Vladimir Stolbovoi

LAND DEGRADATION IN RUSSIA

Expanding populations and economic development have generated a growing demand for various land-based products, leading to increasing pressure on soils, water resources, and plants. In developing and developed countries, this pressure can exceed critical thresholds and requires land managers to face problems of deteriorating land resources, declining productivity, and consequently reduced income. Maintenance of the productive potential of land resources, and the checking of land degradation, are fundamental elements of sustainable land use (Pieri et al., 1995).The first attempt to combine soil degradation data collected by different ministries and institutes of Russia was undertaken by Dokuchaev Soil Institute in 1988-89 in the frame of the project on Global Assessment of Soil Degradation (GLASOD) (Oldeman et al., 1991) Since then, numerous publications concerning negative human impacts on soil have appeared in scientific and public journals describing types of degradation, their nature, severity, rate of change, extent, and consequences. The basic data were collected and published in Government (national) reports on the status and use of land in Russia (Government Report, 1993).

The GLASOD assessment for the Russian territory was based on data of varying quality, ranging from well-documented sources (i.e., on soil erosion) to assessments based on expert opinion (i.e., acidification). Also, the project was limited to degradation of agricultural lands. Thus, several other widespread forms of soil deterioration taking place in Russian forests and permafrost areas were not considered. Another disadvantage resulted from the fact that GLASOD aimed to compile a degradation map “manually.” This led to many cartographic restrictions, as well as generalization and loss of collected information presented in tabular and paper formats. There was an enormous discrepancy between the amount of soil degradation data collected and their acceptability and practical application. Soil degradation was not widely discussed before, as officially at that time the Former USSR did not have widespread ecological problems.

The total extent of land affected by soil degradation in Russia is estimated at 228.2 million hectares (ha), i.e., 13.7% of the area covered by soil (see Table 1 appended to this section). On the other hand, Russia still has 1,437.5 million ha (86.06%) of soils, which are stable under natural conditions or have been stabilized by human intervention. Three types of stable soils are distinguished in the database. The first includes soils stable under natural conditions, formed under undisturbed vegetation (1,265.3 million ha), primarily forests, forest-tundra, and tundra. The second combines soils that have developed under poor vegetation in areas like deserts and high mountain zones (30.5 million ha). The third group includes soils that are stable due to human influence (141.7 million ha). This group consists of soils that are stable owing to passive human influence (reserves, protected areas), as well as soils stabilized through active human influence, where specific measures were taken to prevent or reverse degradation.

In what follows, we give a short overview of the extent of different types of soil degradation. The status of soil degradation is presented for land use classes: arable land, pastures and haylands, forest.

Cropland in Russia occupies some 132 million ha. Land degradation is mainly caused by cultivation (77.5 million ha) and involves about 58.4 % of the area.

Soil compaction is the most widespread type of soil degradation influencing arable lands. It is assessed to occur on more than one third of the cultivated land (48.2 million ha). Compaction refers to soil conditions with increased bulk density exceeding that of undisturbed soils by more than 1.2 times. The optimum range of bulk density of the arable layer varies from 1.0–1.3 grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm³⁾ for even-seeding crops and from 1.0–1.2 g/cm3 for tilled crops. An increase of bulk density by 0.1 g/cm³ higher than optimum levels causes crop losses of 200–1,000 kilograms (kg)/ha for grains and 1,500–2,500 kg/ha for roots. The critical threshold has been established for sod-podzolic soils at 1.5–1.6 g/cm³ of soil density, and for chernozems at 1.3–1.4 g/cm³.

The database does not indicate any special protection or rehabilitation measures to prevent or counteract compaction. This may imply that the rate of expansion and consequently the extent of compacted soils is likely to continue to grow.

Water and wind erosion (deflation) is the second most important soil degradation type occurring on arable land. It refers to loss of topsoil and underlying rocks caused by water run-off or wind. The source map used for compilation of the database does not show slightly eroded soils, but indicates moderately and severely eroded soils only. The total extent of soils suffering from water and wind erosion is estimated at 25.8 million ha (see Table 1 appended to this section), i.e., approximately one third of arable lands. It occurs in the agricultural zone of both the European and Asian parts of Russia.

