Since the beginning of the post-Soviet period there have been noticeable changes of interactions between rural and urban environments in Russia, including those in the functions of settlements, their properties and links. The paper attempts to identify modern forms of population interactions, and investigate the main causes of migration flows between cities and villages, based on the long-term field studies in various regions of our country dealing with the informal relations between actors of rural-urban communities. The paper reveals some aspects of increasing mutual dependence of villages and cities, manifested primarily in the integration of rural residents into urban life and vice versa. The process is particularly evident in the Moscow and St. Petersburg agglomerations. Based on numerous social surveys and interviews of both rural and urban population, and the analysis of VK social network groups, the author suggests an original typology of informal rural-urban communities. In particular, four types of informal rural-urban communities were identified based on a number of indicators, namely family-related, new village, recreational, and virtual. The identified types are described, specific features of them are revealed, and the examples for each type are given. The paper also provides a comparative analysis of the types of informal rural-urban communities identified by the authors and reveals the most common ones for the studied regions of our country.

Territorial complexes of traditional culture, i. e. areas of particular value within the collective folklore memory, are specific elements of the cultural landscape. These objects are characterized by two components, i. e. a natural or anthropogenic basis – a material element of the cultural landscape, and a legend associated with it – a folklore link that explains its importance for the local community, and sometimes the ritual system of visiting the object by the local community members. The physical presence of a material object allows preserving the legend and the legend prevents the destruction of the object by the local community.

The phenomenon of traditional cultural complexes is just poorly covered by modern social and geographical studies.

As for Eastern Europe, there is a particularly high concentration of the complexes of traditional culture in Eastern Belarus and adjacent regions of Russia, as a result of the frontier position of the territory. Specific features of the functioning of local complexes of traditional culture in Eastern Europe depend on which group of the objects of traditional culture they belong to.

A large volume of materials has been collected about the traditional cultural complexes in Belarus.

Based on the genesis, the following groups of traditional culture complexes were identified for the territory of Belarus and neighboring regions: natural (hydrological, botanical, lithological), anthropogenic and natural-anthropogenic (landscape). Each group is further subdivided into several types and classes.

The article proposes a methodological approach to forecasting potential damage from natural hazards in case of large-scale ski tourism investment projects planning, as well as to assessing changes in the vulnerability of affected territories. The study aim is to elaborate and test a methodology of predicting the maximum socio-economic losses and vulnerability changes in the regions of the "Northern Caucasus Resorts" tourist cluster objects localization for a long-term period. According to the authors’ estimates, if the "Northern Caucasus Resorts" tourist cluster will be created the number of people potentially inhabiting the avalanche-prone zones will increase significantly in all municipalities of its objects localization, which increases the individual death risk indicator for the territory. During the ski season the actual population could increase up to 30 times in some of the most remote and currently underdeveloped areas. The fixed assets will grow from 2 to 90 times in the municipalities under study, and the probable maximum losses will reach tens of billions roubles.

Samples of precipitation representing all precipitation events were collected at the Meteorological Observatory of the Lomonosov Moscow State University during 2014–2016, namely 101 samples in 2014; 140 samples in 2015; 154 samples in 2015. Amount and duration of precipitation, air temperature in the surface layer of the atmosphere, pH, ionic and isotope composition of precipitation samples were measured. Distribution of δ¹⁸О values in precipitation in 2014–2016 is of a sinusoidal type, they also correlate well with changes of temperature. In general, average monthly δ¹⁸О values increase from January to May-July. During the 3-year period, the most isotopically depleted precipitation occurred in January, and the most isotopically enriched precipitation occurred during summer months. The correlation coefficient of the oxygen isotope composition with the air temperature was 0,96 in January and 0,99 in June-August. Anomalously enriched precipitation in November 2014 could be explained by both higher air temperature, and the changes in the movement of the air mass front. The highest mineralization of precipitation during the study period was in 2014, mainly because of the low amount of precipitation. In wetter 2016 the average mineralization was almost 2,5 times lower than in 2014–2015. The predominant ions in 2014–2016 precipitation were chlorine and calcium. The maximum values of mineralization and ion concentrations were observed from March to May.

The role of ancient paleo-features and paleo-processes in the formation and functioning of modern soils under the changing climate is actively studied for reasoning of the existence of a large variety of soils. The paper presents the results of paleocryogenic effects on the East European plain. The influence of paleocryogenesis on the variability of soil profile structure was compared for the Eastern and Western peripheries of the periglacial zone of the Valdai glaciations (Chernozems of the Samara region and sodpodzolic soils of the Vologda region, respectively). The intensity of influence and the degree of manifestation of these processes in different parts of the periglacial zone in the direction from West to East are revealed. The palecriogenic processes in soils manifest themselves in the form of large wedge-shaped ground structures, the tongue-wedges and the tongue-wedges concentrations. The intensity of the relics of paleocryogenic processes decreases over the East European Plain from the western to the eastern border of the periglacial zone of the Valdai glaciation.

