Man-made environmental pollution, reduction of natural resources of the biosphere, degradation of forests and green areas, reduction of the genetic potential of sensitive species or their complete disappearance - this is far from a complete list of problems caused by unreasonable use of nature and the introduction of insufficiently efficient technologies into the economy. Economic and technological difficulties on the way to solving these problems in the fields of production and consumption led to the need for an ecological and hygienic assessment of the existing and projected environmental pollution and the development of comprehensive methods for improving its quality. Solving the most important tasks in this sense was undertaken by the Central Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR, to which the problem of environmental protection was defined in 1967 by the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR as one of the priority directions of scientific research, although this direction appeared unconventional for botanical gardens.< /p> In 1969, on the initiative of Academician N.U. Smolsky, a laboratory of the physiology of resistance and nutrition of introducers was established, the main areas of activity of which were: studying the physiology of seed germination; growth, development and mineral nutrition of introducers; research in the field of industrial ecology and plant physiology; optimization of the urbanized environment by means of greening. Physiological plasticity, which is possessed by introducers in new growing conditions, is laid in the seeds, and it is appropriate to adapt the rhythms of the development of some plants to the environmental conditions, starting with the impact on the seeds. Research by P.P. Chuvaeva and A.U. Shorstyanikina showed that the physiological features of seed germination of introduced species depend, first of all, on their systematic position and geographical origin. At the same time, the seeds of individual species of large biological genera react differently to the temperature and light conditions of germination. A great contribution to the development of this field of research and the obtaining of experimental material was made at different times by employees: S.V. Vinokurov, T.I. Andrianova, L.G. Zaranchuk. Since 1976, the thematic group of Zha.A. Rupasova. On the basis of a comprehensive study of the features of the formation of the phytomass of roses, carnations and gerbera, the nature of the accumulation and redistribution of a wide range of macro and microelements in its structural components at various stages of ontogenesis, the needs for nutrients were determined and scientifically based optimal regulations for the application of mineral fertilizers were developed. soil. In 1977, the laboratory was headed by Ya.A. Sidorovich. During this period, a significant place in the research of this structural unit was occupied by ecolophaphytocenetic studies of plant complexes in the zones of influence of technogenesis, the purpose of which was a detailed assessment of the current ecological situation in the territories adjacent to industrial centers (Minsk, Svetlagorsk, Mazyrsky Refinery, Lukomskaya). On the basis of the received and retrospective data on the state of pine forests, used as model objects, it was intended to develop a forecast of the state of these forests for a certain perspective. In connection with the expansion of the complex of solved tasks, in 1980 the laboratory was renamed the laboratory of ecological physiology of plants. Atmospheric pollution with toxic gases makes the search for ways to neutralize their harmful effects increasingly urgent, and in this process the most important role belongs to urban green areas and natural forests. They, synthesizing organic matter, involve in the metabolism the ingredients of industrial and motor vehicle waste, including poisonous gases, and thereby reduce their concentration in the air environment, improve the microclimate and sanitary and hygienic characteristics of the air. The beginning of the development of the scientific basis for the use of vegetation as a means of extracting and neutralizing toxic man-made components from the atmosphere was laid by the research of N.U. Getka. During this period, laboratory employees are conducting research on the gas absorption capacity and gas carrying capacity of a number of local and introduced species on the territory of the Navapolatsky Oil Refinery and in the vicinity of the Minsk Tractor Works. Most of the introduced species were found to be more resistant than the native species. This is due to greater plasticity in their adaptation to new environmental conditions. These studies made it possible to accumulate a wealth of experimental material on structural-functional disorders, the nature of entry, transformation and accumulation of pollutants in individual organs of plants growing near large industrial centers of Belarus. The mechanism of phytotoxic action of a complex of sulfur-containing pollutants (carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide), the accumulative capacity and the adaptive reaction of plants in relation to this factor are summarized in the candidate thesis of S.A. Sergeichyk. biological purification of atmospheric air in the conditions of Belarus". Adaptive restructuring of the photosynthetic apparatus of plants in response to adverse external influences, such as man-made emissions of various chemical nature, is accompanied by changes at different levels of leaf organization: from individual chloroplasts to the whole organ. At the same time, the anatomical structure of the leaf plays the role of a regulator in maintaining the balance of physiological processes when their speeds change, on the one hand, and is itself the result of these changes on the other. The results of these studies are reflected in the candidate's thesis of L.D. Research "Biological features of the main forest-forming species of the dark pine taiga of the European part of the USSR under conditions of industrial pollution" and a number of publications by A.A. Sidorovich with co-authors. Identified interrelationships of a number of anatomical parameters of plants, such as the degree of development of cover and chlorophyll-bearing tissues of a leaf, stomatal apparatus of plants, parameters of chloroplasts, are extremely important, because on their basis it is possible to form an idea about photosynthesis of plants in unfavorable conditions of existence. In the process of photosynthesis and respiration, carbon exchange takes place, which begins