The soil cover retains substances that can pollute groundwater and the atmosphere, which helps protect the park's ecosystem.
Together with a group of scientists from leading Russian scientific institutions, specialists from the capital's Department of Nature Management and Environmental Protection are studying the ecosystem of the Moscow part of the Losiny Ostrov National Park. They are also analyzing the condition of the soil. The experts' task is to determine the level of fertility and the ability of the soil cover to perform the most important natural functions - protective and buffering.
"Any green area in a metropolis is subject to anthropogenic impact. We assess how resistant a park and its individual ecosystems are to such impact, how well they perform their natural functions. This is important for the conservation of rare species and for the city itself: ecosystems provide clean air and water, reduce pollution levels and regulate the microclimate. Understanding how these natural mechanisms function, we can carefully manage green areas and look for new effective solutions to maintain the capital's biodiversity," said Natalia Chukhrayeva, Deputy Director of the State Nature Conservation Center.
Experts began conducting soil research in the Moscow part of Losiny Ostrov this year. Specialists from the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) of the Russian Academy of Sciences also joined the work. The research has already been completed in one of the park's sections.
"We have completed our work with the soil section in the selected area of Losiny Ostrov. In the middle of the last century, there was a field in this place, as evidenced by both the soil characteristics and cartographic materials of past years. We are describing genetic horizons - soil layers with different characteristics: moisture, color, organic carbon content, mechanical composition, hardness and others. In addition, we use all additional sources of information about the studied soils and landscapes, which helps us learn about the past and current state of the soil," said Polina Guseva, junior researcher at the laboratory for the study of ecological functions of soils of the IEE RAS.
During excavations at a depth of about 40 centimeters, researchers discovered fragments of rubber, which confirms anthropogenic impact on the area in the past.
According to Daniil Korobushkin, senior researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the soil cover plays an important role in the environmental well-being of the metropolis. It is able to retain substances that pollute groundwater and the atmosphere, such as heavy metals and oil products. This helps protect both the park's ecosystem and the city as a whole.
When collecting samples, experts mark each sample: indicate the date and coordinates, give a brief description of the area, for example, "new forest", "cloudy, with rain". This helps to avoid confusion when processing materials. It is also important to take into account weather conditions. Samples are collected only in dry weather, since heavy rain can distort the data.
Large-scale studies of the Losiny Ostrov territory began in 2024. About 80 scientists from various scientific institutes conducted a large-scale environmental survey and discovered over 1.5 thousand species of animals and plants in the Moscow part of Losiny Ostrov. More than 200 of them are recognized as rare and protected. In addition, to analyze the park’s ecosystem, specialists took samples of water and bottom sediments in the Kazenny Pond, as well as phyto- and zooplankton in Babaevsky.
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