Paleoecological processes of the Late Pleistocene significantly affect the properties of the present-day soil cover. It was found that sedimentation processes with deposition of different types of material, soil formation, and cryogenic (paleocryogenic) processes were all synchronous and periodic.

Specific feature of paleocryogenesis in the studied soils is attributed to their facial characteristics at the final stage of the Valdai glaciation – the Late Glacial.

The processes of socio-ethnic territorial differentiation in Moscow are compared to the situation in specifically selected largest European capitals such as London, Paris, Madrid and Berlin. Mass inter-ethnic crashes over the last 20 years in European cities such as London, Paris and many others, demonstrate the social tension in the region. The analysis of the residential real estate prices using the author’s methodology allows determining their effect on the immigrants’ settlement pattern. The author attempts to compare Moscow with other European capitals and identify the features of social differentiation under the lack of comparable statistical information about immigrants.

It was revealed that a highly mosaic distribution of housing prices is characteristic of London. In Greater Paris the city of Paris is highly dominant, and the Department of Seine-Saint-Denis is distinguished by the low cost of housing and a large concentration of immigrants. The expensive housing zones of Madrid are in the central areas and greener northwestern districts. In terms of housing prices Berlin is more contrasted than in the immigrants’ settlement pattern. The prices have rather small influence on the immigrants’ settlement pattern. The center-peripheral distribution of the residential real estateprices is characteristic of Moscow, and there are also zones of more expensive housing in the western part of the city and close to the exit avenues.

The number and share of immigrants are as significant, as the immigration stages, the immigrants’ composition, the migration policy, and the residential real estate price distribution. It was shown that the immigration processes in Moscow are just as pronounced as in other cities; however the "internal" migrants are probably by and large responsible for the ethnic tensions in the city.

Long distances are a barrier to the development of mineral resources of the Far North. The problem could be solved by creating transport corridors (development axes), which, together with the poles of growth, will form a spatial and economic framework of the territory, considered to provide an additional spatial stimulus for economic activities. In this case, the poles of growth will be territorial combinations of natural resources, classified by the priority of importance (value) and most favorably located in relation to the transport axes.

By the example of a typical region of the Far North, i. e. the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), with all its inherent problems associated with extremely unfavorable natural conditions that complicate the continuous development of the territory, calculations were made to assess a large number of territorial combinations of mineral resources for all administrative districts and rank them according to the values received. The development of sufficient transport infrastructure required for their successful development will take a long time. A more efficient solution of the problem will be possible if an ideally located transport hub is created at equal distances from all other settlements of the republic. The position of such transport center, which has the smallest sum of distances to all other regional centers of the republic, was calculated using the haversine formula. Comparison of the mineral resource potential of the regions of the republic and the transport accessibility of their administrative centers made it possible to identify the territories with the highest priority for development. The received recommendations are supported by the analysis of the level of socio-economic development of the regions of the republic.

The relationships between the stability of landscape functioning and its spatial pattern are in the focus of contemporary studies of landscape space-time. Spatial pattern may be regarded as a relevant indicator for variable functioning of landscape components as well as a condition for the processes controlling their dynamics. The paper deals with determining spatial conditions for emerging classes of stability for phytocoenoses functioning on the example of green phytomass characterized by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The study was performed in both strictly protected and grazed sections of the low-mountainous steppe landscape in the Southern Urals. Field measurements of herbal aboveground phytomass confirmed significant positive correlation with NDVI. To analyze temporal variability of NDVI we developed a procedure that neutralizes the dependence of green phytomass on weather conditions of a certain year but considers the degree of concordance of a facies with the background landscape-scale dynamics. The deviations from the background dynamics are considered to indicate the dominant influence of local conditions. The stability of phytomass dynamics was evaluated using the Shannon index for the combination of frequencies of five gradations of NDVI increments between two dates within the vegetation period. We interpreted 13 pairs of Landsat-8 images. It was found that locations with the highest deviations from zonal water supply, both towards dryness and humidity, are very instable in types of phytomass dynamics. This proves that the contributions of local-scale and landscape-scale processes to the phytomass development vary in time. Instability of green phytomass dynamics increases if the soil profile is stony and poorly developed. Active lateral interactions of plateaus and crests within strongly dissected terrains favor the stabilization of phytomass dynamics while within the central parts of large plateaus it is less stable. High species richness and increased share of mesoxerophytes in phytocoenoses also contribute to the stabilization of the phytomass dynamics.

