The article discusses the main trends in the spatial organization of animal husbandry in the post-Soviet years with the help of a multi-scale study of the regions in the Central Federal District of Russia. The use of Rosstat data for municipal districts, topographic maps, and interpretation of satellite images with different resolutions allowed us to reveal the real picture of organizational and spatial changes in animal husbandry up to the conditions of individual farms. After a catastrophic decline in livestock numbers in the 1990s, animal husbandry is recovering, partially changing its specialization, organizational structure, and localization. If meat production has grew up in recent years, mainly due to pork and poultry, the number of cattle in many areas continues to decline. At the same time, the degree of animal husbandry concentration has increased in comparison with the Soviet time. The selectivity of the sector's restoration makes it spatially focal, leaving vast Non-Chernozem lands abandoned and gradually overgrown with forest. To verify statistical information, ultra-high-resolution remote sensing data on the distribution of livestock farms and its infrastructure and condition are used, with some examples given in diagrams and maps. A comparison of the data from topographic maps of the late 1980s and contemporary satellite images showed that over 4000 farms were abandoned in the regions of the Central Federal District. At the same time, many new modernized enterprises appeared. Maps compiled by municipal districts clearly reflect the current spatial structure of animal husbandry. The spatial organization of large agricultural holdings is studied in more detail using examples.

The article analyzes the key meanings of the external image of the Far Eastern region and their correlation with the internal content (territorial identity) in the regionalist discourse of the Far East. Based on the analysis of the materials of the media discourse of the Federal media, it is shown that the specialness of the macroregion is interpreted through economic markers and the semantic concept of “development.” Identification with the community through the name “Far East” is raised in the context of the discourse of problems in the macroregion. Special attention is paid to the internal discourses of the identity of the Far East. The article reflects the results of a study of Far Eastern regionalism conducted by the author in late October-early November 2019 in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. The main materials for the analysis were expert interviews and the results of the included observation. It is shown how awareness of specific regional problems of the Far East contributes to the formation of the identity of the Far East. The study showed that the term “Far East” reflects the external name of the macroregion, is an administrative term that does not have “spiritual unity” in the form of common identification bases. Expert interviews allowed us to establish that the reasons for the lack of community at the macro-regional level are associated with a weak subjectivity and connectivity between the regions of the Far East. The key rallying idea is determined by the presence of a Moscow-free discourse. There is a need to construct positive identification markers through communication of actors who produce regionalist discourse in the Far East.

Rapid depopulation, which affected vast regions of Central and Eastern Europe, has long-term consequences not only for their socioeconomic, but also political development. For the unrecognized polities, the ability to retain the population has become an important criterion for successfully competing with the parent states for the loyalty of citizens, the legitimacy of political regimes and claims to sovereignty. The objective of the paper is to consider the impact of depopulation on the socioeconomic situation and political life of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria, PMR) in comparison with the Republic of Moldova (RM). On the basis of official statistics, the authors compare the rates, factors and reasons for the population decrease in the PMR and RM. Shown are the consequences of depopulation typical for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and specific for Transnistria and Moldova. The assessment of migration losses in general for these territories and for their regions demonstrates that the population outflow in Transnistria began earlier and was more intensive than from the RM. In Moldova, depopulation intensifies the identity crisis and contradictions between the “Moldovenists” and supporters of unification with Romania, in the PMR— instability of political life, uncertainty of the region's prospects and the growth of a critical attitude towards the authorities.

Considering the features of the evolutionary development of central places' systems, we establish that, contrary to the prevailing point of view, in the general case there is no pronounced relationship between the share of urban population and the number of central places of a lower hierarchy level subordinate to the central place of a given level. Moreover, the axiom of the theory, stating the heterogeneous distribution of only the urban population, should be replaced by the following: “Space is homogeneous and isotropic in all respects, with the exception of the distribution of the entire population or part of it.” Thus, the existence of central systems without rural population does not contradict the theory itself in its classic version. The evolution of central places' systems within an infinite lattice takes place by sequentially filling the hierarchy levels (increasing the value of the K-parameter for a given level), interrupted by the appearance of subsystems (increasing the number of hierarchy levels with constant K)—at least after filling the second and the fifth levels. The article substantiates the possibility of considering the isolated sections of the lattice. In this regard, the axiom of the “rational” consumer behavior can be considered excessive, and the postulate of the infinity of space is rejected. Only two initial axioms—on the polymorphism of central places' systems and on the most compact “packaging” of their parts—can be considered unshakable.

