The primary findings of the initial two phases of the research work “New agroclimatic zoning and assessment of agroclimatic resources of the territory of Belarus in the context of climate change,” conducted in 2023–2024 within the framework of the eponymous task 1.10 of the State Program of Scientific Research “Natural Resources and the Environment” for the 2021–2025, specifically the subprogram “Natural resources and their rational use,” are hereby presented. The territory has been divided into distinct zones based on the heat supply (based on the sum of temperatures above 10 °C); an assessment of soil moisture (the recurrence of soil droughts and the value of productive moisture reserves in the arable soil layer of 0–20 cm) for the warmest decades of 2000–2022 was given. The territory of Belarus has been divided into western and eastern parts (subregions) according to the annual amplitude (24 °C) of the air temperatures of the warmest (July) and coldest (January) months, as a measure of the continentality of the climate. The dynamics of changes in the boundaries of agroclimatic regions over the past 50 years is shown. The increase in air temperature over the past two decades has led to the expansion of significant areas in the south of the Belarusian Polesie with sum temperatures above 2 800 °C and the appearance of another (2nd in a row) new agroclimatic zone. The values of the most significant climatic and agroclimatic indicators of agroclimatic regions (in terms of heat and humidity supply, wintering conditions) calculated for 2000–2022 according to the data on the points of the State Network of Hydrometeorological observations are presented. Utilizing these indicators, a description of the agroclimatic regions and the conditions of crop growth in Belarus has been made.

Based on phenological indicators for a three-year period (2021–2023) in the conditions of the Polesie State Radiation-Ecological Reserve, the average timing of the onset of seasons and their subseasons was determined, and their duration was recorded. The temperature ratios between phenological and calendar seasons were determined and their relationship was shown. In 2023, due to high average January temperatures, an early awakening of nature was observed, resulting in rapid development of plants and earlier flowering: hazel (Corylus avellana), silver birch (Betula pendula), mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia), small-leaved linden (Tilia cordata) and other plants associated with a longer growing season. Two seasons of the year: winter and autumn (phenological and calendar) over a three-year period showed positive dynamics of average temperatures, which turned out to be higher than the long-term averages. The calendar spring showed positive dynamics, but did not exceed the temperature of the long-term averages, and the average temperature of the calendar summer decreased from year to year, but was higher than the long-term averages. The average temperatures of the phenological spring and summer over a three-year period proved to be relatively stable and did not exceed the temperatures of the long-term averages. It was found that the phenological seasons: winter, spring and summer in the reserve begin earlier than the calendar dates, and autumn – later.

The article analyzes global approaches to comprehensive assessment of the quality of the soil cover, and develops proposals for determining the index of ecological quality of the soil cover of Belarus. The set of specific parameters for assessment is subjective and is largely determined by the presence of both positive and negative data for spatial assessment of large areas. For a comprehensive assessment of mesoscale soils, the parameters of soil properties, ranked by the degree of resistance to negative impacts, are proposed. The general principle of ranking is the division into equal intervals in the range of possible values of a particular parameter, and for many indicators, not the average value for the region is considered, but the number of soils with unfavorable parameters, individual for each property. The expediency of using such parameters as the presence of acid (pH less than 5) and alkaline (pH more than 7) soils, the proportion of soils with light granulometric composition, the presence of waterlogged, eroded, boulder-laden, radiocesium-contaminated soils, the proportion of soils poorly supplied with humus, mobile phosphorus and potassium compounds, and the yield of grain crops is substantiated. A formula for determining the summary index of soil quality on the basis of 12 indicators is proposed, according to which average values for the regions of the Republic are determined. A high degree of geographically determined differences in the quality of the soil cover is revealed (the index from 46 in the Klimovichy district to 95 in the Nesvizh district). 

The analysis of the dynamics, current state and territorial distribution of ¹³⁷Cs-contaminated soils of arable and grassland lands was conducted. In Belarus, in the post-accident period, as a result of the natural decay of radionuclides, the area of land contaminated with ¹³⁷Cs decreased by 660.2 thousand hectares, i. e. by 1.8 times. The ratio of the specific gravity of soils in terms of radioactive contamination densities has changed significantly. As of 2024, the share of lands with a contamination density of 1–5 Ki/km² is 83 %, with a density of 5–15 Ki/km² is 16 %, and with a density of 15–40 Ki/km² is 1 %. ¹³⁷Cs contaminated lands with a density of 1–40 Ki/km² are present in 55 districts, their specific gravity varies considerably – from less than 0.1 to 97 % of the total area of agricultural land use. 88 % of the areas with a density of more than 5 Ki/km² are concentrated in 11 districts. Areas contaminated with ¹³⁷Cs at a density of 15 Ki/km² and above are mainly concentrated (76.7 %) in five districts, namely – Dobrush, Chechersk, Kostyukovichi, Cherikov and Vetka districts.