The article deals with land cover changes in the "Alanya" National Park (North Ossetia) over a 30year period. The objectives of the article are to identify the extent of land cover changes in mountain landscapes, as well as the main factors, both natural and anthropogenic, that determine the current dynamics of land use. Based on the interpretation of satellite images for 1988, 2006 and 2017, the analysis of historical, statistical and archival materials, and field studies, the dynamics of land cover and land use was revealed within various types of landscapes, namely nival-glacial, mountain meadow, mountain forest and mountain steppe. It is a typical set of altitude zones for the North Caucasus with specific dynamics of landscapes and land use changes. The decrease in the area of glaciers and snowfields in the nival-glacial zone, the expansion of meadow vegetation in the mountain meadow zone, the restoration of forests and the expansion of forest areas in the mountain forest zone were noted. The area of pine and birch forests has increased by 44% and 33% respectively. The greatest increment is observed within the altitudes of 1600–1800 m, rather than at the upper forest limit. The main trend of land use change in the valleys is the reduction of arable lands and hayfields; there is a significant decrease of pastures and hayfields in the middle mountains, and reduction of pastures in the high-mountain belt. The main factors of land cover dynamics are climate warming, as well as a decrease of the anthropogenic activities, mainly pastoral. The interrelation of these two factors had a positive effect on forest overgrowing of mountain meadows, less often – mountain steppes. The limitation of economic activities after the national park establishment in 1998 (since then the number of resident population has decreased about 1,6 times) had a relatively small impact on the land use/land cover, but played an important role in regulating land use in connection with actively developing tourism and seasonal recreation. The priorities of the national park include the expansion of ecological tourism and recreation and the maintenance of traditional types of land use, taking into account the landscape and environmental features of different altitudinal zones.

In river valleys of the East European Plain, on floodplains and low river terraces, macromaenders (large palaeochannels) are found. These macromeanders are evidences of high fluvial activity epochs, when the values of river runoff were several times higher than modern ones. Such palaeochannels were found and studied in Vorona river valley near Borisoglebsk town. This article provides the detailed description of the morphological structure of the Vorona river valley on the key site, parameters of macromeanders and palaeoreconstructions of river runoff, based on the parameters of the palaeochannels. Four levels of terraces and wide floodplain are presented in the studied part of the Vorona river valley. The river channel is meandering. The floodplain is predominantly segmental-ridged, complicated by numerous paleochannels. Among them, two generations are clearly distinguished in size – large paleochannels (macromeanders), in size many times larger than the parameters of the modern channel, and small paleochannels, corresponding in size to the modern channel. The width of macromeanders is on average 300–350 m; the width of small paleochannels is on average about 30–40 m. Large paleochannels are evidence of increased river runoff; their formation in this region is usually associated with the Late Glacial (18–12 ka BP). Small paleochannels are the same size as the modern river and were formed in the Holocene. The modern discharge of the Vorona river on the studied part of the valley is 37,9 m³/s, while the calculated values of the paleo-discharge (at which the macroradiations were formed) are 146,5 m³/s, that is almost 4 times higher. The modern runoff layer is 90 mm, the paleo-runoff layer is 350 mm.

The paper presents the results of assessing the carbon intensity of the economy at a regional level based on the approach developed by the authors. The attempts to optimize the environmental management are often associated with the transition to a "low-carbon" economy, but the reduction of carbon intensity is considered mainly from the economic point of view. However, the structure of land use is an important factor of low-carbon development. The proposed approach allows comparing the intensity of natural and anthropogenic carbon flows, with due account of the absorption capacity of forests and agricultural land.

The IPCC guidelines for greenhouse gas inventory were used to assess the carbon intensity and the contribution of forests and agricultural land to carbon dioxide sequestration was estimated using the Guidelines for quantifying greenhouse gases absorption by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The project was carried out for the Republic of Tatarstan. The calculations are based on the official data on fuel volumes used by economic sectors and administrative regions of Tatarstan, as well as the data on land use structure, verified with the satellite images.

The region has a diversified structure of economy and land use. The amount of CO₂ emissions and the absorption capacity of natural and transformed landscapes were estimated within the boundaries of administrative regions and correlated to the gross territorial product (GTP). The resulting values of the carbon balance and differentiation of this indicator over the territory of the region allows conclusions about the natural landscapes potential to compensate the economic activities pressure. The potential of natural systems significantly exceeds the anthropogenic load in the areas with a "positive" carbon balance, while in the areas with a "negative" carbon balance CO₂ emissions exceed the capacity of natural systems to absorb it. Thus, the carbon intensity as an indicator of environment impact is a promising direction for the development of integrated environmental and economic assessment of the results of nature management at the regional level. Comparison of the carbon intensity with the carbon sequestration potential could be used to improve the structure of land use for environmental management purposes.