Phytoplankton communities can serve as bioindicators of the water system state. It is necessary to select the appropriate species of microalgae to develop a model of a natural ecosystem that will allow performing multifactor experiments on the influence of physicochemical factors on the biophysical and hydrobiological characteristics of phytoplankton. This study has allowed selecting six species from those available in a museum to establish a model algal community. We have found that similar conditions are required for their optimal growth (light, temperature, and medium nutrients' supply). A medium with low nitrogen content is proposed to be used as a basal medium. Under these conditions, the cells function in a proper way and the cultures show satisfactory growth, while the duration of reaching the stationary stage of growth (10–15 days) allows having more experiments for a limited time. The cells of the selected species have morphological differences that are sufficient for the automated identification within the polyculture. We have obtained the geometric characteristics of cells for the computer counting of each species in the community on the microphotographs.

Phytoplankton communities can serve as bioindicators of water system condition. Model of the natural ecosystem can enable multivariate experiments on the effect of physical and chemical factors on biophysical and hydrobiological characteristics of phytoplankton. Creating of such a model requires selecting appropriate species of microalgae. This study has allowed for selecting six types from those available in museum to create a model algal community. We found that similar conditions are required for their optimal growth (light, temperature, medium nutrients supply). As a base medium it is proposed to use a medium with low nitrogen content. Under these conditions, the cells function in a proper way and the cultures show satisfactory growth, while the duration of reaching the stationary stage of growth (10–15 days) allows to have more experiments for a limited time. Cells of selected species have morphological differences that are sufficient for the automated identification within the polyculture. We have obtained the geometric characteristics of cells for computer counting of each community species on microphotographs.

В обзоре рассмотрены современные подходы к экологическому нормированию качества почв, включая экологический мониторинг состояния почв и значение химических и биологических показателей в оценке качества почвы и воздействия физических факторов среды на почву. Российская система экологического нормирования, основанная на концепции предельно-допустимых концентраций (ПДК), сопоставлена с зарубежными подходами к нормированию и расчетным комплексным показателям качества почвы, в частности, c экологическим нормированием в Германии (стандарты содержания загрязняющих веществ определяются категорией объектов и характером использования земель), Нидерландах («уровни вмешательства», при превышении которых загрязнение почвы может быть квалифицировано как серьезное) и США (национальные программы сохранения природных ресурсов, природоохранная политика). Отмечены альтернативные по отношению к ПДК подходы к нормированию качества почвы (биогеохимическое и статистическое нормирование, а также экосистемный подход), рассмотрены концепции пороговых уровней и критических нагрузок и экологических рисков.

The influence of the sampling and processing-method accuracy on the bioindication parameters of the taxonomic and size structure of the phytoplankton community, fluorescence, and saprobic index has been studied in Rybinsk Reservoir. The studied parameters have been ranked in accordance to their sensitivity to the method accuracy. The comparative analysis of the relative errors of the studied parameters has been performed for Rybinsk Reservoir and the White Sea phytoplankton communities. Recommendations about the most useful parameters to assess the status of the phytoplankton community are given.

The main principles of the environmental standardization of hazardous impacts experienced by natural ecosystems and approaches to this standardization based on the analysis of in situ biological and physicochemical monitoring are described. The possibilities of applying standardization methods are discussed, including methods based on background and averaged values of the characteristics to be standardized, a model analysis of the effect of abiotic components on natural communities, and in situ technology of establishing local environmental standards. Some principles underlying the environmental standardization are presented. The classification of ecosystems by their environmental quality is described.

The basic systematic approaches to ecological standardization of pollutants in natural environment were described with regard to the nature conservation legislation of Russia and other countries. Some special features and shortcomings of the standards of maximum admissible concentrations (MAC) for pollutants were analyzed in comparison to the standards of admissible impacts used in Russia. The efficiency of applying standard integral indices using the values obtained in the laboratory and based on MAC was studied for their application to assessing water quality.

The feasibility of ecological standardization of physicochemical factors that do not refer to concentrations of polluting substances (water regime, water temperature, and pH) is confirmed. The opportunity of standardization is provided with the approach developed by the authors, which is based on joint analysis of the data of biological and physicochemical monitoring. Additional opportunities provided by the method used for the analysis are connected with calculating the admissible influence values that vary in time. The seasonal dynamics of the obtained ecologically tolerable levels (ETL) for factors disturbing the well being of biological indicators is investigated. The water sample points are analyzed concerning their ecological well being or ill being depending on observance or nonobservance of ETL values.