The aims of this research are to assess the relationship between the concepts of hemeroby and naturalness of plant communities and to test the hypothesis about the ordinal nature of the response of social behavior types of plants under anthropogenic influence. Study area is the recreational zone of the Botanical Garden of Dnipro National University, named after Oles Gonchar, Dnipro City, Ukraine (48.43°N 35.05°E). Four polygons (105 relevés in each) were examined. Two polygons were in the zone after park reconstruction, and two were in the zone without reconstruction. The vegetation community ordination was performed using RLQ analysis. The Q-table was represented by eight dummy variables, which indicated social behavior types. The most important predictors of naturalness were aggressive alien species and invaders and weeds (positive dependence) and disturbance tolerants (negative dependence). The most important predictors of hemeroby were aggressive alien species (negative dependence) and ruderal competitors, invaders, and disturbance tolerants (positive dependence). Naturalness and hemeroby reflect different strategies for transforming a plant community and are not completely symmetrically opposed concepts. The response of a plant community is multivariate, so the naturalness metric based on the social behavior types is only able to distinguish well between the extreme states of a plant community, but is a poor measure for a more detailed assessment of naturalness.

The study established the classification position of the soils of the Dnipro River valley (within the Dnipro-Orilsky Nature Reserve) according to the international WRB classification. The pits were laid along three transects that passed through the most significant relief gradients within the study area. The study of the morphological structure of 20 soil profiles showed that the soil cover is closely related to the geo-morphological structure of the river valley. The morphological characteristics of typical profiles of these soils reflect their structure, properties and genesis and determine the classification position of the soils according to the WRB. Multidimensional scaling allowed us to perform soil ordination in the space of two dimensions. Dimension 1 differentiates soils by the gradient of relief height and/or moisture level. Dimension 2 differentiated hydromorphic soils. The properties of Quaternary sediments were found to determine the position of soils at both levels of classification (reference groups, main and additional classifiers). The distribution of each of the reference groups is clearly related to the geomorphology of the valley. Arenosols and Cambisols form the soil cover of the floodplain terrace, while Fluvisols and Gleysols are found mainly in the floodplain.

The study subject was the soil heterogeneity at a recultivation site Nikopol manganese-ore basin (Pokrov, Ukraine). The soils at the locality are sod lithogenic soils developed on gray-green clays. The study ran by applying soil penetration resistance indices. The penetration resistance was measured across a regular grid of 7 × 15 points (21 × 45 m). The distance between the measurement points was 3 m. The parameters were recorded at every 5 cm to a depth of 50 cm. The environmental parameters were determined by phytoindication. Geostatistical analysis showed the average level of spatial dependence of soil penetration resistance. According to the features of the profile variation in penetration resistance with the depth, the measurement points have been divided into three clusters. The clusters formed morphologically homogeneous soil areas. These areas significantly differed in their soil acidity and in nitrogen content in soil.

Applying phytotechnologies with energy crops on lands contaminated with trace elements provides cellulosic biomass and improves soil health. The process can be reflected in changes in the soil nematode community structure. This study assessed the nematode community composition of soil with Miscanthus grown with different agronomic practices. The research was conducted at Fort Riley, Kansas, USA, in soil with aged contamination by Pb at 1000 to 1500 mg/kg. The experimental design was a randomized complete block composed of four replications of five treatments: Control-undisturbed mixed plant cover and four conditions of Miscanthus growth, which consisted of No-till, Till (immediately before planting), Till + P, and Till + biosolids. Analysis of abundance, diversity, and community functional status indicators showed differential sensitivity of nematode taxa to agronomic treatments. Significant transformations in the nematode trophic group structure occurred under Miscanthus cultivation compared with the undisturbed mixed plant cover. Shannon and Pielou index response to agronomic treatments illustrated decreasing nematode community diversity with all Miscanthus agronomic conditions. However, agronomic practices led to increasing nematode community maturity, but those effects varied between spring and fall seasons. Increasing herbivores and omnivore-predators were the primary drivers of the observed changes in the nematode community due to planting Miscanthus. The nematode ecological structure indicators suggested that growth in Pb-contaminated land using different agronomical practices likely affects essential soil processes. More study is needed to define the effects of pre-plant tillage and amendments to soil nematode communities and Miscanthus yield over multiple growing seasons of this perennial crop.

The study of potential possibilities of mesofauna as bioindicator of soil contamination by heavy metals is one of the most important areas of urban ecology and soil biology. The work presents the results of ecotoxicological and bioindicative assessment of the environment and the biota of the Melitopol urbosystem of Ukraine. The dynamics of chemical properties of soils in different functional zones of the city is analysed. The complex indices of pollution of environmental components are determined. A bioindicative assessment of the ecological condition of the territory of the urbosystem on the indicators of vitality of the soil mesofauna is carried out. For the first time, regional species-bioindicators for the territory of the city of Melitopol were determined. The ecomorphic structure of soil mesofauna of various functional zones of the city was revealed.

The short-term effects of soil amendments on the structure, diversity and function of a nematode community of Miscanthus × giganteus was investigated. Crop was cultivated on marginal, nutrient-poor land amended with biochar in single and double doses (BD1 and BD2), biogas digestate (D), sewage sludge (SS), and hemicellulose waste (HW). Sampling was done after planting, in the middle and end of vegetation; morphology-based approach was used. 28 nematode taxa were identified, including 5 bacterivores genera, 4 fungivores genera, 5 herbivores genera (11 species), 2 omnivores genera, 5 predators genera. The general linear models, correspondence analysis and clustering were applied for evaluation. The total abundance of nematode taxa Filenchus, Dorylaimus, Cephalobus, Panagrolaimus, Aphelenchus, and Ditylenchus was depended on the sampling time and amendments. The incorporation of amendments affected nematode food web and resulted in suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs). It was revealed that community structure was more mature for SS, less stable for D and had inconclusive effects for BD1, BD2, and HW. Using amendments ensured pest control benefits which is important given concern that PPNs can inflict crop damage during increased cultivation of M × g. Further research is needed to examine amendments which can minimise PPNs without reducing populations of nitrogen-fixing bacterivores and fungivores.