The role of monitoring in economic management, ecological standardization.

It is quite clear that economy management requires diverse information. Monitoring systems provide valuable information on the state of the biosphere, including observational data, analysis, and prediction of this state. These data are used (with due account of scientific technological, and material rescources) for implementing decisions aimed at economy development and nature protection, both at the levels of man-made impact restriction or suspension and biogeocoenosis recovery and restoration.Monitoring implementation has been proven economically effective. The role of the Global Monitoring System is most specific in revealing new ecological problems in the analysis of the measures to be accepted requiring international cooperation.Recently, a need has arisen to expand ecological monitoring, transforming it to an ecological service which would involve the system of observations, analysis, and prediction not only of the state of the biosphere, but also of the state and utilization of renewable natural resources as well.Ecological standardization (restriction of man-made impacts with regard for ecological reserves) should play an ever growing role in economy management to optimize human society/nature interactions and utilization of renewable natural resources. Ecological standardization is aimed at nature and human health protection and, thus, supplements sanitary-hygienic standardization.

Integrated background monitoring in the USSR.

The whole biosphere of the Earth is faced with an increasing anthropogenic pressure. Mankind uses natural resources for its physical and spiritual demands so widely that undesirable effects appear not only in separate regions but embrace the whole biosphere as well. As a rule, such processes develop slowly. They have an irreversible character and to avoid them, preventive decisions are needed. For that purpose, comprehensive and systematic information on the state of the biosphere is needed.The integrated background monitoring system has been implemented and is in operation in the USSR. Structurally, the integrated background monitoring system is divided into three groups: background stations on land; background stations on fresh water; and background stations on inland and periphery seas.All of the data received from these stations are analyzed and correlated at the Natural Environment and Climate Monitoring Laboratory of the USSR State Committee for Hydrometeorology and Control of the Natural Environment, the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in other scientific institutes of the State Committee. The information serves for the assessment of the state of the environment, prediction of anthropogenic effects, and for evaluation of the measures taken to prevent pollution of the biosphere at national and international levels.The information is shared in a wide international exchange within the framework of several international organizations (UNEP, WMO, UNESCO, ECE, CMEA, and others) and of the bilateral agreements on cooperation in the field of environmental protection (USA, France, Sweden, FRG, CMEA Member Countries).

Disturbance of the terrestrial ecosystems stability due to global-scale anthropogenic impacts.

Intact natural ecosystems are fairly stable objects. In the course of natural selection proceeding against the background of synecological interactions (trophic, competitive, symbiotic, etc.), a respective complex of coadapted species forms, each being maximally accommodated to its habitat. Such a complex is of specific composition and possesses stable structural characteristics. Fairly regular processes of changes in these characteristics, specific to the given type of environmental conditions, are observed in non-stationary cases.We analyze probable causes of the loss of stability in natural systems exposed to man made impacts of a global scale, in particular structural instability, landscape (distributive) instability, and conductive instability.The study of the mechanisms ensuring biosphere sustainability and stability of its elements is a vital ecological problem. There are applied aspects in the problem solution since identification of man-induced instability is feasible only on the basis of precise knowledge of the natural mechanisms of weak points of the relevant natural process. This circumstance makes the problem of stability one of the focal questions of applied ecology.

Monoc programme: Scientific substantiation of the integrated global ocean ecological monitoring system.

Man's exploitation of the World Ocean continues to increase both productively, i.e., utilization of fisheries and natural resources, and counterproductively, i.e., increased pollutant loading. This paper presents a scientific rationale for a global ecological monitoring programme which will address open as well as coastal waters.

Ecology and the problems of World Ocean integrated global monitoring.

Modern ecological state of the World Oceans is analysed, stressing the need for organization and development of a scientific basis for global ocean monitoring. The tasks and basic principles of integrated global ocean monitoring are described.Complex of natural processes determines the assimilative capacity of marine ecosystems, which can serve as a basis for the study of ecological reserves of the World Oceans and ecological rationing of the anthropogenic impact.

Background monitoring and its role in global estimation and forecast of the state of the biosphere.

