Risk assessment of paleo-bio-contamination of landscapes resulting from permafrost degradation by the example of reindeer pastures in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

The possibility of ranking agro-landscape zones (using computer modeling) according to the risks of potential epizootics and epidemics associated with bio-contamination has been demonstrated. The task of agroecological land assessment cannot be conceptually solved without taking into account all forms of contamination. Bio-contamination of agricultural landscapes, both reversible (weeds) and irreversible (for example, anthrax spores Bacillus anthracis), is considered as a form of permafrost soils degradation. The melting of glaciers and permafrost thawing influenced by global warming determine a number of challenges. In particular, the climatically-driven transformation of the Pleistocene biota leads to the release of greenhouse gases, including methane, which is an order of magnitude stronger than carbon dioxide in terms of its contribution to the greenhouse effect and significantly increases the threat of accelerating warming. This paper examines the consequences of paleobiotic nature: during “thawing of tundra” pathogenic organisms, that were previously in biospheric isolation, pose a threat. It is noted that some of them retain their vital functions when emerging from cryobiosis. Such organisms are capable of causing soil bio-contamination, both reversible and irreversible, and can cause new outbreaks of repeated epizootics. It is proposed to identify and assess the risk zones of paleo-bio-contamination by the method of geometric stratification. The method allows identification and designation of the risk zones of pathogen infestation in specific geographical regions. This paper presents an assessment of such risk zones for reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) infection with a highly pathogenic anthrax causative agent (Bacillus anthracis) in relation to the administrative units (regions) of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The zoning results obtained in this way not only characterize the existing ecological situation and create the basis for its understanding, but can also serve as a basis for the development of recommendations for competent administrative decision-making on the regulation of further use of the studied landscapes.

1. Geograficheskii atlas Respublika Sakha (Yakutiya) (Geographic atlas Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)), Roskartografiya, 2000.

2. Glinushkin A.P., Sokolov M.S., Toropova E.Yu., Fitosanitarnye i gigienicheskie trebovaniya k zdorovoi pochve (Phytosanitary and hygienic requirements for healthy soil), Moscow: “Izdatel'stvo Agrorus”, 2016, 288 p.

3. Ershov E.D., Geokriologicheskaja karta SSSR, scale 1 : 2,500,000, Moscow, 1991.

4. Ershov E.D., Degradatsiya merzloty pri vozmozhnom global'nom poteplenii klimata (Degradation of permafrost with a possible global warming of the climate), Sorosovskii obrazovatel'nyi zhurnal, 1997, No. 2, pp. 70–74, URL: http://window.edu.ru/resource/834/20834/files/9702_070.pdf.

5. Iglovskij S.A., Krjauchjunas V.V., Sibirejazvennye zahoronenija – potencial'naja ugroza pri izmenenii kriolitozony Evropejskogo Severa Rossii (Anthrax burials – a potential threat when changing the permafrost zone of the European North of Russia), Analiz riska zdorov'ju, 2021, Vol. 1, pp. 108–114, DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2021.1.11.

6. Kiriushin V.I., The development of concepts of landscape functions in view of optimizing the environment conservation, Dokuchaev Soil Bulletin, 2015, Vol. 80, pp. 16–25, DOI: 10.19047/0136-1694-2015-80-16-25.

7. Kiryushin V.I., Ivanov A.L., Model' adaptivno-landshaftnogo zemledeliya Vladimirskogo opol'ya (Model of adaptive landscape farming in Vladimir opolye), Vestnik rossiiskoi sel'skokhozyaistvennoi nauki, Moscow: “Agrokonsalt”, 2004, 456 p.

8. Perevertin K.A., Some phytosanitary aspects of soil degradation of agrolandscapes in Russia under climate change, In: National report “Global climate and soil cover in Russia: assessment of risks and ecological and economic consequences of land degradation. Adaptive systems and technologies for rational nature management (agriculture and forestry)”, Moscow: Pochvennyi in-t im. V.V. Dokuchaeva, GEOS, 2018, pp. 182–185.

9. Perevertin K.A., Vasil'ev T.A., Ekstsessy riskov paleobiozagryaznenii landshaftov v usloviyakh global'nogo potepleniya (Excesses of the risks of paleobio-pollution of landscapes in the context of global warming), Proc. Conf. Matematicheskoe Modelirovanie v Ekologii (Mathematical modeling in Ecology), Pushchino, 2019, pp. 158–159.

