The article is analyses normative-legal regulation and public policy system of the renewable energy sources (RES) in the Russian Federation and Canada. The authors analyzed the normative-legal base of RES formation, generation and effect on the development of domestic and foreign policy of the states. An attempt is made to describe and compare environmental and legal approaches to the application and realization of RES and their impact on the development of the Russian Federation and Canada. The article analyzes “green” energy on the basis of state approaches and natural- geographical conditions of the territory of the states at its formation. In the Russian Federation the main RES sectors are solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, energy obtained from biomass and waste processing, biogas, and landfill gas. In Canada, the main clean energy sectors are more province-specific and additionally include geothermal energy, green hydrogen and territorial tidal phenomena. The RES analysis will help to identify the specifics and opportunities for application and formation of new mechanisms of state policy and improvement of the regulatory framework in the Russian Federation. The main difference between the Canadian and Russian approach to legislative regulation is the two-tier regulation: the general directions of sustainable development and the four-year strategy are fixed at the federal level, while the main legislative regulation is carried out at the provincial level, depending on regional priorities in the development of certain RES types. The experience of Canada’s “distributed” regulatory framework can be used to improve Russian legislation, as it will help to take into account regional priorities in the development of certain RES types and implement short-term renewable energy projects.

The article presents the results of experimental studies to determine the abundance and group composition of the epiphytic microbiota on Abies sibirica, A. koreana and Pseudotsuga menziesii coniferous species. Biochemical indicators including chlorophyll a and b content, polyphenols, and total antioxidant activity during seasonal transitions across October 2024, January 2025, and June 2025 were also studied. The study revealed that the highest microbial abundance (121.103 CFU/g) and dominance of ammonifying bacteria were specific to the native A. sibirica exclusively in autumn. Winter and summer biotic conditions led to equalization in both total microbial loads on the needles of all studied species and a gradual convergence in population structure between ammonifiers and micromycetes. Notably, micromycetes abundance on A. sibirica and A. koreana increased during winter compared to autumn. A distinctive indicator was observed in the Pseudotsuga menziesii – the abundance of micromycetes in winter period decreased by two times compared to the autumn value. This result is probably due to the increased polyphenolic compounds content in this plant. There is a significant decrease in epiphytic microbiota abundance on A. sibirica and A. koreana in summer compared to the autumn and winter, while the total microbial number of P. menziesii slightly exceeded quantitative indicator fixed in January 2025. According to the biochemical analysis, the maximum polyphenolic compounds content is typical for summer and coincides with the lowest microbiological indicators for the epiphytic microorganism abundance, which suggests an indirect relationship between these processes.

Data on microbiological properties of podzolic soils (Retisols) in the first three years after logging that were exposed to heavy wheeled logging equipment are presented. The study was conducted on different technogenic logging plots: apiary plot (A) and trails (3P – three passes of logging equipment, 10P – ten passes, 10R – ten passes by leveling). Microbial biomass carbon (Cmic=MB) and microbial CO2 production rate (basal respiration, BR) were determined by the substrate-induced respiration method (SIR). MB content in the initial forest ranged from 24 to 815 µgC/g soil, and BR values ranged from 0.3 to 32.5 µg C-CO2/g/h. The apiary plot shows a gradual increase in MB content up to 2–14 times higher than the original forest over three years. In mineral horizons its values are maximum in the first year (80 µgC/g soil), then they decrease by eight times. There is a significant decrease in microbial carbon up to seven times in the first two years, followed by a sharp increase in the third year after logging in skidding trails. The share of Сmiс in the soil organic carbon of the studied soils ranged from 0.01 to 2.57%. The highest values of this parameter were detected in the mineral horizons of soils of the skidding trails. The share of Сmiс to water-soluble organic soil carbon is greater than that to the total carbon. It can be stated that in the modified soils of young clearcuts there is intensive accumulation of microbial carbon especially in carbon of water-soluble compounds in the third year after logging.

