Assessment of the ecological state of soils in roadside territories using chemical and biological indication

Abstract

Abstract Chemical and bioindication studies of soils in the roadside areas of railways and highways have been carried out. The studies have shown that on the territories directly adjacent to the transport routes, the concentrations of the petroleum products in soils are 1.6-32.4 times exceeding the APC (approximate permissible concentration). The most substantive exceedances of the APC are recorded in the highways roadside spaces. We have investigated the dependence of the petroleum products concentration in the soils and their bioindication indices on the distance to transport routes. It has been established that the pollution of roadside soil by petroleum products decreases sharply at a distance of 10-15 m from transport routes. And bioindicators show different dynamics with increasing distance from the source of pollution (and, consequently, decrease in concentration of petroleum products in soils): the intensity of respiration of soils increases, and catalase activity decreases, which reflects its characteristic as an enzyme of stress.According to bioindication data, it has been shown, that the soils of the roadside space (especially, as for railways) retain high restorative potential.