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News of the Ural State Mining University 1 (2017) УДК 330.5.051 DOI 10.21440/2307-2091-2017-1-94-99
Natural potential as a basis for socio-economic development of the territory
M. S. Kubarev
This paper clarifies the concept of the natural system, serving as an object of nature management and the role of each component belonging to it. The author considers natural systems from the perspective of the specific features of the ecosystems and geosystems, of which the latter shows a larger number of interrelations and has a more multi-faceted concept. The article also reveals essence of the vertical and horizontal structure of geosystem, main functions and features, among which stands the integrity and stability. The focus stays on the characteristics of the natural potential, performing the socio-economic functions and determining the direction of nature management. The author recommends allocation of the three types of potentials: prospective, real economically feasible and real environmentally feasible, which is a part of the previous one, but includes the natural resource and environmental resource potentials. Real economically feasible potential describes the ability of natural resources to meet the human need on the condition of economic profitability and technical availability. The real environmentally feasible potential determines the mass of natural resources that one can use without disturbing their internal relations, functions and features that are part of the real economically feasible potential. Finally, a perspective potential is the ability of natural resources to satisfy human needs in the future, when it would be cost-effective and/or technically possible. Such an approach allows considering the development of natural potential while respecting natural ecosystems preservation conditions, their bioregulation ability. Lack of a clear understanding of the economic valuation of ecosystem services does not allow justifying the value of their real economically feasible potential, but does not exclude the recognition of the need to introduce environmental restrictions on its use. As follows from the practice, the combination of resources, their qualitative and quantitative characteristics, the role of various resources determines the most favorable conditions for the development of certain types of resources, and the preferred type of developed resource defines the economic direction of the territorial-industrial complex.
Keywords: natural potential; resources; rationalization; restriction; development
Nature management suggests existence of the subject, and the object that subject affects in order to benefit. As a subject, one may take the social and economic systems and their components: production industries, enterprises, administrative authorities, population, transportation systems, objects of production and social infrastructure, etc. According to [1], an object-system "represents a set of natural ingredients that are closely related to each other and operate within certain territories and water areas." Their functioning is due to the manifestation of predominantly natural processes. These include natural geosystems (natural regions (NR), landscapes) and ecosystems of different taxa metric ranks. In most general terms "NR or geosystem" (a term proposed by V.B. Sochava in 1963) is a historically established, geographically stable set of interrelated and interdependent natural components and their complexes, functioning and developing for a long time as a whole, producing a new substance, energy and information [2].
The concept of "geosystem" is equal not only to the NR, but also to the concept of "landscape". Geosystem always presupposes the existence of spatial boundaries, identified based on the system of features that is developed in detail in geography. The composition of the main components include: lithosphere - mass of rocks that form the Earth's crust; atmosphere - the lower layers, bearing the name of troposphere; hydrosphere - water, presented in three phase states (solid, liquid, vapor); phytosphere, zoosphere and pedosphere (soil), which, by origin, functions and properties, are united into three subsystems:
- Geoma - lithogenic basis (lithosphere), hydrosphere and stratosphere;
- Biota - phytosphere and zoosphere;
- Bio-inert subsystem - the soil.
The author believes that the climate and terrain, which a number of researchers relate to the main components, are merely the properties of surface air masses and earth crust. The composition of Geoma includes components related to abiotic. The composition of the biota - relating to biotic. Soil is a bio-inert product of sustainable co-development and interaction of abiotic and biotic components. The author notes that the most interesting of the components is the
lithogenic base (lithosphere), which forms a rigid frame, on which the natural complex forms. Difference in the rocks affects the formation of the relief, the ratio and the volume of underground and surface water flow, the composition of soil (sandy, sabulous, carbonaceous, acidic and so on). Natural waters play a certain role in heat transfer and due to their properties contribute to the emergence of circulations of energy and matter, linking various natural systems into a coherent whole. The most important property of surface runoff is the formation of exogenous relief and lithogenesis, as well as the redistribution of matter between geosystems. Water enrichment has a significant impact on the type of soil formation and the nature of the vegetation. Due to the large differences in the spatial distribution and importance for the life processes, water, in a number of cases, becomes the limiting factor in the landscapes.
The atmosphere too, as a component replenishes the composition of geosystems (landscapes). To be more precise - it is the lower atmosphere (troposphere). For the functioning of geosystems the chemical composition of the air is important, as well as its transparency to solar radiation and the presence of air currents, smoothing hydrothermal differences between landscapes and providing heat exchange and matter exchange between them. In contrast to the inertia of the lithosphere, the air masses are very mobile. Vegetation acts as a stabilizing factor for geosystems, being a basis for their bio production, whereas its impact on the formation of regional structures of geosystems is much less significant than the above-discussed components. Fauna is a component that in many respects depends on the vegetation. "Mirror of the landscape", in the words of
V V. Dokuchaev, soil is the bio-inert component of geosystems, which forms at the junction of lithosphere and biota. Composition of the soil affects the type of vegetation. An important property of the soil is the accumulation of biogenic energy in the upper horizons, contained in humus and mineral elements.
A similar set of components of nature is typical for ecosystems. However, for all that commonality and similarities, these concepts have a number of distinctive features. Geosystems are polycentric, i.e. all components of geosystems are generally accepted equivalent and treated with the same emphasis. Ecosystems are monocentric systems (biocentric), where the main focus is on the biota, and the components are considered only from the standpoint of communication with biota. "Ecosystem, according to V. B. Sochava [3], is a biological concept".
