The article deals with issues related to the development of radioecology as an independent scientific discipline. The achievements of past years and the studies that are currently being carried out, as well as promising areas of development in this area are analyzed. A corrected periodization of the stages of development of radioecology is proposed, taking into account the experience accumulated to date in the field of this discipline. At the initial stage (1895–1929), empirical material was collected; at the first stage (1930–1960), the theoretical foundation was laid and radioecology was formed as an independent discipline; at the second stage (1961–1990), intensive development of radioecology was noted; and, at the third stage (1991–2010), there was progressive development of radioecology; the fourth—modern—stage of the development of radioecology is in the beginning of the 21st century (2011–present). For each stage, the main scientific achievements and evolution of ideas in the field of radioecology are considered. It is postulated that, at present, the development of this discipline is associated with the further improvement of world nuclear technologies, the elimination of the consequences of a number of radiation incidents (the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011), the revision of the concept of radiation protection of the environment and a number of other provisions. Particular attention is paid to forest radioecology, one of the most important main areas of this science.

The purpose of the study was to assess the current state of food security in some regions of the Russian Federation, to identify bottlenecks that hinder its achievement, and also to try to determine the relationship between food security indicators and the degree of land degradation - categories that largely determine the socio-ecological development of the region. Belgorod, Vladimir, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Penza, Samara regions were selected as test regions. At the same time, the choice of the self-sufficiency indicator for the main types of food products as the most representative indicator for assessing food security at the municipal level is justifed. The adapted methodology for calculating self-sufficiency for the municipal level consisted in using the calculated indicators of the required production volumes in accordance with rational consumption standards, which allowed us to obtain an objective assessment of how much municipal formations are able to provide the population living there with the main types of products. The adapted methodology proposed by the authors for calculating indicators of self-sufficiency in basic types of food at the municipal level is described in detail in earlier publications. The results of the analysis of the data obtained on self-sufficiency in such types of products as potatoes, vegetables, meat, milk, fruits and berries in the municipal districts of the test regions in dynamics for the period 2010-2021 are presented. In addition, the relationship between the calculated indicators of self-sufficiency in the main types of food and the degree of land degradation in the municipalities of the test regions was revealed. The results obtained made it possible to identify the main problems associated with ensuring food security and develop proposals to improve the situation.

A detailed review of the existing methods for the economic evaluation of soils in Russia has been carried out. It is shown that the foundations of such an assessment were laid and voiced by V.V. Dokuchaev in public lectures at meetings of the Imperial Free Economic Society. One of the most perfect and holistic systems for assessing soils was created by a group of employees of the Soil Institute under the direction of I.I. Karmanov. The main elements of this system include the soil-ecological index (a bonitet score that reflects the level of soil fertility, taking into account specific climatic conditions and relief) and the tariff category of the soil type of the assessed site. Modern assessment methods are analyzed, including the monetization of soil ecosystem services in determining the amount of damage from land degradation and assessing the value of soils based on the concept of “zero soil.” It is shown that the most promising approaches to the economic evaluation of soils include the evaluation of the cost of individual soil properties; the cost of soil modifiers used to improve the quality of soils; the cost of soils and soil mixtures used for the purposes of reclamation, improvement, and landscaping of territories; and the cost of ecosystem services of soils for land for various economic uses. Examples of approbation of some methods of economic evaluation of soils for the territory of the Educational and Experimental Soil Ecological Center of Moscow State University “Chashnikovo” are given.

On the basis of testing various varieties of ecological and economic assessment of lands on the territory of the Russian Plain, their systematization was carried out both from the standpoint of the ratio of profi t and loss associated with nature management, and the attribution of these varieties to the areas of economic science that diff erently determine the role of human economic activity in ecological systems.Th e predominance in the Russian Federation of those techniques and methods of ecological and economic assess-ment, which are associated with the defi nition of damage/ harm from pollution, degradation and cluttering of land plots, is shown. Th e results of the approbation of the «Methodology for determining the extent of damage from soil and land degradation» (1994) for agricultural farms located in various regions of the Russian Federation — in the Volgograd, Belgorod, Kaliningrad and Penza regions are presented. It has been established that the damage caused to agricultural lands in all the studied regions is due to the low level of agrotechnical measures carried out here — mainly insuffi cient application of organic and mineral fertilizers, liming of acidic soils (for example, in the Kaliningrad region) and gypsum of saline soils (in the Volgograd region).Methods where the comparison of income and losses is carried out (methodology Y. von Braun, adjusting the value of land based on information about their ecological condition), are the most diffi cult to implement, but the most promising from a practical point of view. Th e results of the adjustment of the cadastral value of the lands of the West-ern Administrative District of Moscow based on the calculation of the indicator of loss of ecological quality of soils are presented. In some cases, the decrease in the cadastral value of land plots was 71% compared to the initial value.It has been established that the assessment of environmental damage refers to the direction of «environmental economics», the assessment of ecosystem services of soils and lands, the adjustment of the value of land based on information about their ecological condition, the assessment of environmental tax/environmental payments, — to the direction of «ecological economics», the methodology of J. von Braun and the assessment of environmental risks of pollution, degradation and littering of land — towards the direction of «green economics».

