ANTHROPOGENIC MODIFICATION OF A HILLY SOUTHERN TAIGA LANDSCAPE IN THE SPHERE OF INFLUENCE OF A COPPER SMELTER

The environmental impact of copper-smelter emissions in a southern taiga landscape is analyzed in terms of three concentric zones: (1) an inner zone of total environmental disruption; (2) a zone of heavy modification; (3) a zone of slight modification. The changes in vegetation cover resulting from the emissions are described for each zone. [The study area is not identified beyond being in Chelyabinsk Oblast of the southern Urals, but the context makes clear that the paper deals with the copper smelter of Karabash, a town with a population of 20,000, 50 miles northwest of Chelyabinsk–Editor, S.G.] A related article on smelter pollution in the taiga appeared in Soviet Geography, April 1977.