Achievements in discovering some new facts in the interdisciplinary areas of life sciences and geosciences.
V.V.Ermakov
http://ru.scribd.com/doc/151545707/
http://ru.scribd.com/doc/151545707/
V.I.Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
Tags: biosphere, V.I.Vernadsky, biogeochemistry, environmental science, ecology, migration, chemical elements, biogenic, detritus, geochemical, geosciences, detoxification,
The pioneering studies of V.I. Vernadsky [1] stimulated interest to the interdisciplinary issues of ecology (e.g., [2]) and interactions between geochemical environment and organisms [3 - 6].
Recently a series of publications on issues of environmental science, including various aspects of biogeochemistry, ecology, and geochemical ecology was published [7-11]. These publications were in part based on the presentations that the author of them made in the V.I. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences, in M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University and other universities. The goal of this communication is to comment on these publications.
In those publications, the author presented results of his studies of interactions among some chemical elements and biogenic detritus sensu lato (including both the organic material excreted by organisms and the mortmass of some organisms). The author performed a series of experiments with a special attention to various aquatic organisms and systems. The experiments were run in at M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University and University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA, U.S.A.).
The experiments demonstrated that many chemical elements (including heavy metals and some rare earth elements) were immobilized by biogenic detritus (biodetritus, mortmass) of various origin. Moreover, the author of these publications made in-depth analysis of the ecological and environmental aspects of those experimental results. Also, considered a broad factual material from scientific literature. As a result, he developed interesting conclusions on the biological and biogeochemical meaning of the new data.
The author of these publications considered this immobilization of chemical elements, many of them toxic, as another natural process that contribute to detoxification of aquatic environment. He underlined the ecological importance of the fact that the toxic elements after their immobilization are less available to the living organisms that inhabit this aquatic environment. The decrease in bioavailability means that these toxic chemical elements are less harmful to the organisms.
The important functional role of the detritus of biological origin made the author to consider this type of natural substances as a special third type of substances (the third type of the matter) in biosphere. This insightful conclusion was seriously substantiated and confirmed by the impressive amount of new facts that the author has found in his experiments.
To a degree, the new data and the interesting conceptualization in the publications [7-11 ] discovered another natural (ecological) mechanisms for detoxification of the environment. The aquatic environment becomes less polluted with toxic chemical elements, which in turn means that these phenomena contribute to the processes of water self-purification. As a result, the new publications add new material and provide additional support to the fundamental theory of waterself-purification that the same author had developed in his previous publication [12-16].
The abovementioned publications [7-16] are rich with new experimental data, innovative and helpful in getting better understanding of fundamental issues of ecology, biogeochemistry, and ecological geochemistry. They are a valuable contribution to both life sciences and geosciences. The research activity of this author [7-16] should be supported and encouraged.
References:
1. Vernadsky V.I. Biosphere. Moscow. Publishing House Noosfera. 2001. 244 p.
2. Alimov A.F. Towards a theory of the functioning of aquatic ecosystems . Leiden : Backhuys Publishers , 2003. 130 p.
1. Vernadsky V.I. Biosphere. Moscow. Publishing House Noosfera. 2001. 244 p.
2. Alimov A.F. Towards a theory of the functioning of aquatic ecosystems . Leiden : Backhuys Publishers , 2003. 130 p.
3. Kovalsky V.V. Geochemical environment and life. Moscow, Nauka. 1982. 78 c.
4. Ковальский В.В. Проблемы биогеохимии микроэлементов и геохимической экологии. М. Россельхозакадемия, 2009. 357 с.
5. Ермаков В.В. Ковальский В.В. Биологическое значение селена. М. Наука, 1974. 294 с.
6. Ермаков В.В. (ред.) Техногенез и биогеохимическая эволюция таксонов биосферы (Technogenesis and biogeochemical evolution of the biospheric taxons) М: Наука. 2003
7. Остроумов С.А. Новая типология вещества и роль ex-living matter (ELM) в биосфере [New typology of matter and the role of ex-living matter (ELM)] // Ecological Studies, Hazards, Solutions. 2010. Vol.16. P. 62-65.
4. Ковальский В.В. Проблемы биогеохимии микроэлементов и геохимической экологии. М. Россельхозакадемия, 2009. 357 с.
5. Ермаков В.В. Ковальский В.В. Биологическое значение селена. М. Наука, 1974. 294 с.
6. Ермаков В.В. (ред.) Техногенез и биогеохимическая эволюция таксонов биосферы (Technogenesis and biogeochemical evolution of the biospheric taxons) М: Наука. 2003
7. Остроумов С.А. Новая типология вещества и роль ex-living matter (ELM) в биосфере [New typology of matter and the role of ex-living matter (ELM)] // Ecological Studies, Hazards, Solutions. 2010. Vol.16. P. 62-65.
8. Остроумов С.А. Обезвреживание токсичных элементов в биосфере и совершенствование экологического мониторинга // Экология промышленного производства. 2012. № 1. С. 26-33.
9. Остроумов С.А. Живое вещество и роль детрита в биогенной миграции микроэлементов. В книге: Ермаков В.В., Карпова Е.А., Корж В.Д., Остроумов С.А. Инновационные аспекты биогеохимии – (М.: ГЕОХИ РАН, 2012). с. 103-133.
10. Остроумов С.А. О типологии основных видов вещества в биосфере // Экологическая химия 2011, 20(3): 179–188.
11. Остроумов С. А. Токсичные элементы в биосфере,экологические вопросы детоксикациии совершенствование экологического мониторинга (Toxic elements in biosphere, ecological problems of detoxicationand advance of ecological monitoring) // Прикладная токсикология. 2012. № 2(8). С.28-41.
12. Ostroumov S.A. Aquatic ecosystem as a bioreactor: water purification and some other functions // Rivista di Biologia - Biology Forum. 2004. Vol. 97. P. 67–78. www.academia.edu/782329/ ; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15648211
13. Ostroumov S.A. On the multifunctional role of the biota in the self-purification of aquatic ecosystems // Russian Journal of Ecology. 2005. Vol. 36 (6). P. 414-420. http://www.scribd.com/doc/45572968
14. Ostroumov S.A. Biological Effects of Surfactants. Boca Raton, London, New York: CRC Press. Taylor & Francis. 2006. 304 p.
15. Ostroumov S. A. Basics of the molecular-ecological mechanism of water quality formation and water self-purification. // Contemporary Problems of Ecology. 2008. Vol. 1 (1). P. 147-152. http://www.scribd.com/doc/104724760
16. Ostroumov S. A. Biocontrol of water quality: Multifunctional role of biota in water self-purification // Russian Journal of General Chemistry. 2010. Vol. 80 (13). P. 2754-2761. http://www.scribd.com/doc/49131150
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