Integral Assessment of the Ecological State of Soils of the Vasileostrovskii District of Sankt-Peterburg

— The ecological state of filled urbanozems (Urbiс Technosols) of the Vasileostrovskii district of St. Petersburg belonging to three (residential, recreational, and transport) urban ecosystems was studied. The integral indicator of the ecological and biological soil state was used to assess these soils. The parameters of phytotesting (seed respiration, seed germination, root length, shoot length), actual and potential soil respiration, medium regulation activity, total organic carbon and water-soluble carbon contents, nitrate and ammonium nitrogen contents, the enrichment of organic matter with nitrogen, the composition of humus, optical density of humic acids, and the numbers of bacteria and fungi were determined. It was shown that the studied soils have virtually no features of zonal soddy-podzolic soils. They were characterized by a low degree of degradation and relatively favorable ecological condition. The least favorable ecological and biological conditions were found in the soils of the transport urban ecosystem, which was associated with high transport load.