(1) Scientific grounds and the concept of monitoring as the system for observations, assessment and prediction of man-induced changes in the state of natural environment, the program and aims of the background monitoring were developed by the author in 1972-1980. These questions were discussed in detail at the International Symposium on Global Integrated Monitoring (Riga, U.S.S.R., December, 1978). It should be stressed that along with significant anthropogenic loading on large cities and industrial areas, natural ecosystems covering most of the Earth's territory are also exposed to quite extended, though insignificant anthropogenic effects. This paper proposes to consider the ways of the background information use for the biosphere state assessment and prediction. (2) Classification of objects for monitoring from the point of view of the consequences of the man-made impact, pollution in the first hand, is as follows: - population (public health); - ecosystem elements employed by man whose production is used by population (soil, water bodies, forest, etc.); - biotic elements of ecosystems (without the immediate consumed production); - abiotic constituents of natural ecosystems, considerable components of the biosphere, climatic system. (3) Historically, monitoring in all countries involves the first two spheres. The background monitoring also extends on the next two spheres. It should differentially take into account physical, chemical and biological factors of impacts. Indentification of biological effects is most complex and vital. Human impact at the background level proceeds indirectly through a general (global or regional) deterioration of the state of the biosphere. (4) Gradually the background monitoring is being practiced on a larger and larger scale. It is shown that the long-range atmospheric transport of pollutants in various regions leads to a gradual general increase of all the natural media pollution and to perceptible biological effects (soil and water acidification and resulting disturbances in the composition of soil and water organisms). The levels of the background impact differ. Thus, the background concentrations of a number of anthropogenic pollutants in Central Europe is 10-20 times higher than in Central Asia. (5) The area of priority in the background monitoring of the biosphere pollution has become evident: compounds of sulphur, mercury and their derivatives, organochloride pesticides, some radioactive substances (e.g., krypton-85 in the atmosphere). (6) The World Ocean is practically all contaminated on a global scale. Biological effects of the World Ocean pollution cause special concern. Particularly important consequences, including climate impact, may be caused by disturbances in energy and matter transfer between environmental media (water-air, water-bottom, etc.). The priority of the impact factors can be allocated here as well: oil products, metals, organochloride compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. (7) One of the most effective possibilities of environmental quality control is standardization which consists in elaboration of permissible ecological loadings upon ecosystems and natural media. The approach to ecological standardization differs from that of hygienic control in principle. The objective of ecological standardization is to ensure the integrity of the given ecosystem and natural environment on the whole. (8) Ecological standardization in its turn requires knowledge related to the damage from this or another impact because in such a case there is a possibility to compare ecological standards for the same ecosystem in the case when impacts are of different origin (e.g., different pollutants).

Lake Baikal integrated background monitoring: Objectives, goals, history and prospects.

(1) The works in the field of substantiating and implementing the systems of integrated (abiotic and biotic) monitoring of various parts of the Baikal Lake and of the Lake as a whole started at the beginning of seventies. It was then that basic principles of observational systems of the natural environment pollution in the Baikal Lake Region and also problems of the assessment of observational results in order to apply them to prediction and control were put forward in the course of discussing global and regional monitoring systems. (2) In the next few years coordinated field and theoretical research work within the framework of the problem was carried out. As a result it proved possible to scientifically substantiate and start the implementation of practical integrated monitoring programs on the Baikal Lake. Another result of this research was a development of methods for analysing and predicting the economic activities impact on the state of natural environment in the region (long-term prediction for 20-25 yr). (3) The Paper describes preliminary results of multidisciplinary researches in the aspect of synthesising these works into an integrate picture to substantiate the integrate monitoring in the Baikal Lake Region, including the following questions: - analysis of natural environment pollution sources in connection with the current and planned economic activities in the region; - hydrometeorological conditions and mathematical modelling of pollutant transfer in natural compartments (air and water flows, atmospheric precipitation, soils); - analysis of the existing system for environmental state observations; - description of ecological situations; - working out recommendations for the control of natural compartments pollution on the basis of pollutant balance and ecosystem response to pollution.

Approaches to standardization of atmospheric pollution undergoing long-range and transboundary transport.