A quantitative assessment of channel planform changes on the 600-km channel of the Kamchatka River was carried out. Possibilities of semi-automatic GIS-interpretation of satellite images were used for retrospective analysis of such an extended section of a large river. It was estimated that 37% of the left bank length and 44% of the right bank length are eroded. The amount of material coming into the channel due to riverbanks erosion significantly exceeds the sediment runoff, which determines channel type and regime of channel changes. Processes of bank erosion vary on the scale of the longitudinal profile and different channel types. Downstream according to decrease of channel slope, a decrease of bank erosion intensity is observed. The most important factor of bank erosion on the river local section is the volume of material coming from the upstream sections. A quantitative analysis and forecast of planform changes of a river section requires a differential assessment for different morphodynamic channel types, taking into account characteristics of channel processes in the upstream river sections. The bank erosion prognostic equations obtained for the meandering channel and the floodplain-channel multiple branches of the Kamchatka River are discussed.

A statistical assessment is given and schematic maps of the spatial distribution of the climatogenic hazard of the taiga tick Ixodes persulcatus distribution in Russia and several neighboring countries in 1971-1980 and 2001-2010 are constructed. The hazard assessment was made using a previously developed original method based on the principles of statistical modeling. The regularities of the spatial distribution of the degree of climatogenic hazard of the development of taiga tick populations within tick's geographic range are shown: the maximum degree of hazard characterizes the central parts of the range; the hazard decreases closer to the borders. The changes in the climatogenic hazard of the taiga tick distribution in the second period with respect to the first are calculated. A significant increase in the hazard of the taiga tick populations development in the second period compared to the first one in the greater part of the range, especially in its northern part, has been established due to climate change. At the same time, in the southwestern part of the geographic range and in some other parts of it, there was a decrease in the climatogenic hazard of distribution.

This article reviews the consequences of man-made burial of river valleys in urban areas. Deep analysis of above-mentioned sources enabled to reveal the consequences of river system destruction in urban areas, located on platforms. Backfilling of the river valleys leads to the following negative changes: surface runoff increases by 200-280%, sediment load increases up to 60-90 m³ per year by 1 km², suffusion and land subsidence begin to develop within man-made buried valleys (2-3 mm per year). Subsurface flow changes cause progressive groundwater flooding and growing level of water mineralization. Total dissolved solids index grows, these waters become aggressive which results in drainage destruction and damaging of urban infrastructure, such as pipelines and sewerage. Destruction of urban river system leads sharp to the environmental issues: small rivers (including storm drain) accumulate various pollutants and deplete flora and fauna. Karst processes were activated in Moscow a few years after backfilling of the river valleys due to subsurface flow changes.

By the method of briogeochemical indication using moss Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt. as an indicator, on the territory of Northern Ukraine, the features and regularities of the entry into the surface atmosphere, migration and sedimentation in it of K, Ca, S, Mg, Al, P, Fe, Mn, Na, Zn, Ba, Ti, Sr, B, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr, V, Se, Cd, Co were studied. For each element, maps of its content in moss are compiled. A database of these contents (131 sampling points) was studied using factor analysis and biplot methods. This made it possible, with a satisfactory degree of reliability, to name the main causes of atmospheric pollutants entering the air, their migration in it, and sedimentation on the day surface. To study the features of the spatial distribution of the levels of chemical elements in P. schreberi moss, a variogram analysis method was used. It was established that according to the most general rules of this distribution, the studied chemical elements are combined into four groups: Fe, Mn, Se; Mg, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd, Co; K, P, Ba, Ti, Sr, Ni, Pb; and Ca, S, Al, Na, B, V. The groups are distinguished by the distribution of anomaly spots in space, the size of the anomalies and their contrast, as well as the anisotropy and isotropy of the configuration of the atmogeochemical field, the distribution of the concentration values along the meridional and latitudinal rhombuses.

The modern development of the regions of the Far East of Russia is carried out in the format of priority development areas. Their formation and functioning are predetermined by the necessity of avoiding the export and raw materials model of development in the process of diversification of the territorial and sectoral structure of the economy. A special legal regime and attractive economic conditions create prerequisites for attracting investment in a wide range of activities, while the environmental aspects of this activity are not indicated either in official documents or in the environmental and resource regulations of production. The urgency of the problem lies in the fact that a significant proportion of production will be formed here for the first time. At the same time, the priority development areas should develop in the conditions of modern requirements of world development, designated by the conceptual guidelines of the green economy model. Based on the analysis of 175 enterprises created in the priority development areas, the main trends in the development of these territories are indicated, the emerging sectoral structure, and the compliance with the priorities of the green economy model are shown. It has been established that a significant share of production does not meet the model's provisions due to raw material specialization of the economy, the underutilization of the resource potential for environmentally significant industries and ignoring the requirements in the application of green innovation. The real achievements in expanding the spectrum of less environment-consuming sectors that provide for the diversification of the structure of the regional economy are noted. Economic preferences are dominant in the development of priority development areas, the environmental aspects of their functioning do not fully reflect the desire to get closer to the requirements of the green economy model.

