Environmental Safety of Arctic Cities and New Methods of Research

Natalia V. Vasilevskaya

and Anna I. Sikalyuk

Department of Natural Sciences, Murmansk Arctic State University, 15 Captain Egorov Str., Murmansk, Russia

Keywords: Sustainable Development, Environmental Safety, Arctic Cities.

Abstract: The article presents the results of studying the impact of industrial emissions of enterprises of the city of

Murmansk on the fertility of pollen of Sorbus gorodkovii Pojark (Gorodkov’s rowan). In the vicinity of the

local heating plants operating on fuel oil, a low level of pollen fertility and high sterility is revealed. In the

course of the research, the size groups of pollen are identified. It is shown that emissions from Murmansk

thermal power plants are toxic, have a gametocidal effect, resulting in the formation of a large amount of

sterile nano-pollen. The rejection of the use of fuel oil and the transition of thermal power plants to the use of

natural gas is a promising direction for the sustainable development of the city of Murmansk.

1 INTRODUCTION

Ensuring the environmental safety is one of the

prerequisites for sustainable development of the

Arctic territories. The main features of the Arctic

zone of the Russian Federation are: extreme natural

and climatic conditions, vulnerability of ecosystems,

cluster nature of the development of territories, low

population density, high resource intensity,

dependence on other regions of Russia (Yakovlev,

2014). Murmansk is one of the largest cities in the

Russian Arctic with developed infrastructure and

industrial facilities. The main pollutants of the area

are toxic heavy metals, oil, polycyclic aromatic

hydrocarbons and volatile substances (SO2 and NO2)

(Guzeva, Slukovskii, Myazin, 2020). The main

sources of pollution are emissions from thermal

power plants and dust pollution of the city by the

Murmansk Commercial Sea Port, which is result of

loading and unloading of coal, apatite concentrate and

other raw materials. The soils of Murmansk are

heavily contaminated by heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Ni,

V) (Vasilevskaya, Struzko, 2020), similar data are

obtained in research of bottom sediments of small

lakes in the city (Guzeva, Slukovskii, Myazin, 2020;

Slukovskii, Guzeva, Dauvalter, 2020).

In recent years the new methods of

palynoindication of the environment have been used

to assess environmental quality (Dzyuba, 2006). In



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the Murmansk region, such studies were carried out

on woody species of plants in the cities of Murmansk,

Severomorsk, Monchegorsk, Zapolyarny, Apatity

(Vasilevskaya, Domakhina, 2018; Vasilevskaya,

Sikalyuk, 2021; Vasilevskaya, Osechinskaya, 2021).

Unlike laboratory test objects, plants of natural

habitats respond to the entire spectrum of chemical,

physical and climatic factors, which are typical of the

ecosystem under consideration (Avere, 2004).

Reproductive organs of plants can be used in

environmental studies as biomonitors showing the

gametocidal effect of various pollutants (Ibragimova,

2006). Impact of pollutants leads to the formation of

sterile pollen, disruption of its size and shape. The

suitability of pollen for detecting of the phytotoxic

and mutagenic effects of pollutants is due to its

sensitivity to exposure to pollutants and it is just in

the haploid state that lethal mutations appear

(Bessonova, Fendyur, Peresypkina, 1997).

The aim of the study is to assess the quality of the

environment of the city of Murmansk using pollen of

Sorbus gorodkovii.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

Gorodkov’s rowan (Sorbus gorodkovii Pojark) is

used as an object of research, it is a European

hypoarctomontane species, one of the few

Vasilevskaya, N. and Sikalyuk, A.

Environmental Safety of Arctic Cities and New Methods of Research.

DOI: 10.5220/0010663900003223

In Proceedings of the 1st International Scientiﬁc Forum on Sustainable Development of Socio-economic Systems (WFSDS 2021), pages 64-67

ISBN: 978-989-758-597-5

representatives of the genus Sorbus L., which grows

in the polar latitudes. An endemic of Eastern

Fennoscandia, widely spread in green plantings of

urbanized territories of the Murmansk region. In

natural conditions, it is found in the tundra and forest

zones, mountain-forest and mountain-tundra of

Fennoscandia. Winter-hardy and fast-growing

species, ubiquitous in urban green plantings of the

Murmansk region as the most resistant to the Arctic

climate.

At the end of May 2020, in the city of Murmansk,

in the zone of impact of environmentally hazardous

facilities, five experimental sites were laid: P1 –

Molodezhnaya Str., 170 m from the «Roslyakovo

Yuzhnoye» boiler house; P2 – Domostroitelnaya Str.,

482 m from the plant for thermal treatment of

municipal solid waste; P3 – Portovy proezd Str., 950

m from the industrial site of the Murmansk

Commercial Sea Port; P4 – Tralovaya Str., 353 m

from the Central Heating Plant; P5 – Baumana Str.,

930 m from the South Heating Plant. The control site

is located in the Verkhnetulomsky settlement, at a 70

km distance from the city of Murmansk.