The authors consider some possible ways of regulating three types of atmospheric emission of pollutants: - emission of substances causing pollution of the natural environment on the global scale (global pollutants); - emission of substances causing pollution on a regional scale, most often including territories of several countries (international pollutants); - emission of substances causing negative effects in a relatively limited region, for example within border area of two adjoining countries. Substances (gaseous, as a rule) of a long life-time in the atmosphere that can contaminate natural media on a global scale irrespective of the place of emission refer to the first class of pollutants that are subject to emission regulation at an international level and to quota establishement for individual countries. They are carbon dioxide, freon, krypton-85.Various approaches to determining permissible emission and to quota establishing are discussed in the paper.The second group includes substances of a limited, yet rather long, life-time whose emission intensity makes a notable contribution to environmental pollution of a large region including territories of several countries. Here it is needed to regulate internationally not the atmospheric emission as it is but pollutant transport over national boundaries (sulphur and nitrogen oxides, pesticides, heavy metals).The third group includes substances of relatively short time of life producing local effects. Emission regulation in such cases should be based upon bilateral agreements with due account of countries' mutual interests.

Ecological principles of World Ocean monitoring.

Anthropogenic effect on the World Ocean in the course of exploiting its resources has led to a significant contamination of some ocean areas in the latest decades and to diminution of the natural capacity of marine ecosystems to reproduction and self-regulation. Thus, the most urgent problem of today has become evident: the problem of the World Ocean pollution and its negative ecological effects.Local pollutions and their ecological effects on the World Ocean go on acquiring large-scale regional and even global character since the elements of ocean ecosystems and the ocean properties are interrelated and interconditioned. Looking into pollutant transfer and transformation in the marine environment we can distinguish four subsystems: ocean-land, ocean-atmosphere, and water-bottom sediments interfaces as well as ocean water mass. Ocean-atmosphere and water-floor subsystems require special consideration since their coefficients of pollutant accumulation are much greater than that of the water mass. Besides water exchange, the processes of pollutant transfer in the water mass effect the interference between the solute and suspended matter on the one hand, and water mass-biota interaction on the other. Atmospheric transport and deposition of chemical toxicants are considerable sources of the World Ocean pollution; their share in the total balance of the anthropogenic pollution influx into marine environment is commensurable with the river runoff.The most dangerous, among various pollutants entering the World Ocean, are oil, hydrocarbon chlorides (pesticides, polychloride bifenyls), toxic metals (mercury, cadmium, lead), i.e. globally occurring chemical compounds continuously entering the marine environment and effecting marine organisms and their populations. Still new and new pollutants are being discovered now in the oceans: chloride and polychloride terpenes, nitrosamines, chlordane, etc. The problems of eutrophication and microbiological contamination of the inland seas and ocean coastal zones are becoming still more urgent. Accumulation of aromatic polycyclic carcinogenous hydrocarbons. BaP in particular, is pregnant with unexpected ecological effects. The highest PAH concentrations have been observed in the sea coast areas and in the zones of intensive navigation. Rather high coefficients (10(2)-10(4)) of BaP accumulation in the sea biota and bottom sediments are marked.Ecological and biological effects of changes in the chemical composition of the ocean make up the chain of interrelated reactions; transformation of natural biogeocenoses, disturbance of the cycle of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and other elements, reduction of biological productivity and cell genome affection present the most essential effects of these reactions. Stresses in the abiotic component of the ecosystem are expressed through disturbances in the chemical balance, changes in the evaporation from the sea surface, oil aggregate formation (floatable biocenoses), disturbances in reducing reactions of biogenous elements, salinity and temperature variation, and so on. Population-biocenotic effects of the man-made impact, actually important for the level of ecosystem stability, include the following processes of the structural and functional character: - alteration of the mean biomass of plankton and benthos populations, in particular in semi-enclosed seas and off-shore ocean areas; - alteration of the number of higher taxons-genera or families of the sea organisms, in particular replacement of the dominant populations of mass species, and emergence of hydrobionts new for the marine environment; - alteration of the relations between the numbers of some taxonomic groups of hydrobionts and abundant development of indicator species of the sea biota, e.g. BaP and PCB oxidizing microorganisms; - disturbances in production/destruction processes of organic substances; - energy flux changes in the marine ecosystem. Analysis of the current knowledge on the ocean environment pollution and its negative effects has enabled to formulate the main directions of the World Ocean ecological monitoring. Investigations of the biogeochemical cycles of pollutants and elements in the marine environment, identification of the effect of pollutants abundant in the ocean on the Earth's climate and hydrochemical regime as well as major geophysical processes in the ocean and atmosphere make up integral parts of the ocean monitoring together with the studies of pollutant impact on the ocean biota which leads to biological regime alterations and affection of the sea organisms genofond.