with the absorption of carbon dioxide by the leaves and the formation of carbohydrates. Part of them is spent on respiration, and the other part is accumulated in the form of an increase in the mass of dry matter. Studies have shown that in the conditions of the city of Minsk and the Berezinsky hospital, the leaves and needles of the plants selected for observation accumulate almost the same amount of carbon. This suggests that the adaptive capacity of the species is aimed at sustaining life support. It is known that changes in the volume of chloroplasts are very close in nature to changes in the rates of Hill's reactions and photophosphorylation and are a consequence of the preferential formation of certain compounds in reactions with oppositely changing rates. Probably, it is in this way that the autoregulation of the structure and functions of chloroplasts as a dynamic biochemical system, which exists in constantly changing conditions of the man-made environment, takes place. Based on the results of these studies, the doctoral dissertation of N.U. Getka "Structural and functional features of the assimilation apparatus of plants in man-made environment". The main systems of the plant cell, which ensure the resistance of the assimilating apparatus of plants to organogenic xenobiotics, are: the state of the pigment and enzyme systems, as well as the balance of the main physiologic and biochemical parameters that determine the functional activity of the assimilating organs. The presence of organic emissions stimulates the accumulation of photosynthetic pigments and increases the catalytic activity of peroxidases, the main enzymes involved in the metabolic transformations of absorbed xenobiotics. These studies were the basis of the candidate's thesis of I.A. Shabanova "Ecological biological assessment of the resistance of the main forest-forming species of the USSR to organic pollutants of aromatic nature". An important contribution to the development of theoretical and applied aspects of gas resistance of plants was made by the employees of the laboratory of environmental physiology of plants S.A. Siarheichyk, A.A. Siarheichyk, N.U. Getka, L. Dz. Rak, I.A. Shabanova, Ya.A. Badger, L.U. Bureyka, L.U. Bazhko, S.F. Zhdanets, A.S. Trump. The results of long-term research in the field of environmental physiology, gas resistance of native and introduced plants are summarized in the doctoral thesis of S.A. Siarheichyk "Resistance and absorptive capacity of woody plants to gaseous atmospheric pollutants in the conditions of Belarus". In 1991, employees of the laboratory of ecology and nature protection were transferred to the existing laboratory of ecological physiology of plants. During this period, the structural division reaches its largest number of employees - 25 employees. In the same years, large-scale comprehensive studies of the transformation of forest ecosystems of the region under the influence of man-made and recreational loads were developed in the laboratory, in which Zha.A. Rupasava. The choice of this direction was due to the fact that the most sensitive indicator of these loads, according to a generally accepted opinion, are precisely the forest ecosystems, which are widespread in the territory of the region and are capable of accumulating up to 48 pollutants, which in a number of cases leads to a violation of the evolution of relations between individual. their components and, as a consequence, to partial and even complete destruction and degradation of plant complexes. As a result of these studies, it was established that in all of the listed types of plant communities that grow within the recreational zone, despite the worse forest vegetation conditions compared to protected areas, they have much more than their natural analogues, the capacity of the biological cycle, annually attracting and transforming significant volumes of organic matter and chemical elements connected to it. The established features of the functioning of forest phytocenoses under the conditions of anthropogenic loads were also confirmed in the later large-scale studies of E.A. Sidorovicha, Zha.A. Rupasova, A.R. Busko, K.D. Chubanova, N.M. Arabeya, K.K. Kirkovskyi, A.I. Alyakhno, N.I. Pikulik and other employees of the laboratory, carried out within the framework of European environmental monitoring and consisting in the study of the transformation of pine forests under the influence of anthropogenic pressure in certain parts of the Belarusian region. A special place in the research of the laboratory was occupied by the study of the radiation-thermal regime of the forests of Belarus, which was carried out with the help of stationary heat balance observations, which included synchronous actinometric, gradient and photometric measurements at 24 stations in the main forest formations of the republic. A.R. participated in the performance of these large-scale studies. Busko, A.I. Alyakhno, V.D. Burgansky, R.U. Bogatkevich, P.U. Velenko, S.F. Zhdanets, A.M. Yoda, M.M. Matil, D.Dz. Cancer, and J.A. took an active part in summarizing their results. Rupasava. The obtained research results made it possible to reveal a number of features in the change of radiation-heat balance components both in the zone of influence of anthropogenic loads and in protected areas. It was assumed that in the conditions of an urbanized environment, which is characterized by increased pollution by industrial wastes of the surrounding background, the role of abiotic factors in changing the components of the radiation-heat balance should be significantly higher than in protected areas. In order to provide a complete set of biogeocenetic studies that meet the objectives of biological monitoring, a system of automated collection and analysis of primary information using a computer was designed and created, which made it possible to establish accurate correlations and regression relationships between environmental factors of the environment (solar radiation, temperature , moisture) and structural and functional characteristics of forest phytocenoses. In 1990-1994. researchers of the laboratory of ecological physiology of plants of the Central Academy of Sciences of the BSSR carried out large-scale studies of the ecological situation in the entire territory of Belarus on the basis of monitoring the level of man-made pollution of the snow cover and phytomonitoring of forest ecosystems using lichen indication and pine plantations as model objects. At the same time, the main attention was paid to the study of the degree of transformation of forest ecosystems of Belarus under