This study investigated the distribution, population density and abundance of some common and rare bird species that potentially nest on farmlands in Belarus. Field studies were conducted from 2018 to 2023. The study focused on the Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix), Corncrake (Crex crex), and species belong to the order Charadriiformes. The most abundant species were the Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix), Corncrake (Crex crex), and Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). The Quail primarily inhabited fields of crucifers, cereals, alfalfa, and forage grasses. The Corncrake prefered the meadows and areas with ruderal vegetation. The Lapwing was most commonly found on plowed fields and pastures, with a lesser preference for cereal and vegetable crops. The Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) had a low abundance on farmlands, but these habitats still support a significant part of the species’ population due to their very large area. This species uses for nesting both forage grass crops of and arable lands occupied by spring crops for nesting, particularly those with wetted and waterlogged areas. Other observed species included the Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius), Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), Great Snipe (Gallinago media), Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata), and Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus).

The results of the comparative study of the seasonal dynamics of available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compounds in the root zone of generative cranberry plants within the framework of field experiments with the mineral fertilizer Basacot Plus 6 (N₁₅P₈K₁₂ kg/ha a. i.) and domestic biological fertilizers – nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-mobilizing microbial MaKloR in concentrations of 5 and 10 %, as well as an organo-mineral fertilizer Ecohum complex on depleted high-moor peatlands in the central and northern agroclimatic zones of the Republic are presented. In the first case, a certain similarity in the seasonal course of the accumulation in the substrate of ammonium nitrogen and mobile phosphorus, as well as nitrate nitrogen and exchangeable potassium, was observed, due to the synergistic nature of their consumption with root nutrition and the biological characteristics of the development of the experimental plants, while in the second case a similar synergy was found for available phosphorus and potassium compounds. It was shown that the configuration of the cumulative curves of nutrients in the peat substrate was mainly characterized by the dominance of downward trends towards the end of the growing season and was determined by the type of fertilizers used, the geographical location of the study area, the genotype of the cultivars and the stage of their seasonal development.

In the national parks of the Belarusian Lakeland ‘Narochanski’ and ‘Braslavskie Lakes’ the white willow (Salix alba L.), the bay willow (Salix pentandra L.), and the brittle willow (Salix fragilis L.) are damaged by 9 species of miners and gall-forming phytophages, which are common in the conditions of Belarus. Among them 2 species of eriophyoid mites (Acari: Acariformes: Eriophyoidea), 1 species of beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera), 4 species of lepidopterans (Insecta: Lepidoptera) and 2 species of hymenopterans (Insecta: Hymenoptera). The maximum infestation of S. alba leaf plates by the gall-forming mite Aculus craspedobius was observed. The gall-forming eriophyoid mite Aculus tetanothrix and tiny moth Stigmella salicis were considered as precedent forms. The scotch bent-wing (Leucoptera sinuella), leaf mining moths Phyllonorycter pastorella and Phyllocnistis saligna, jewel beetle Trachys minutus, and gall-forming true sawflies Euura proxima and Pontania vesicator were characterized by low to medium levels of infestation of willow leaf plates. Relative area of damaged leaf surface was maximum for Trachys minutus larvae.

The article presents the results of a study of the established practice in the Russian Federation of technological regulation of wastewater discharges on the basis of technological indicators of the best available technologies (BAT). A comparative analysis of the requirements for the treatment of wastewater discharges from settlement wastewater treatment plants into surface water bodies of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation was carried out, taking into account approaches to the standardization of permissible wastewater discharges into surface water bodies of water supply and sewerage organizations (housing and communal services) of the Republic of Belarus. An assessment of the applicability of BAT technological indicators at mixed (municipal) wastewater treatment plants in the conditions of Belarus has been carried out. Recommendations for the improvement of the current approaches in the Republic of Belarus to the regulation of wastewater discharges to surface waters with WWTPs were formulated.

The article presents a typification of tourist and recreational uses of natural resources, consisting of three taxa “profiling species – types – subtypes”. The study identified 372 segments of 166 rivers in Belarus that are suitable for aquatic recreation and tourism on a local, regional, and national level. The results of the river section typification show that the dominant type of tourism and recreational use of rivers in all regions and country is a limited-multifunctional one (78.6 %). In five regions (with the exception of Minsk region), the share of multifunctional and monofunctional type sites is 10.2 and 9.9 %, accordingly. In the Brest, Grodno and Mogilev regions, the proportion of river sections unsuitable for use is 1.3 %. Distribution patterns of profiling species, types and subtypes of touristic-recreational use natural potential at the local, regional and country levels have been identified. At the local level, river sections with 2–3 major types of recreation and tourism dominate. At the regional level, recordet selective character of distribution types of tourist and recreational use, which is manifested in the presence of all 4 types - on the rivers in the Brest, Grodno and Mogilev regions, 3 types (no inappropriate type) – in the Vitebsk and Gomel regions, 2 types (no inappropriate and monofunctional types) – in the Minsk region. Registered is a high variability in the number of subtypes on river sections in the regions: from 18 subtypes in Mogilev to 7 in Minsk region.