In the period 1960-2017 (May to September) in the forest-steppe zone of the South-East of Western Siberia, there is a significant increase in air temperature in the third decade of August and the first decade of September, and a decrease in atmospheric precipitation in the first decades of June and August. To characterize the intensity of droughts and atmospheric waterlogging, the Ped drought index (Si) was calculated. In years with high and low yields, excessively humid conditions (Si < -1.1) were observed for two or three decades, droughts of varying intensity (Si > 1.1) - for two or four decades. Yields above 16.5 c/ha were observed with excessive atmospheric humidification in the third decade of June and the first decade of July; less than 6 .4 c/ha—with an increase in aridity in the first decade of May, June, the first and second decades of August. The analysis of linear trends made it possible to determine the general trend of change in the yield of spring wheat in the study area (+0.7 c/ha/10 years). Regression analysis between decadal anomalies of atmospheric humidification and yield of spring wheat was carried out. The closest links are between spring wheat yields and drought of varying intensity in the first decade of May, the first and second decades of August.

The article presents the first results on luminescence dating of the Upper Pleistocene deposits of the loesssoil series in Western Siberia. In the key section Lozhok, eight horizons were identified, reflecting the main stages of the development of the environment of the region, including three paleosols, previously correlated in the chronostratigraphic scheme of Western Siberia with the stages of warming MIS 3 and MIS 5. The chronology was obtained from 15 new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates. The dating was carried out according to a modern technique with the analysis of the accumulated dose and age using three signals (OSL, IRSL₅₀, pIRIR₂₉₀). The high convergence of the results of measurements according to the pIRIR₂₉₀/Q and IR₅₀/Q protocols indicates a sufficient bleaching of the feldspar and quartz grains. In accordance with the standards accepted in luminescent dating, the obtained series of dates is reliable, and then the resulting chronology is considered as reliable. Based on the dating results, the age of formation of all stratigraphic horizons was determined. Analysis of the loess-soil sequence of the Upper Pleistocene, based on the luminescence chronology of the Lozhok section, showed a discrepancy with the loess-soil sequence developed based on a detailed study and tracing of horizons of buried soils and loesses in the most complete subaerial sections of Western Siberia. In the section, the presence of an erosion boundary is highlighted; the duration of the hiatus in sedimentation was about 95 thousand years. The upper pedocomplex is characterized by an age of 123± 11 thousand years and corresponds to MIS 5, and the lower one is 196-216 thousand years old and correlates with MIS 7. Analysis of sedimentation conditions indicates a sharp increase in the rates of loess accumulation in MIS 2, and the difference in the content radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K reflect a change in the source of the material and a possible rearrangement of the regional wind rose. The authors believe that the results obtained at this stage are controversial and require additional research.

The main factors of extraordinary rainfall floods formation on the Angara River left tributaries in the summer of 2019, which caused catastrophic floods in the Irkutsk oblast, were investigated. On the basis of information modeling system, the core of which is a physically based model of runoff formation ECOMAG, a spatial distributed regional hydrological model was developed. The model performance was evaluated against the longterm (35 years) data of hydrometeorological observations in the five river basins of the region. It was found that the simulated stream flow hydrographs and the peak flow values fit satisfactorily (in terms of the assigned statistical criteria) to the corresponding observations. Based on the spatial modeling results, fields of the hydrological cycle characteristics (precipitation, snow water equivalent, soil moisture) in the upper Angara basin in the summer of 2019 were analyzed. It was shown that the main factors in the formation of catastrophic floods on the Iya River were extreme precipitation combined with small losses of runoff for infiltration into preliminary saturated soils. The simulated peak flow discharge on the river near city of Tulun exceeded the historical maximum by 40% and amounted to 5640 m³/s. The spatial and temporal peculiarities of the two flood waves formation on the studied Angara River left tributaries in 2019 were analyzed.

V.A. Pulyarkin belongs to the bright scientists of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was one of those who saved Russian country studies from degradation in the Soviet era, directing it to the mainstream of problematic country studies. He was interested in the civilizations of Asia, the problems of agricultural development in developing countries, global problems of humanity, not only for the comprehension of geographical picture of the World. Pulyarkin looked at the World both as a geographer and as a philosopher, seeing in the East the main thing—the search for the foundations of the Universe. Pulyarkin was a staunch supporter of a unified geography. All his works are based on the trinity of nature, population, and economy. He was one of the first to consider the combination of special natural conditions in low latitudes with the relative economic backwardness of the South in the framework of the centre-periphery model, which has now become classic for world economic managers.