At the end of June 2020, during the period of

massive bloom of rowan, ten inflorescences were

collected from each of the 10 marked trees on each of

the experimental sites, from which five flowers were

randomly selected (N = 500). The samples were fixed

in 40° ethyl alcohol. The studies were carried out by

the acetocarmine method. Fertile pollen contains

starch and turns crimson, as opposed to sterile pollen,

which remains colorless. Cytological analysis was

performed on temporary preparations using light

microscopy (magnification 400 times). In each field

of view of the microscope, number of fertile and

sterile pollen was counted (N=500). An eyepiece

micrometer was used to measure the size of the polar

axis of pollen grains. Three size groups of pollen have

been identified: dwarf, normal (medium), and

hypertrophied. According to the generally accepted

classification (Erdtman, 1952), dwarf pollen grains

include grains with a polar axis length of up to 25 μm.

Pollen grains with a polar diameter of 25–27.5 µm are

attributed to normal (medium) sizes, and more than

27.5 µm to hypertrophied ones.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The studies have shown that the ratio of fertile pollen

of S. gorodkovii in the control sample (settlement

Verkhnetulomsky) is 72%. In the city of Murmansk,

in the vicinity of the environmentally hazardous

industrial facilities, the content of such pollen is much

lower and varies from 35 to 52%. The minimum

content of fertile pollen grains was found in the

samples from the vicinity of the South and Central

Heating Plants, and the «Roslyakovo Yuzhnoye»

boiler house (figure 1).

In the control sample the proportion of sterile

pollen of S. gorodkovii is 28%. This hypoarctic

species is characteristic of a fairly high spontaneous

sterility of the male gametophyte under natural

conditions, which is primarily determined by its

origin (Yandovka, 2010). Indicators of induced

sterility of rowan pollen are increasing in the vicinity

of industrial facilities of the city of Murmansk. The

highest content of abortive pollen of S. gorodkovii is

found in the vicinity of the South Heating Plant and

the Central Heating Plant, operating on fuel oil, as

well as the «Roslyakovo Yuzhnoye» coal-fired boiler

house (figure 1). This sterility of pollen grains is

induced by technogenic pollution of the environment

and indicates the toxicity of emissions from the

Murmansk city boiler houses.

Figure 1: The ratio of fertile and sterile pollen of Sorbus

gorodkovii in the vicinity of industrial facilities of the city

of Murmansk (in %).

Cytological studies have shown that pollen of S.

gorodkovii is three-lobed from the pole and elliptical

at the equator. As a result of measuring the polar

diameter of pollen grains, it is found that fertile and

sterile pollen of S. gorodkovii under industrial

pollution significantly vary in size. Three size groups

of pollen have been identified: dwarf, medium

(normal), and hypertrophied. The average size of the

polar axis of medium fertile pollen in the control is

25.8 μm. In the samples from the test sites of the city

of Murmansk, it varies from 25.7 to 25.9 µm (table

1). The highest content of medium-sized S.

gorodkovii pollen is found in the control samples,

from the vicinity of the incineration plant and the

Murmansk Commercial Sea Port (figure 2). The

proportion of such pollen decreases markedly in the

vicinity of the Murmansk boiler houses (61.8–69%).

Environmental Safety of Arctic Cities and New Methods of Research

Table 1: Length of the polar diameter of the fertile pollen

of Sorbus gorodkovii in the zone of industrial impact of the

city of Murmansk (in μm).

Experimental

sites

ollen

Dwarf

pollen

M ± m

Medium

pollen

M ± m

Hypertrophied

M ± m

P1 21.9 ± 1.3 25.7 ± 1.1 30.3 ± 2.0

P2 22.5 ± 1.1 25.9 ± 1.2 31.1 ± 2.5

P3 22.5 ± 0.9 25.9 ± 1.2 30.7 ± 1.7

P4 22.2 ± 0.8 25.8 ± 1.2 30.6 ± 1.5

P5 22.1 ± 1.9 25.7 ± 1.1 30.6 ± 1.7

Control 22.3 ± 0.8 25.8 ± 1.2 30.5 ± 1.3

In the tested samples, a lot of dwarf and

hypertrophied pollen are revealed. The length of the

polar axis of dwarf fertile pollen in control is 22.3 μm,

in Murmansk 21.9 – 22.5 μm (table 1). An increased

content of nano-pollen of S. gorodkovii is found in

the vicinity of the Murmansk boiler houses (12.9 –

17.9%), while in the settlement Verkhnetulomsky –

5.5% (figure 2). Many authors point to the formation

of small pollen grains due to dry air under industrial

pollution (Dzyuba, 2006). At the same time, V. N.

Bessonova (Bessonova, 1992) showed that the

appearance of dwarf pollen is associated with

disturbances in meiosis in which part of the genetic

material is lost, as a result of fission spindle damage

or chromosomal mutations.

The size of the polar axis of the hypertrophied

fertile pollen in the city of Murmansk is 30.3 – 31.1

μm, in control – 30.5 μm (table 1), its share

significantly increasing in the vicinity of the

Murmansk heating plants (17.4 – 22.7%), being 6%

in the control (figure 2). This is a presumably diploid

pollen, 1.2 times the normal diameter. The

appearance of hypertrophied pollen is associated with

disturbances in meiosis, as a result of the exposure to

mutagens of various nature. Their appearance can be

caused by a violation of the divergence of microspore

tetrads during microsporogenesis (Emirova,

Ibragimova, 2010).

