The unique status of Lake Baikal imposes special requirements on the state of ecosystems in its drainage basin. An assessment of vegetation cover change, one of the most important and most sensitive environmental indicators, is an urgent task in order to develop effective measures to prevent and mitigate the negative processes of land degradation in the transboundary territory of the Baikal Basin. The work used perennial composites of the NDVI vegetation index from 2000 to 2022; their long-term dynamics are analyzed. The results of geoinformation analysis of the NDVI and their trends by vegetation types are presented. In the Russian part of the basin, negative NDVI trends are observed for steppe communities, while positive trends are observed in Mongolia. The forest vegetation is characterized by the growth of NDVI. The contribution of the seasonal component to the overall NDVI trend is estimated. The most pronounced NDVI trends have a point distribution and are caused by both natural processes and anthropogenic impact.
New and generalized published data on the structure, age, and formation stages of deposits of the mantle and alluvial genetic complexes of the first terrace of rivers in the Selenga drainage basin are presented. The sections of the terrace of the Bryanka River in the Bryansk Depression, the Arshan River in the Khilok–Chikoi Depression, and the Shivert-Gol River in the Boro-Gol River basin in Mongolia are described. Information on the terrace structure and on the composition and absolute (radiocarbon) age of deposits is obtained. The first terrace 4–9 (15) m high above low water level is distinguished in the Selenga drainage basin. Large differences in the structure and composition of the terrace deposits depend on the morphology of the river valleys, water discharges, and the structural and tectonic conditions of the river basins. It has been established that the accumulation of sediments of the first river terrace in the Selenga basin began at the end of the Late Pleistocene. The channel, floodplain, and oxbow alluvium facies are distinguished. Channel alluvium was accumulated 30–15 cal kyr BP, and the accumulation of floodplain alluvium occurred during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene (15–8 cal kyr BP). The alluvium is overlain by Holocene sediments of the mantle genetic complex of different composition, genesis, and age reaching 3.5 m in thickness. It has been revealed that the first terrace of rivers in the Selenga drainage basin was formed in the Early Holocene (11.3–8 cal kyr BP) as a result of incising of the rivers during high floods. The chronological stages of sedimentation and soil formation have been identified. There was a long stage of soil formation 7–2 (0) cal kyr BP after the alluvium accumulation stop.
The composition of the fish parasites of Lake Hövgöl has been analyzed for the first time based on the authors’ data and literary data from the perspective of available contemporary results of the studies on the taxonomy of individual groups. The parasite fauna of 9 fish species of Lake Hövgöl is represented by 73 species, of which protozoa and myxosporidia have 10 species each; monogenes 25, cestodes 11, trematodes, and nematodes 5 each; acanthocephales and leeches 2 each; and crustaceans 3. The species composition of the parasites of Hövgöl fish is represented by a smaller number of species-rank taxa compared to that of Lake Baikal and the Yenisei and Ob rivers. The fish parasites fauna of Lake Hövgöl belongs to 3 faunal complexes: boreal plain, boreal submontane, and arctic freshwater. In general, it corresponds to the parasite fauna of the Arctic province of the Palearctic. Parasites of the boreal submontane faunal complex dominate (48.2%).
Despite the reduction of transportation costs that occurred in the second half of the 20th century, these costs remain a significant obstacle to effective entry into the global market for landlocked countries and regions. This article investigates the relationship between the scale of transportation costs by types of products and distance to target markets using the example of the directions of trade and commodity composition of Mongolia’s exports. The principle of “relative transportability of products” is formulated and an original methodology is used to assess the distribution of Mongolia’s export products based on an analysis of their transportability by distance. It is established that exports of low-transportability mineral commodities (coal, iron ore, oil, and ores and concentrates of nonferrous metals) are almost exclusively limited to neighboring countries, primarily China. The main reason for that pattern is the high transportation costs for bulk mineral commodities, which limits the possibilities of transporting them across large distances due to the significantly decreasing cost-effectiveness. Meanwhile, more expensive Mongolian products (gold, clothing, wool, etc.) are exported to more distant countries. The spatial distribution and transportability of Mongolian exports by border crossing points with Russia and China are determined. It is established that railway transport is the predominant mode of transportation for bulk cargo. It is concluded that the highest priority direction of export specialization in Mongolia is increasing the processing depth of raw materials to semifinished or finished products, thereby significantly increasing cost-effective transportation distances and expanding the area of foreign trade.