Automation of routine biological analysis procedures is an important interdisciplinary issue. The article describes a neural network algorithm for detecting meso-sized biological objects. The biomodel was Daphnia magna, which is frequent for bioassaying of natural and man-made environments. The algorithm is implemented on YOLOv8s lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN). Daphnia magna’s original photo and video images as well as those publicly available on the Roboflow and Kaggle platforms were used for CNN training and testing. The image database consisted of 12540 images, of which 430 were original, the rest were transformed using the functions of the Roboflow service. The training was conducted over 150 epochs, with an image resolution of 1280×1280 pixels. Procedures for counting and tracking objects are implemented using the built-in functions “Object Tracking” and “Object Counting”. The algorithm detects objects in static images and videos in real time. The processing speed of video images was about 50 ms per frame, which is enough for the algorithm to work in real time. The values of the algorithm quality rating metrics were the following: mAP – 89.8%; precision – 88.4%; recall – 87.4%. The main mistake of the neural network was counting the reflections of the same daphnia on the inner and outer surfaces of the aquarium glass. The algorithm is aimed at reducing the complexity of biotesting methods and increasing the accuracy of data processing results. The proposed neural network algorithm for detecting biological objects can be adapted through similar training to the search and counting of other organisms.

The article analyses changes in the vegetation cover in several districts of the Kostroma Volga region within 1985–2023 using multi-temporal Landsat and MODIS satellite data. Two thematic maps of vegetation cover and land surface (M 1 : 100 000) were prepared based on Landsat images (for 08.08.1985 and 10.08.2018). The maps were used to identify changes in dominant classes of the region. Case study in some districts show that the share of coniferous forest communities increased from 32.6 to 43.8%. The share of deciduous communities remained unchanged (39.7–39.9%). The proportion of ‘indigenous’ forests (classified as one class in 1985 and 2018) was 25.9% for coniferous forests and 26.2% for deciduous forests. Comparison of detailed resolution images of Corona KH-2 (19.08.1973) and ESRI Imagery (29.04.2023) shows that areas of changes are associated with overgrowing fallow lands and agricultural territories. The most active overgrowth can be observed at the edges of plots bordering with forest phytocenoses. The canopy density indices calculated from Landsat winter and early spring images reflect changes in the forest communities most fully. After a conflagration in 1972 forest communities with a canopy density of up to 80–90% were restored by 2015. Undisturbed coniferous native forests are characterized by a gradual decrease (about 0.2% per year) in canopy density values; this fact can be used as an indicator of intact forests. Analysis of changes in the spectral EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) shows that most of the forest community classes remain stable. However, the considerable length of the observation period (24 years) leveled out the calculated linear trend for many sites, even with large changes.

With the stead development of society and economy, protecting of water environment and improving the drainage standards are more paid attention to in China. Therefore, the existing sewage treatment plants are studied in detail to analyze water quality characteristics and their operating status. Combined with the water quality analysis results, the water quality conditions of contaminations, such as organic matter, COD, BOD5, nitrogen, phosphorus and others, were investigated in detail. Also, based on the results analysis of water quality characteristics, the whole test of process functioning is carried out to explore the removal effect for contamination in different functional areas (anaerobic area, anoxic area, aerobic area). Through the analysis of process operation and existing problems, the optimal measures are put forward to provide effective guarantee for the efficient operation of a sewage treatment plant.

The modern territory of the Central Donbass is an ecologically stressed region, which requires the development of scientifically based measures for restoration and optimization of disturbed local geosystems. The review of scientific data on phytodiagnostics under anthropogenic transformation is based on the direct experience in the implementation of integrated environmental monitoring by Donbass scientists. The results of successful practices of similar studies in the world scientific schools are specified. Phytoindication is considered as the only possible way of environmental assessment in the current realities of natural systems of the North Azov region for large-scale experiment. The main mechanism of obtaining information on the state of geosystems is based on the identification of reliable ecotope differences in the structural and functional status of indicator plants. The spectrum of regionally adapted and tested methods of field and laboratory diagnostics of the state of plant species with adequate valence to anthropogenic stress factors, as well as methods of processing, interpretation and visualization of the obtained data are presented. As approaches to data analysis, we consider methods of processing quantitative and non-parametric indices, formation of ecological scales, GIS, mapping, identification of localities of pollution of natural environments, identification of new geopathogenic zones, determination of climatic trends and retrospective analysis. The practice of remediation works provides for obligatory procedures of reclamation, phytoremediation, landscape design, taking into account the identified features of adaptation of individual plant species. Phytomonitoring is connected with many issues of the social well-being of mankind: the purity of the natural environment, the timely taking of measures for the prevention of catastrophic situations. Specificity of the economic and technological state of Donbass for the last 30 years is both a justification for the necessary analytical review of the accumulated experience of ways and methods of landscape quantification, and a reason for discussion among environmental specialists in taking the necessary measures to preserve the unique nature and productive development of resource potential of the region.