The database indicates (see Table 2 appended to this section) that protection measures have been implemented on practically the entire area affected by erosion. Water erosion is eased or halted by land management practices such as contour-tillage, contour-strip-cropping, minimum-tillage, and land lay-out. Joint plant and land-management practices are applied to prevent wind erosion. Plant management includes application of fertilizers, appropriate crop rotations, increased plant density, stubble-mulching, and agroforestry. However the effectiveness of these protection measures appears to be rather low, as can be concluded from the considerable rate of erosion processes (Table 2).

Irrigated soils are often influenced by secondary salinization. This refers to salt  accumulation in the upper part of the soil profile resulting from evaporation of irrigation groundwater in the capillary fringe. Secondary salinization is caused by a rise in the groundwater table. Under irrigation, the rise of the groundwater table has been observed to occur at a rate of 0.5 to 2 m per year on average. Secondary salinization becomes especially severe when the mineralization of irrigation water exceeds 3.0 grams per liter (g/l). The estimated extent of secondary salinized soils is 3.5 million ha (Table 1). Protection and rehabilitation measures are treated on 3.2 million ha (Table 2). Thus, 0.3 million ha of soils degraded by secondary salinization are not covered by any protection or rehabilitation activity.

According to the National Report, pastures, (including deer pastures), and haylands occupy 407.1 million ha. Overgrazing and degradation caused jointly by overgrazing and cultivation (managed pastures and haylands) occurs on 107.6 million ha, i.e. about one quarter of the total area. This figure is rather crude as it also includes degradation of permafrost soils partly caused by industrial activities, a cause that is difficult to separate from the other causative factors..

The main type of soil degradation affecting moisture deficit zones – i.e., steppe, dry steppe, semidesert,  and  desert regions – is desertification. This refers to the expansion of desert areas as a result of natural and anthropogenic factors. Desertification extends over 35.7 million ha (Table 1). It represents an assemblage of degradation processes like compaction, deflation, loss of soil structure, decline of soil water holding capacity, etc. The primary human causative factor of desertification is overgrazing.

In specific environments, overgrazing accompanied by wind action can deform the terrain into deflation hollows, hummocks, and dunes. The rate of desertification is mostly slow and moderate, and one fifth of the area is considered a rapid rate, depending on the degree of human intervention and natural conditions (soil texture and moisture, wind speed, etc.). Only a small extent (1.0 million ha) has been found to have experienced no change (Table 2).

Overgrazing of tundra regions triggers processes of surface corrosion in permafrost soils (solifluction, landslides, etc.). Permafrost is broadly defined as underground rocks frozen for long periods of time (from several to a thousand years) at some depth below the soil surface. Permafrost is very sensitive to temperature increases. The peat horizon on the top of permafrost soils usually acts as a thermo-insulator. Therefore, any disturbance of the peat layer immediately changes the temperature balance in a soil solum. During the summer season additional heating accelerates thawing, and, following that, freezing intensifies processes of frost heaving, soil-lifting, etc. Experience has shown these processes to be intensified in humid and heavy-textured soils.

Permafrost is found in the north of the European and West-Siberian parts of Russia, as well as in the whole territory east of the Yenisei River. The total area covered by permafrost is estimated to be more than 1,100 million ha (about 65% of the entire area). Surface corrosion was recorded to occur on 60.2 million ha. The rate of degradation is considered moderate. In many cases it is difficult to separate naturally developed surface corrosion from that which is human induced.

Thermokarst is another type of soil degradation mainly found on land traditionally used as deer pastures. It is caused by industrial activities (mining, construction, transportation) in permafrost areas and refers to formation of subsiding relief forms and underground cavities resulting from melting of ice in frozen deposits. On flat territories, these cavities then fill with water, dotting the  terrain with water bodies. Thermokarst is now widely spread in Russia (31.2 million ha). For the same reasons mentioned under surface corrosion, the database does not separate artificial and natural forms of thermokarst.

Thermokarst is developing rapidly, leading to dramatic conversion of the land into badlands or water bodies. Both surface corrosion and thermokarst profoundly affect the ecosystem's functioning in these environmentally vulnerable areas.

