ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGE FROM SOIL AND LAND DEGRADATION AT THREE HIERARCHICAL LEVELS OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: SUBJECTS, MUNICIPALITIES AND AGRICULTURAL FARMS

Abstract

The damage caused by soil and land degradation was assessed at three hierarchical levels (the region as a whole, the municipality, the agricultural sector) of the spatial organization of six test regions of the Russian Federation (Volgograd, Belgorod, Kaliningrad, Vladimir, Samara and Penza regions). The indicators of soil and land degradation for all test objects were a decrease in the content of exchangeable potassium, a decrease in the content of mobile phosphorus, a decrease in the content of humus, a change in the acidity index of soils. In addition, for the test objects of the Volgograd region, the indicator of land salinization was used, the Belgorod region - soil erosion, the Kaliningrad region - the indicator of the metabolic coef cient (qCO2) of soils. It was found that the minimum and maximum values of the specif c total damage from degradation can be detected for regions with a similar composition of soil cover (Saratov and Belgorod regions, respectively, where chernozem soils predominate). When the values of specif c total damage from soil and land degradation are close to each other at various hierarchical levels of spatial organization of regions (Vladimir, Saratov, Belgorod and partly Penza regions), in terms of intensity and scale of manifestation of the studied degradation processes, the agricultural farm is «typical» for the entire municipal district, and the municipal district is «typical» for the entire region.