Figure 2: Ratio of normal, dwarf and hypertrophied fertile

pollen grains of Sorbus gorodkovii in the city of Murmansk

(in %).

As a result of the study of the size of the sterile

pollen of S. gorodkovii, all samples showed a

significant increase of the proportion of dwarf pollen.

Its content is very high in all samples from the vicinity

of industrial enterprises of the city of Murmansk (59

–70%) and in the control (53%) (figure 3). Moreover,

dwarf sterile pollen is significantly smaller (19.7 –

20.8 μm) than fertile one (21.9 – 22.8 μm) (table 1,2).

The maximum amount of abortive nano-pollen is

found in the vicinity of the Murmansk boiler houses

(figure 3).

Table 2: Length of the polar diameter of Sorbus gorodkovii

sterile pollen in the industrial impact zone of the city of

Murmansk (in μm).

Experimental

sites

Dwarf pollen

M ± m

Medium pollen

M ± m

P1 19.7 ± 2.5 25.2 ± 0.9

P2 20.8 ± 1.9 25.5 ± 1.1

P3 20.3 ± 2.1 25.6 ± 1.1

P4 20.1 ± 2.3 25.3 ± 0.8

P5 20.4 ± 2.2 25.2 ± 0.7

Control 20.5 ± 2.1 25.3 ± 0.8

The length of the polar axis of medium-sized

sterile pollen grains in Murmansk is 25.2 – 25.5 μm,

in the Verkhnetulomsky settlement – 25.3 μm (table

2). A significant decrease of its share is noted in the

zone of industrial impact of all enterprises of the city

of Murmansk, especially in the vicinity of the South

and Central Heating Plants (29 – 33.4%) (figure 3).

The average size of the polar axis of hypertrophied

sterile pollen grains in the samples from the

experimental sites varies from 30 to 35 µm (in

control–30 µm), it is found in all samples quite

occasionally (0.6–1.2%). A sterile microgametophyte

is characterized by deformation and degeneration of

nuclei, cytoplasm, or a cell as a whole. The formation

of such pollen in plants is associated with

disturbances in meiosis and microsporogenesis

(Yandovka, 2010). The highest values of abortive

pollen are associated with the highest frequencies of

meiotic disorders (Saylor, Smith, 1966).

Figure 3: Ratio of size groups of sterile Sorbus gorodkovii

pollen in the vicinity of industrial enterprises in Murmansk

(in %).

Usually, the size of pollen grains is a stable feature

of species of plants (more often – of genera) and is

WFSDS 2021 - INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

characterized by very low individual, intrapopulation,

and intraspecific geographic variability (Kozubov,

1974). A change in the size of pollen is associated

with a disturbance in the process of growth and

division of cells during the formation of primary cells

of archesporium and tetrads of microspores, which

leads to genetic variability of pollen (Bessonova,

1992). Under conditions of environmental pollution,

pollen grains of plants vary in size more than that of

plants in the clean environment.

4 CONCLUSION

The Murmansk region is one of the last regions of the

North-West of the Russian Federation where fuel oil

is used for heating in boiler houses. In Petrozavodsk,

Arkhangelsk and Vologda, heating plants have been

re-equipped and use natural gas. Studies have shown

that emissions from Murmansk thermal power plants

are toxic, have a gametocidal effect, resulting in the

formation of a large amount of sterile nano-pollen of

native tree species.

It is known that thermal stations operating on fuel

oil or coal are the most dangerous for living

organisms, including humans (Mejia, Rodriguez,

Armienta, 2007). The South and Central Heating

Plants in the city of Murmansk belong to the 2nd class

of environmental hazard, the coal-fired boiler house -

to the 3rd. The emissions from the Murmansk thermal

power plants contains pollutants with a high degree

of mutagenicity and related to hazard classes I and II

(benz (a) pyrene, manganese and its compounds (in

terms of manganese (IV) oxide), dihydrosulfide

(hydrogen sulfide) and others). Emissions from any

fuel oil-fired heating plants have elevated levels of

Fe, V, Ni, Cr and other elements (Teng, Ni, Zhang,

Wang, Lin, 2006). The fly ash generated during the

combustion of fuel oil from heating plants contains 3

– 4% of nickel (Ni) and 6 – 12% of vanadium (V)

(Slukovskii, Guzeva, Dauvalter, 2020). Vanadium

and nickel are impurities in fuel oil, which is currently

used at the Murmansk Heating Plants (Guzeva,

Slukovskii, Myazin, 2020). Vanadium (V) oxide is a

toxic and hazardous substance for the environment,

has mutagenic properties. The rejection of the use of

fuel oil and the transition of thermal power plants to

the use of natural gas is a promising direction for the

sustainable development of the city of Murmansk.

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Environmental Safety of Arctic Cities and New Methods of Research