The role of soil algae in restoration of the broken soil-vegetative cover of areas of oil- and coal- extraction of the Komi Republic

Features of the structure of the algo-groups of the technogenic habitats formed in the Far North regions at intensive coal and oil production are considered. The researches are conducted in the territory of fill platforms of boreholes of the Vozeisky oil field (boundary of the subzone of the forest-tundra and extreme northern taiga, Usinsk industrial area) and on spoil piles of the coal production of the Yun’-Yaga mine (subzone of the southern taiga, Vorkuta industrial area). On flattened tops of technogenic spoils typical habitats of soil algae are studied: soil devoid of higher plants, soil under mosses, under grassy and cereal vegetation.On the technogenic sites broken in the course of oil and coal mining various algo-groups which structural features well reflect the ectopic conditions of habitats and allow to estimate the role of soil algae in the soil-forming process at restoration of soils and vegetative cover, are formed. On the Vozeisky oil field in the soil algoflora of technogenic soils the high percentage of species (66%) specific to the disturbed habitats is revealed. In the studied territories loamy substrates free from higher plants are actively covered with filamentous blue-green algae, including nitrogen-fixing algae. In these ecotops the number of algal cells can reach over 1 million cells in 1 g of soil, biomass of 1,2 g/m2 (12 kg/ha). On loamy substrates in the grassy vegetation in the qualitative and quatitative structure of the algo-groups the role of single-celled green algae of zonal soils is markedly increased and on the overgrown carbonaceous argillite broken stone in the structure of biomass the large-cell diatomic algae play the major role.The positive ecological-regenerative role of algae was evident in the production indicators. On coal spoil heaps of the Yun’yaga field the production of algae communities increased as follows: turf-covered loam (9 kg/ha), turf-covered broken stone (14 kg/ha), non-matted broken stone (26 kg/ha), non-matted loam (33 kg/ha).The obtained data on the characteristics of quantitative and qualitative structure of the algo-groups prove a significant role of algae in recovery processes in the Far North and the possibility of use of loamy substrates for recultivation of the technogenic sites forming in conditions of coal- and oil production.