10. Perevertin K.A., Kozlov D.N., Uchet parazitarnogo zagryazneniya pochv v formate vnedreniya ALSZ (Adaptivno landshaftnykh sistem zemledeliya) (Accounting for parasitic soil contamination in the format of the ALSZ implementation (Adaptive landscape farming systems)), Trudy Tsentra parazitologii, 2018, T. L, Moscow: Tovarishchestvo nauchnykh izdanii KMK, pp.192-195.

11. Revich B.A., Shaposhnikov D.A. et al., Zonirovanie administrativnykh raionov rossiiskoi artkiki po stepeni opasnosti razrusheniya skotomogil'nikov v rezul'tate degradatsii mnogoletnei merzloty (Zoning of the administrative districts of the Russian arkika by the degree of danger of destruction of cattle burial grounds as a result of degradation of permafrost), Analiz riska zdorov'yu, 2021, No. 1, pp. 115–125, DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2021.1.12.

12. Sagitov A.O., Perevertin K.A., Vasil'ev T.A., Klimaticheskie determinanty fitosanitarnoi degradatsii agrolandshaftov – ot rasshireniya arealov vrednykh organizmov do aktualizatsii paleobiozagryaznenii pochv (Climatic determinants of phytosanitary degradation of agricultural landscapes – from the expansion of the habitats of harmful organisms to the actualization of paleobiological contamination of soils), Proc. Int. Sci. Conf. “Stanovlenie i razvitie nauki po zashchite i karantinu rastenii v Respublike Kazakhstan” (Establishment and development of plant protection and quarantine in the Republic of Kazakhstan), Almaty: KazNIIZKR, 2018, pp. 530–535.

13. Sonin M.D., Bejer S.A., Rojtman V.A., Parazitarnye sistemy v uslovijah antropopressii (problemy parazitarnogo zagrjaznenija) (Parasitic systems in conditions of anthropopression (problems of parasitic contamination)), Parazitologija, 1997, Vol. 31, No. 5, pp. 453–457.

14. Edel'geriev R.S.-Kh. (Ed.), Global'nyi klimat i pochvennyi pokrov Rossii opustynivanie i degradatsiya zemel', institutsional'nye, infrastrukturnye, tekhnologicheskie mery adaptatsii (sel'skoe i lesnoe khozyaistvo) (Global climate and soil cover in Russia desertification and land degradation, institutional, infrastructural, technological adaptation measures (agriculture and forestry)), Vol. 2, Moscow: OOO Izdatel'stvo MBA, 2019, 476 p.

15. Brown J., Ferrians O.J.Jr., Heginbottom J.A., Melnikov E.S. (eds.), Circum-Arctic map of permafrost and ground-ice conditions, Geological Survey in Cooperation with the Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources. Circum-Pacific Map Series CP-45, scale 1 : 10,000,000, 1 sheet. Washington, DC, 1997.

16. Perevertin К.А., Vasiliev Т.А., Biological contamination of soils as a form of agricultural landscapes degradation 2020, Landscape science and landscape ecology: Considering responses to global changes, Proc. 1st IALE-Russia International Online Conference, Moscow, 2020, p. 192, URL: http://iale.conflab.ru/files/IALE-Russia2020_Abstracts.pdf.

17. Shatilovich A.V., Tchesunov T.V., Neretina I.P., Grabarnik S.V., Gubin T.A., Vishnivetskaya T.C., Onstott E.M., Rivkina E.M., Viable nematodes from late Pleistocene permafrost of the Kolyma River lowland, Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2018, Vol. 480, No. 2, pp. 253–255.

18. Shmakova L., Malavin S., Iakovenko N., Vishnivetskaya T., Shain D., Plewka M., Rivkina E., A living bdelloid rotifer from 24,000-year-old Arctic permafrost, Current Biology, 2021, Vol. 31, Iss. 11, pp. 712–713.

19. Short E., Caminade C., Thomas B., Climate Change Contribution to the Emergence or Re-Emergence of Parasitic Diseases, Infect Dis (Auckl), 2017, DOI: 10.1177/1178633617732296.

20.