The forested area in Russia is 785.9 million ha. Two main types of soil degradation are distinguished for forest: disturbances of the soil organic horizon caused by fires, and disturbances of the soil organic horizon caused by industrial wood cutting.

Forest fires exert multiple impacts on the forest environment. These include changes in the humus balance, and loss of biodiversity through disappearance of valuable plant species and fruits. Forest fires can also accelerate other types of degradation, e.g., soil erosion on slopes. The extent of disturbances of the soil organic horizon caused by fires accumulated over a 10 year period is estimated at 15.4 million ha, or about 2% of the total forested area. The main reason for forest fires is human carelessness (90% of the cases). According to official estimates, 40% of the forest area in Russia is not protected against fire.

Forest stand dynamics after a fire depend on many factors, but the type of fire mainly governs it. As a rule, stable ground fires cause only partial injury to the tree stand. Crown fires and underground ignition are more dangerous and destructive for forest stands. The rate of the disturbances is rapid. Attempts to quantify changes in soil productivity have not been made.

Disturbance of the soil organic horizon caused by industrial wood cutting results from the use of heavy machinery, mechanized skidding, etc. It refers to loss of organic and mineral topsoil. The total extent of such disturbances in Russia is estimated at 10.1 million ha (1.3% of total forested area). Owing to the spatial characteristics of forested land, as well as to a rather uneven distribution of infrastructure and labor, the intensity of forest use in Russia varies widely. In the European and Ural parts of Russia, forests occupy 23% of the area, but wood production is estimated at about 60% of total production. About 77% of Asian Russia is located in forested areas, providing some 40% of wood production. Thus, the degree of human impacts on these territories differs quite substantially. The rate (of change) of degradation due to industrial woodcutting is estimated as moderate. Productivity decrease caused by industrial woodcuttings is assessed as being small and moderate.

References

Government (National) Report on the Status and Use of Land in the Russian Federation for 1992. 1993. Moscow, 94 pp. [In Russian]

Pieri C., J. Dumanski, A. Hamblin, and A. Young. 1995. Land Quality Indicators. World Bank Discussion Paper 315, 63 pp.

Oldeman L.R., R.T.A. Hakkeling, and W.G. Sombroek. 1991. World Map of the Status of Human-Induced Soil Degradation. An Explanatory Note, revised version. UNEP and ISRIC, Wageningen, Netherlands, 35 pp. (with maps).

Bibliography

Government (National) Report on the Status and Use of Land in the Russian Federation for 1994. 1995. Moscow, 13 pp. [In Russian]

Lynden G.W.J. van (Ed.). 1995. Guidelines for the Assessment of the Status of Human-Induced Soil Degradation in South and Southeast Asia (ASSOD). ISRIC, Wageningen, Netherlands, 20 pp.

Stolbovoi V.S., and G. Fischer. 1998. A new digital georeferenced database of soil degradation in Russia. Advances in GeoEcology 31, ISBN 3-923381-42-5.

Stolbovoi V.S., I.Yu. Savin, B.V. Sheremet, V.V. Sizov, and S.V. Ovechkin. 1999. The geoinformation system on soil degradation in Russia. Journal of  Eurasian Soil Science 32(5):589–593.

Table 1. Extent and causes of degraded and stable lands in Russia

aThe discrepancy in total extents of land between Table 1 and Table 2 is mainly due to some differences between the statistics and extents of mapped inland water bodies.

bNatural and human-induced degradation are combined.

Table 2. Protection measures, productivity decrease, and rate of land degradation in Russia (million ha)

SOIL CONTAMINATION
Vladimir Stolbovoi and Vasili Sizov

Heavy metals

In Russia, soil contamination data are maintained by ROSKOMHYDROMET (Russia Committee for Meteorological and Hydrological Service). This organization takes regular soil samples around the country and records the observations as geographical points. It does not make any area survey. Soil sampling is taken according to guidelines (Malakhov, 1964). Malakov suggests different soil sampling techniques for various land uses. For example, natural soil samples are taken from the upper 0–5 cm; cultivated soils are sampled by the upper 0–20 cm. The sampling is done within a 5–20 km radius of a city.

The concentration of heavy metals was sampled for around 23 cities in the European part of the Russian Federation in 1996. The database contains cities where pollution of soil is found. It also includes additional records, which were made in 1991–1995 and were not repeated in 1996. These data provide a more objective picture of the situation.