the influence of man-made and recreational loads, the nature of their reactions in response to anthropogenic impacts, as well as the zoning of the territory of the republic according to the level of man-made pollution with compounds of sulfur, nitrogen and heavy metals. As a result of long-term comprehensive studies of the state of the natural environment in the forest ecosystems of Belarus, an indirect assessment of the patterns of the formation of the ecological situation in the republic under the influence of anthropogenic loads is given. As the final stage of the phytoindicative zoning of the territory of Belarus, maps of sulfur and heavy metal pollution were drawn up in individual regions of the republic and in general. In 1996-1997. under the contract with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus, the laboratory conducted an assessment of the risk of man-made pollution of the forest ecosystems of the National Parks "Braslav Lakes", "Narachansky" and adjacent territories. On the basis of the data of lichen indication in the mentioned National Parks, zoning of their territories according to the degree of pollution by sulfur and 8 heavy metals was carried out on the same scale as for the Belovezhskaya Pushcha. An assessment of the condition of pine stands was also carried out within the National Park "Braslav Lakes". In 1998-1999. for the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Belarus, the Laboratory of Environmental Physiology of Plants of the National Academy of Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences implemented a very time-consuming project. During a relatively short period of research, an ecological-biological assessment of the state of the forests of Belarus at the turn of the 21st century was carried out and a set of measures for their recovery was developed. As a result of the implementation of this project, an assessment of the current sanitary state of tree stands was given, and structural changes in some forest phytocenoses were traced for different periods of retrospection. The data of the dendrochronological analysis of the radial current growth of stands, the phytopathological situation in forests, as well as the results of comparative physiologicobiochemical studies of the assimilation apparatus of the main forest-forming species of Belarus in natural and man-made disturbed conditions are presented. Taking into account the actual state of the forests of Belarus, a complex of preventive, forestry and silvicultural activities for the recovery of forest stands has been developed. Since 2001, the laboratory has started carrying out tasks within the framework of the National Institute of Natural Complexes and Biological Resources. New data were obtained that expand our understanding of the mechanism of phytotoxic action of a number of priority environmental pollutants of the Republic of Belarus: formaldehyde, benzo(a)pyrene, hydrogen chloride. Patterns of changes in the physiological parameters of the assimilation apparatus of woody and shrubby plants of local and world flora (105 species) were revealed (the content of water-soluble proteins, photosynthetic pigments, the activity of peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase enzymes, the buffer capacity of tzoxan > influence. The levels of sulfur and chlorine accumulation in the assimilation apparatus of pine and deciduous woody plants in the winter-spring period in different zones of man-made loads in Minsk were determined. In order to strengthen the personnel potential of the laboratory and to fulfill tasks within the framework of the State Institute of Plant and Animal Resources, State Institute of Nature Management, the staff of the laboratory in the early 2000s. enrolled as a Ph.D. Yakovlev A.P. and Ph.D. Pin G.I. With their participation, it was established that the deterioration of the living conditions of most representatives of dendroflora along the highways of the republic is due to the deposition of salt particles dissolved in water, carried by air currents, on the needles and shoots of plants. Manifestations of the negative impact of anti-icing reagents are revealed when studying the anatomo-morphological structure of the assimilating organs, against the background of a decrease in the activity of a number of physiological and biochemical processes. The obtained research results have a pronounced applied orientation. Thus, in cooperation with "BelDorNDI" of the Ministry of Transport, the road methodical document DMD 02191.3.019-2009 "Installation and maintenance of artificially stable snow-retaining tree and shrub plantations along public highways" was developed. Its practical value is determined by the development of scientific foundations for the creation of new tree stands along the main transport highways of Belarus, capable of withstanding the intensifying anthropogenic pressure and reducing the harmful impact of transport on the environment. As a result of the research, maps of the degree of deviations from the MPC of the level of accumulation of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) in the root layer of the soil of spruce plantations adjacent to the Minsk industrial complex were also prepared. Since 2004, another direction of research in the field of industrial ecology, which is important for the national economy of the republic, has been formed in the scientific subject of the laboratory, which is related to the development of the scientific foundations of the biological stage of reclamation of peat deposits of the republic, which have been abandoned from the industrial exploitation of peat plants. within the framework of 2 projects with the Belarusian Foundation for Fundamental Research, as well as on the assignment of the National Technical Research Center "Environmental Safety". Since 2011, the employees of the laboratory of environmental physiology of plants have begun to perform tasks in the following programs of scientific and applied research: DPND "Natural resource potential" 2011-2013; division of the scientific support of the State program of socio-economic development and integrated use of natural resources of Pripyat Polesia for 2010-2015. (jointly with the laboratory of plant chemistry); division of scientific support of the State program for the reconstruction of facilities of the National Academy of Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 2011-2013; DNTP "Natural resources and environment", 2011-2013. (jointly with the laboratory of plant chemistry); NTP "Introduction and Greening", 2011-2013. (jointly with U.F. Kuprevich IEB).