The sustainable development of Ulaanbaatar is closely connected with the solution of issues caused by negative environmental impacts. The findings obtained as part of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research project, a review of the literature and reference materials, and an expeditionary survey revealed the problems and prospects of the natural resource supply of the territory and the need to change the socioeconomic and geoecological situation in Ulaanbaatar. The methodology of an integrated approach, covering socioeconomic, climatic, landscape-geochemical, and water-ecological studies, enabled us to identify the heterogeneity of the suburbanized space, the risks of sociodemographic development, water supply, air pollution and soil cover, which have an adverse impact on the social and economic development of the territory. The process of expanding the suburban area of Ulaanbaatar differs from similar processes in the cities and agglomerations of Russia and Europe and is more similar to the formation of slums in the cities of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The suburban yurt zones being created in Ulaanbaatar do not have any transport or social or engineering infrastructure, and residents suffer from diseases caused by environmental pollution and coal heating. The sustainable development of Ulaanbaatar and the surrounding area requires the development of a scheme for monitoring natural and anthropogenic changes, improving the protection system, optimizing the use of natural resources, and improving the system of settlement and management of urban areas.
This article presents key research results of the cooperation between the Sochava Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Siberian Branch) and the Institute of Geography and Geoecology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Focus areas and priority directions of collaborative research, resulting in the creation of complex atlases, joint monographs, and other research publications, are described. Particular attention is given to the results of studies of remote areas of the Khövsgöl region. The authors emphasize that the landscapes of cross-border areas are developed very unevenly and require a specially designed approach to the management of natural resources and to the predicting environmental response to negative influences. Priority directions of further geographic and geoecological research related to the study of transportation infrastructure and their socioeconomic consequences are described. Another important research direction is the study of interactions between cultures in different time periods.
There is a long history of cooperation in electric power between Russia and Mongolia. The Soviet Union helped design, supply, and build electric generating and electric grid facilities for Mongolia’s electric power industry. Soviet–Mongolian ties provided and continue to provide the exchange of power between the countries, improving the operating modes of power equipment and increasing the efficiency of the electric power systems (EPS) and the reliability of power supply to consumers. In the post-Soviet period, Russian–Mongolian electric power cooperation has continued, including in recent years. Scientific and technical cooperation has been actively developing to study the prospects for the development of Mongolia’s EPS with the formation of a Unified Power System (UPS) of the country, further cooperation with the UPS of Russia, and integration with a potential international supergrid of Northeast Asian (NEA) countries. A general methodology has been formed and a holistic computational toolkit has been developed, including a number of mathematical models, to perform comprehensive research into the formation and justification for the development of the UPS of Mongolia. Scenario studies have been carried out to optimize the generating and network infrastructure of the UPS of Mongolia. An optimized multinode integrated structural scheme of the UPS of Mongolia, in which regional electric power systems are combined, has been determined. The role of the Gobitek project based on renewable solar and wind energy, contributing to the carbon-free development of Mongolia’s electric power industry, is shown. The further development of the UPS of Mongolia should go through strengthening electrical connections with the energy systems of neighboring countries (including Russia), which is a prerequisite for Mongolia’s entry into the NEA energy space and integration with the international supergrid of this region.
Currently, the development of modern cities creates the need for a balanced development of inner-city territorial spaces. The problem of unbalanced urban development in Ulaanbaatar is now particularly acute. There is a colossal intraurban differentiation of many factors, including the dynamics and location of the population, the degree of territory settlement, availability of infrastructure facilities, transport accessibility, etc. The authors present their study results, emphasizing the importance of spatial intradistrict analysis. First, the results serve as basic and primary indicators for the continuation of further scientific microdistrict research; second, they have a great practical orientation associated with the possibility of using them for making informed management decisions, in particular, for the prompt identification of priority problems, constraints and development reserves (including promising territories). In this work, various thematic maps have been created and areas have been identified by building types with a detailed analysis of spatial dynamics and population placement. A detailed analysis revealed the relationship between these factors. We have combined all the cartographic and statistical materials we have obtained into a single geoinformation system that allows us to conduct spatial data analysis and gain new knowledge at different levels. In this article, we tried to carry out zoning and identify some dependence of population dynamics from building types. Zoning is based on the study of spatial dynamics and population distribution and an analysis of the features and nature of the building.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：