The database is derived from the official source (Yearbook on Soil Contamination, 1997) and contains pollution records for 18 industrial cities.

Pesticides

The ROSKOMHYDROMET tested pesticides content in agricultural land in 1996. These observations are reported for 32 of the 89 administrative regions (oblasts) across the country, 27 of which are situated in the European part of Russia. The investigated area was 21,000 ha in spring and 20,000 ha in autumn.

The database includes data for 12 sampled plots. This data has been derived from official sources (Yearbook on Monitoring Pesticides, 1997).

Database content

The database is presented in the Annex to this section. The database contains the following:

1 column. City name around which soil sampling was made in 1990–1996. Sampling was performed within a 5–20 km radius of the city.
2 column. Geographical coordinates, in degree and decimals
3 column. Substance. The yearbook does not contain data on As, Ba, and very few on Hg.
4 column. Degree of pollution:

L – light, between A and B-value;
M – Moderate, between B and C-value;
S – strong, above C-value.

where A, B, and C are concentration values of pollutants in milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) dry weight (van Lynden, 1997).

Discussion

Following the Dutch list, about 44% of the 18 sampled Russian sites are moderately contaminated by heavy metals (Table 1, Annex). According to the recommendation (Moen and Brugman, 1987), these sites require additional investigations and some remediation measures may need to be taken. About 56% of the sampled sites are classified as lightly polluted. This means they are not clean in the absolute sense, but require no further actions. Taking into account that the sampling sites are situated within 5–20 km of a city, where about 95% of pollutants precipitate, one may conclude that the contaminated area is very limited. Clearly, soil contamination by industrial heavy metals in Russia is negligibly small, if the Dutch standard is applied for the assessment.

All sampled plots indicate light pollution rates by pesticides. This is a consequence of the limited application of chemical compounds in the land management of Russia. In fact, Russian agriculture still exploits the natural fertility of soils. This conclusion is of great importance and illustrates that Russia has considerable potential for clean production.

Population health impact

Soil contamination has been interpreted in terms of its impact on population health (see Table 1 below). The assessment is based on the total soil contamination index (Zf) for 1986-96, which is calculated by the formula:

where n is the amount of accounted elements, and Kf is the ratio between actual concentration and background content of the element in soil.

Table 1. Approximate range of the contamination danger for population health based on the total soil contamination index (Zf).

Discussion

The database (Table 2, Annex) shows that some cities in the country have soil contamination at a dangerous level (Moscow, Kirov, Podolsk, St.Peterburg). These cities require urgent remediation actions. A number of cities with moderate rate of the soil contamination is rather limited and absolute majority of cities in the European Russia have clean soils. This conclusion should be not extended on the air and water qualities.

References

Van Lynden, G.W.J. 1997. Guidelines for the Assessment of Soil Degradation in Central and Eastern Europe (SOVEUR Project). Report 97/08b (revised edition), International Soil Reference and Information Centre, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Malakhov, S.G. 1964. Temporary Guidelines for the Control of Soil Contamination. Hydrometizdat, Vol. 2, Moscow, 61 pp. [In Russian]

Moen, J.E.T. and W.J.K. Brugman. 1987. Soil protection programmes and strategies: examples from the Netherlands. In: H. Barth and D. L’Hermite (eds.) Scientific Basis for Soil Protection in the European Community, pp. 429–446, Elsevier Applied Science, London.

Yearbook on Soil Contamination of the Russian Federation by Pollutants of Industrial Origin in 1996. 1997. Federal Service of Hydro-Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring, Institute of Experimental Meteorology by the Science-Practical Community “Taifun,” Obninsk. [In Russian]

Yearbook Monitoring Pesticides in the Natural Objects of the Russian Federation. 1997. Federal Service of Hydro-Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring, Institute of Experimental Meteorology by the Science-Practical Community “Taifun,” Obninsk. [In Russian]

Annex

Table 1. Soil contamination by heavy metals and pesticides for the European part of Russia.

Table 2. Total soil contamination indexes for major industrial cities of the

European part of Russia. All are of type Cph.

^aSee text.

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