Maykop City Soil Quality Determination Based on the Analyses of Soil Algae and Cyanobacteria Content

The chapter presents the results of the study on soil quality in Maykop City using algae indication. The findings suggest soil contamination by heavy metals and oil products and the beginning of destructive processes. The city center is recognized to be the most unfavorable ecological area of the city. There are no diatoms in soil cyanoalgological synusia – a key indicator of oil contamination of soils. On the contrary, cyanobacteria prevail, which are resistant to soil contamination with oil products and heavy metals. One of the main environmental problems in Maykop is soil contamination with heavy metals and oil products. The main contributor to soil contamination is city transport and housing and public services. Pollutants leak into the soil with rainfall and falling leaves and branches, precipitate from the air and are directly absorbed by moist soil. The results of algological studies suggest that destructive processes have begun in the soils in Maykop. This is evidenced by the composition of soil cyanoalgological synusia and by the population of main groups of microphototrophs. The most ecologically disadvantaged city district is «Central Market».