Geographical factors of the abundance of flora in Russian cities

Doklady Earth Sciences - An analysis of data on the species abundance of flora in 89 cities (urban flora) of the Russian Federation facilitated determination of its main factors. It has been...     

On the evaluation of displacement and deformation in tidal waves according to digital records of STS-2 and KSESh-R seismometers

A procedure for eliciting displacements in tidal waves from seismograms of broadband velocimeters like STS-2 and KSESH-R and the evaluation conversion of these displacements into vertical or volumetric deformation is proposed.     

Heavy metal concentrations in water and bivalved mollusks in different channel reaches of the Southern Bug River

Variations in Cd, Cr, Cu, and Fe concentrations in water and the soft tissues of bivalved mollusks Anodonta anatina and Unio tumidus along the Southern Bug River channel are examined. Fe concentration was found to be somewhat higher than the MAC. Cd, Cr, and Cu concentrations in water met the drinking water standards. The comparison of individual reaches of the channel in terms of heavy metal concentrations in mollusks allowed polluted river reaches to be identified. The highest Fe concentrations in the soft tissues of mollusks were recorded near the river source. The mollusks in the middle and lower reaches of the Southern Bug featured high accumulation of Cd, Cr, and Cu.     

Bottom sediments of the oldest reservoir in Moscow region

The methodological features and results of two soil surveys of the Senezh Reservoir carried out in 1992 and 2006 as a part of multidisciplinary limnological studies of this large recreation water body with the aim to monitor its ecological state and prepare recommendations for water protection measures are analyzed     

Integrative fuzzy set pair model for land ecological security assessment: a case study of Xiaolangdi Reservoir Region, China

Due to the increasingly serious ecological degradation of land systems, the land ecological security issues have attracted more and more attention of policy makers, researchers and citizens. Aiming at overcoming the disadvantages in subjectivity and complexity of the currently used assessment methods, an integrative fuzzy set pair model for assessing the land ecological security was developed by integrating fuzzy assessment and set pair analysis (SPA). The approximate degree of land ecological security to the optimal standard set was calculated to describe the secure level by combining multiple indices. The indices and weights were determined by a pressure-state-response model and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP), respectively. Aided by a geographic information system, this model was applied to evaluate comprehensively the status of land ecological security in Xiaolangdi Reservoir Region, China, taking the administrative division as the assessment unit. The results showed that 20% of the total area maintained a slightly secure status, while 50% of the study area was of a middle or seriously low grade of land ecological security. The remaining portion (30%) was the most ecologically insecure. From the spatial prospective, obvious variations were observed. The land eco-security gradually decreased from the Xiaolangdi Dam to its surrounding regions. It was concluded that the status of the integral land ecological security of Xiaolangdi Reservoir Region was in the middle level, and increasingly intense human activities speeded up the degradation of regional land ecosystem in recent years and thus induced the crisis of land ecological security.     

The Effect of Aggregation of Impurity Nitrogen on Diamond X-Ray Luminescence

Two samplings of 65 diamond crystals divided by the intensity of a slow X-ray luminescence component are studied from the Arkhangel’skaya and Karpinskogo-1 pipes. IR and EPR spectroscopies revealed a relationship between the nitrogen A and P2 centers of the diamonds and the presence of a slow X-ray luminescence component. Its absence in most diamonds with high content of P1 (C) centers is explained by the low number of A and P2 centers.