The article presents the results of testing a comprehensive scheme of ecological and economic assessment of land degradation in various regions of the European part of the Russian Federation—Volgograd, Belgorod, Kaliningrad, and Penza oblasts. This scheme includes the use of several methodological approaches—calculation of the amount of damage/harm, which allows one to assess degradation at the present time; determination of land-degradation neutrality (LDN), reflecting the development of degradation processes in dynamics; and assessment of the ratio of the cost of “inaction” to the cost of “action” in relation to the restoration of degraded lands (the methodology of Joachim von Braun), demonstrating the prospects of current land use and predicting the profitability of projects for the restoration of the territory. The originality of the scheme is determined by the possibility of simultaneous detailed analysis of degradation processes in soils and lands in retrospect and at the present time, as well as forecasting them in the future. The results were obtained using the application of the methodology of von Braun. On the one hand, they are based to a certain extent on the methodology of calculating damage from soil and land degradation (here, the cost of restoration or damage is used in the calculations), on the other hand, they come into some contradiction with the results of calculating the LDN for the studied regions. Thus, for the Volgograd oblast with the lowest for the regions value of the neutral balance indicator of land degradation (indicator values of the state of land degradation decay the most), provides a favorable forecast for the success of the implementation of reclamation measures.

The article is devoted to the theory and practice of applying the concept of land degradation neutrality (LDN) for the conditions of the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. Its basic version is considered, based on the analysis of three sub-indicators, where the assessment of land degradation trends in the study area is based on the analysis of changes in the main indicator - the percentage of degraded land from the total area of the territory, and three sub-indicators of SDG 15.3.1: changes in land productivity, changes in land cover and dynamics of soil organic carbon reserves. As an adjustment to the basic approach of the LDN, it is proposed to supplement it with regional data on soil characteristics. The following soil properties can be recommended as necessary for considering in the evaluation model - the content of humus and nutrients, as well as pH, these characteristics, on the one hand, are largely related to soil fertility, and on the other hand, they are most at risk of degradation changes during human exploitation of soils. Modif cation of the LDN methodology allows not only to clarify the central (umbrella) indicator, but also to identify the relationship of the latter with indicators of agricultural production, in particular, gross crop yields. Analysis of the data using the modif ed LDN method showed that 64.8% of the region was degraded (which is almost 2 times higher than the values obtained by the basic LDN method), which leads to a signif cant loss of crop yield. The article proposes an algorithm for assessing the relationship between land degradation and gross crop yields based on correlation and regression analysis (spatial models).

Within the framework of the existing concepts of land degradation assessment, the main ideas about its causes and consequences are formulated, methodological provisions for studying the intensity of degradation processes are defined, and specific methods for assessing the economic component of degradation are developed. The problem of economic assessment of land degradation is complicated by differences in understanding of the nature of degradation processes and the role of soils in them. Soil indicators play the most significant role in the economic assessment of damage from land degradation. However, this methodology does not actually involve the use of modern concepts of ecosystem services. On the contrary, the methodology of land degradation economics, which uses a wide range of ecosystem services, largely ignores the need to take into account the dynamics of soil properties. The development of a unified methodology will solve many problems, among which an important place is occupied by the need to avoid legally regulated formulaic assessments of degradation.

The paper reveals three different approaches to measuring the depth of soil degradation and possible efficiency of its improvement on agricultural lands of two Russian regions. The methods include the evaluation of land productivity and land degradation, then the assessment of the amount of damage to the soil caused by current agricultural practices, and finally the assessment of the cost of inaction compared to the cost of action towards degraded soils using the economics of land degradation framework (ELD). Finding the connection among these methods for establishing an integrative approach is a key goal of this research. First, the main land productivity changes during 2001–2015 period was analyzed and the land degradation neutrality (LDN) indicator was estimated. Secondly, the physical soil degradation was measured, particularly soil erosion, soil nutrients balance, and changes in acidity and salinity of the soils. Finally, the ratio of the cost of inaction compared to the cost of action against land degradation was evaluated. The paper reveals all three methods on the examples of Volgograd oblast’ and Belgorod oblast’. These estimates using the economics of land degradation framework showed that only in the Belgorod region the cost of action against land degradation is economically efficient on a 20-year horizon.

The article assesses the food security of municipalities in the Volgograd region based on indicators of self-sufficiency in agricultural products. It was proposed to adapt the methodology for calculating self-sufficiency indicators, replacing indicators of consumption of basic products in municipalities that are not publicly available with indicators of necessary production volumes in accordance with rational norms. This makes it possible to better assess the extent to which municipalities are able to provide the population with basic food supplies, as well as to identify bottlenecks in order to develop proposals to address them. The highest self-sufficiency ratios for the main types of products was noted in the municipalities of the North-Western agricultural region with most favourable conditions for agricultural activities and, conversely, the lowest figures are typical for agricultural Zavolzhsky area – with the less favourable agricultural conditions.