Ecotoxicological Analysis of Fallow Soils at the Yamal Experimental Agricultural Station

Abstract

The agricultural use of soils is limited by their contamination with various compounds and low contents of nutrients. We aimed to study the unique soils of the Yamal Experimental Station to determine their contamination with heavy metals and assess their potential fertility.
 Established in 1932, the Yamal Experimental Station (Salekhard, Russia) has bred new varieties of vegetable crops in open and protected ground. In August 2021, we made a soil section and 40 pits in a 0–10 cm layer. X-ray fluorescence was used to determine 11 metals and oxides. The qualitative assessment was based on the total soil pollution, soil pollution, and geoaccumulation indexes. Finally, we determined the contents of nutrients.
 The metals and metal oxides showed regressive-accumulative distribution along the soil profile. The concentrations of all ecotoxicants (except for arsenic) were within the maximum/approximate permissible values. Since arsenic has a high regional background content, its elevated concentrations make the soil suitable for agricultural use if proper quality control is in place. The total soil pollution index classified the level of pollution as “acceptable”. The geoaccumulation index showed the soils as mostly “unpolluted” with metals. The soil pollution index had values below 1, which indicated the absence of pollution.
 The fallow soils of the Yamal Experimental Station have a high level of potential fertility and are suitable for agricultural reuse according to the soil quality indexes applied. They can also serve as a local geochemical standard that has a long history of agrogenic transformation in cryogenic ecosystems. Taking into account increased concentrations of arsenic, we recommend primary quality control of agricultural products to identify its possible migration in the soil-plant system.

Soils and olericultural practices in circumpolar region of Russia at present and in the past

“…manure often used as fertilizer, various ameliorants such as ash and NPK are also applied, and sometimes liming of the surface soil horizons is done to reduce its acidity (Alekseeva, 2017;Abakumov et al, 2020;Abakumov and Morgun, 2021;Tikhanovsky, 2021;Nizamutdinov et al, 2022;Suleymanov et al, 2022). Below, we will analyze in detail the soils of the active and abandoned vegetable gardens found in the abovementioned settlements.…”

“…Earlier studies on the assessment of soil fertility in working and abandoned industrial olericultural fields have been conducted at the territory of Salekhard city (Alekseev and Abakumov, 2018;Nizamutdinov et al, 2021Nizamutdinov et al, , 2022Tikhanovsky, 2021;Suleymanov et al, 2022). According to Tikhanovsky (2021) (Nizamutdinov et al, 2021(Nizamutdinov et al, , 2022. These plots are farmed scientifically with regular application of mineral and organic fertilizers (NPK, manure, etc.…”

“…There is no information about the quantity of abandoned agricultural land (Rosreestr, 2008(Rosreestr, -2020. According to the latest published data, abandoned fields are in the city of Salekhard, near the village of Yamgort, and they were also found in the vicinity of the city of Nadym (Abakumov et al, 2020;Nizamutdinov et al, 2021Nizamutdinov et al, , 2022.…”

Microorganisms for Bioremediation of Soils Contaminated with Heavy Metals

“…[3,4]. Poor agricultural practices and management of water and land resources cause a drastic decline in agricultural soil quality and induce disastrous economic losses [5][6][7]. This situation poses an urgent task of reducing the degradation rate of disturbed farming lands and increasing its restoration rate.…”