh Nauk, 2007, No. 4, pp. 5–8. Presented by V.S. Shevelukha, Academician of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences     

Implementing urban greening aid projects – The case of St. Petersburg, Russia

Recent years have seen the introduction of the concept of urban greening, defined as embracing the planning and management of all urban vegetation to create or add values to the local community. Green-space development has become recognised by international agencies and donors as important tool in improving the quality of urban livelihoods and urban environment. This paper evaluates an example of an urban greening aid project, carried out by Danish and Russian partners in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. The project aimed to contribute to conservation and development of the cultural–historical, social and ecological values of St. Petersburg's urban green areas by implementing a structured, socially inclusive, well-informed planning and management approach. The project had three main components: (1) the development of a GIS-based information system to assist green-space planning and management; (2) on-site improvements in selected green areas and (3) awareness raising and public involvement activities. Ex post evaluation of the project showed that in spite of the limits of time and resources, important results were achieved. A more strategic approach to urban green-space planning and management, as promoted by urban greening, was adapted by some of the Russian project partners. Achievements also included notable physical improvements to one park. But the main project impacts were improved communication and collaboration between the local park department and local academia, as well as expertise developed in running a complex urban greening project. The project failed, however, in its public involvement ambitions.Moreover, the project should have facilitated discussion on some of the current premises of urban green-space planning and management in St. Petersburg, which insufficiently consider changing values and public preferences related to green spaces.     

The condition of the mesopedobiont community in Moscow forest parks as an indicator of the recreational load and the formation of impact zones along footpaths

In large Moscow forest parks the characteristics of the mesopedobionts of the natural forests are preserved in the territories that do not undergo direct human impacts. Under the influence of the recreational load the abundance, biomass, and diversity of the soil invertebrates is decreased over distances of 50–100 cm and more from footpaths and the rate of their development defines the level of changes and width of the impact zone. As compared to the properties of the soils, the mesopedobionts are a more sensitive and informative indicator of recreation; when monitoring the effects of this impact the diagnostics of the mesofauna diversity are informative.