Transformation and ecological stability of soils of phosphoritic landscape-geochemical systems of depression of Lake Khuvsgul of the Baikal rift zone

Abstract

Sustainable development of the Baikal-Khuvsgul basin is not only of national, but also of great international importance. This status gives priority to preserving biodiversity and the natural-historical biosphere in general, and to the development of strategies for the rational utilization of natural resources and sustainable development of territories within the basin of the unique ecosystems of Lakes Baikal (Russia) and Khuvsgul (Mongolia). We carried out a comprehensive study of the morphogenetic and ecological features, ecological stability of soils and landscapes of the Khuvsgul phosphorite basin of the mountainous Khuvsgul region of the southwestern branch of the Baikal rift zone (BRZ). This analysis upgraded the existing knowledge of possible trends in the transformational growth and ecological balance of the soil cover of this territory both under the conditions of the natural development of geosystems and under the destabilizing anthropogenic and technogenic impact. Possible negative side effects of the development of phosphorite deposits on the unique in natural and cultural terms ecosystems of Lake Khuvsgul were predicted.