V K. Kovda just as unambiguously speaks in relation to ecosystems, he calls ecosystems "the sections of territories or water areas allocated on the basis of the commonality of trophic medium (aggregate of trophic chains) of organisms" [4]. The above implies that there is no reason to equate geosystems and ecosystems (which some geographers tend to do).
In addition, if geosystem always implies the existence of spatial boundaries, as mentioned earlier, no spatial framework limits the ecosystem, since as of today there are no developed corresponding signs for their allocation. Overall, geosystem covers a greater number of relations (including abiogenic processes) and represents a more multifaceted concept than the ecosystem. Between the components of geosystem exists a continuous exchange of matter and energy, which subsequently transform. Among the main functions of geosystems, in addition to solar energy transformation, takes place the air circulation, the hydrologic cycle, the cycle of biogenic substances and others. As with any system, natural system has a structure formed by subordinate complexes of lower rank. Firstly, it could be a vertical structure -interrelations of structural tiers, and the vertical flow of energy and matter carries out interaction between them (Fig. 1).
Secondly, horizontal structure is inherent in geosystems too, formed by systems of lower rank that are a part of the geosystems
ИЗВЕСТИЯ УРАЛЬСКОГО ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО ГОРНОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА
МАРТ 2017 | ВЫПУСК 1 (45) 97
ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ
M. S. Kubarev J News of the Ural State Mining University 1 (2017) 97-99
Vertical profile of geosystem
Structural tiers of geosystem
Bottom part Hydrosphere Lithosphere - Biota - flora and Soil - bio-inert
of atmosphere - (water in three mass of rocks fauna component
troposphere phase states) that form the Earth's crust
Figure 1. The vertical structure of geosystem (NR, landscape).
of higher rank and are interconnected to each other by energy and matter flows. The concept of the natural system is close to such its properties, as integrity and stability. The first of them characterizes the internal unity, provided through the close interrelations between the multiple parts of the system. As practice shows, the manifestation of integrity of geosystems is the emergence of such properties that are not present in the individual components [5]. The stability of natural systems is generally means the "ability to remain relatively unchanged or changed within its structural and functional variant or to return to it during the period of their life cycle or external influence" [2].
There are three levels of geosystems: planetary, regional and local. From the perspective of the nature management, natural systems are a source of natural and environmental resources, the use of which allows satisfying a variety of human needs, what indicates its fulfillment of social and economic functions [6, 7]. The term "natural" regarding the components of natural system that perform resource functions, is generally accepted. Environmental resources are the environmental components that perform ecosystem functions and belong to the natural resources. People use natural resources in material production sphere and for satisfaction of human needs it the means of production resources, raw materials, consumer goods, etc. Environmental resources meet the human needs by supplying the flow of environmental services of a regulatory nature, as well as social environmental services (aesthetic, therapeutic, recreational, etc.) [8-10].
Natural systems are typically multifunctional and have the ability to perform multiple functions simultaneously. However, there also are mutually exclusive demands that limit the functions performed (e. g.,
agriculture development excludes deposit development). Sometimes the use of remote adjacent natural systems affects the realization of function, such as the development of agriculture and forestry just outside the buffer zone of a functioning protected area. The basis for the implementation of socio-economic functions of natural system is a potential, located within the borders of the territories, it also determines the direction of nature management. From an economic (consumer) point of view, real natural resource potential is the ability of natural resources to meet human needs, provided economic profitability and technical availability.
Prospective potential (potential of future) is the ability of natural resources to meet human needs in the future, when it would be cost-effective and(or) technically possible (for example, off-balance ore, the use of which may be possible upon invention of new of technologies; underground fresh water at great depths). However, determining the potential, according to the author, should also reflect the natural - scientific premises that require accounting marginal limits of extraction of natural resources, compliance with which would ensure the preservation of biotic regulation. This implies that real environmentally feasible natural resource potential is the maximum possible mass of natural resources that are part of economically feasible potential, which one can use without disturbing their internal interrelations, functions and properties. Thus, the recommended structure of economic and resource potential of natural systems has the following form (Fig. 2).
= RK
e lim,
Figure 2. Structure of natural resource potential.
b
Natural potential R
Mineral resources Aquatic Agrarian
Natural potential R
Geosystem 1 Geosystem 2 Geosystem 3
Figure 3. Structure of natural potentials. a - a set of particular potentials of the natural system components; b - a set of particular potentials of geosystems of lower
R
а
M. S. Kubarev J News of the Ural State Mining University 1 (2017) 97-99
ECONOMIC SCIENCES
where Klim is a coefficient that characterizes the withdrawal limit. The total value of the natural resource potential, R is as follows:
R = R + R
e. c p.
As for non-renewable resources, the structure of the mineral potential R is as follows:
r m
R = R + R
m m. e e. p,
where Rm - real economically justified mineral resource base; R. - perspective mineral resource potential (mineral resources, technogenic mineral formations, etc.) [11, 12].
The combination of resources, their qualitative and quantitative characteristics, the role of various resources in social production, geosystems properties add up to the most favorable conditions for the development of certain type of resources (e.g., crop production, deer grazing, development of the minerals, etc.). The preferred form of developed resource defines the economic direction of the territorial-industrial complex (TIC). This can be agricultural, hydroeconomic, forestry, mining, industrial, recreational and other TIC. The above-mentioned TIC function mainly due to the natural component, technogenic (anthropogenic component) remains in the background. Considering that in the framework of regional geosystems (TPK, landscape) is a number of smaller geosystems each with its own set of natural resources, the nature of the WPK, reflecting the orientation of nature management, can be very diverse.
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Mikhail Sergeevich Kubarev,
Ural State University of Economics
Ekaterinburg, Russia