Currently, the important role of the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products containing antioxidants is very popular idea. Various environmental factors can cause oxidative stress increasing the reactive oxygen species level. Antioxidants (AOs) prevent oxidative stress. Some dietary supplements (DS) can be additional AOs sources. A DS based on the granular mycelium of the Hericium erinaceus is among them. Correct AOs content assessment in pharmaceuticals and DS helps to ensure their balanced dietary intake. Therefore, the task of developing new and improving existing methods for determining substances with antioxidant properties in various objects remains relevant. Due to the nature of the analysis, electrochemical methods, including potentiometric, deserve priority attention. The aim of the work was to establish the optimal conditions for potentiometry application to determine the antioxidant properties of substances (H. erinaceus extract and ascorbic acid) in the K3[Fe(CN)6]/K4[Fe(CN)6] mediator system. We found that when determining the AOs sum with adding an oxidant (hydrogen peroxide) using a mediator system with pH 6.80 and a K3[Fe(CN)6]/K4[Fe(CN)6]=0.00005/0.001 concentration ratio, well-repeating results are obtained (RSD does not exceed 5.0%). The relationship between the analytical signal and the analyte amount is linear, and the results obtained by the input–find method meet the requirement of correctness. The obtained data and the proposed methodological approaches can be useful for their application in the environmental studies of the antioxidant activity of various plant objects and the interpretation of the results.

Hydroecological studies of the state of benthos communities in the oil-polluted lakes situated in the Samotlor oil field were carried out. One hundred and one lakes were examined, among which water bodies with organogenic bottom sediments and low pH values prevail. Oil products’ content in the bottom sediments of the examined lakes exceed background values. The minimum value of the total oil product content in the bottom sediments was 1.5 g/kg, the maximum values were above 300 g/kg. Twelve ecological groups of macrozoobenthos were found in bottom sediment samples. Chironomidae larvae (38.0%) and Oligochaeta (9.6%) were the most abundant. Chironomidae larvae were the dominant group in terms of abundance (86%) and biomass (56%). The average macrozoobenthos values were 328 ind./m2 and 1.62 g/m2. According to the state of macrozoobenthos communities, most of the examined lakes have low sediment productivity (oligotrophic) and high pollution level (polysaprobic, class VI). According to the examination results, most of the lakes (85%) need cleaning of their bottom sediments from oil and petroleum products. We made a conclusion about the long-term, chronic nature of oil pollution of the studied lakes. Poorly soluble oil agglomerates on the bottom of water bodies lose their toxicity and are covered with bottom sediments where bottom invertebrates live, avoiding direct contact with oil pollution. The obtained data on the state of the benthic invertebrate communities are important for future research and monitoring of the ecological status of taiga lakes.

Cyanobacteria and their toxins can cause changes in the aquatic food web, affecting almost all components of plankton, including free-living ciliates. The aim of the work is to identify the ciliates diversity in different types of waterbodies in the Samara region (rivers, reservoirs, bays, and lakes with/without outflows) and to establish the dependence between the quantitative and structural characteristics of ciliate communities and the dominant species of cyanobacteria. The composition of cyanobacterial communities was determined using metabarcoding of the V4-V5 regions of the 16S rRNA gene. According to the composition of phototrophic plankton, all samples were divided into four groups: 1) with a low intensity of “cyanobacterial bloom” or without it, but with a great diversity of cyanobacteria; 2) with the dominance of Planktothrix agardhii Gomont; 3) with the dominance of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (L.) Ralfs; 4) mixed group with different types of cyanobacterial bloom, including one lake with the dominance of Raphidiopsis raciborskii (Woloszynska). 123 species of ciliates were identified in the studied water bodies of Samara region in 2023. The maximum quantitative characteristics of the plankton ciliates communities are observed in floodplain and terrace lakes and coincide with the predominance of P. agardhii and R. rachiborskii. The trophic structure is more diverse in communities dominated by P. agardhii and A. flos-aquae. Conversely, a whole trophic group (histophages) drops out from the trophic structure in samples dominated by eukaryotic algae or R. rachiborskii. In samples with A. flos-aquae bloom, algovores predominate in the ciliates community. Interestingly, predators are more prominent among the ciliates when R. rachiborskii bloom was observed. Generally, during the cyanobacterial blooms, bacterio-detritovores play the leading role among the ciliates.