THE MAIN PATTERNS OF BACTERIAL MICROFLORA DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOILS OF SUMGAIT, AZERBAIJAN

The article is devoted to the study of the patterns of bacterial microflora development in the soils of Sumgait (Azerbaijan). On 10 monitoring sites from different functional zones of the city, characterized by different degrees of anthropogenic and technogenic impact, the indicators of the bacterial microflora were studied seasonally. The results of the research showed that in urbanized soils, the total number of microorganisms decreases in the series: background > park > roadside > industrial-residential. With an increase in the content of hydrocarbons in the soil, the number of saprotrophic microorganisms decreases, the number of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms increases in the structure of the microbiota. In urban soils with a high content of hydrocarbons, about 10–15 % of the microbiocenosis structure consists of microorganisms capable of decomposing petroleum hydrocarbons and participating in the processes of self-purification of these soils. The degree of soil contamination of Sumgait with petroleum hydrocarbons, especially in industrial-residential and roadside areas, is many times higher than the permissible level, which affects the structure of the soil microbiota. The indicators of the ratio between the number of saprotrophic and hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms can be used as the basis for the ranking of the functional zones of the city according to the degree of technogenic pollution, used as criteria for evaluating sanitary and hygienic standards for urban soils and in the development of bioindication methods. These indicators as bioindicators can be effective for ecological regulation of the content of hydrocarbons in urban soils, ensuring the stable equilibrium functioning of biosystems, including the soil microbiota, as well as in the consideration of programs for the sustainable development of Azerbaijani cities.

urban soils, technogenic soils, bacterial microflora, hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms, microbiota structure, bioindication, Sumgait, Azerbaijan