Ecological Functions as Fundamental Integral Characteristics of Peculiarities of Abiotic Environments of Ecosystem: Lithosphere, Pedosphere, Atmosphere, and Hydrosphere

The achievements of the present regulatory and technical base for assessing quantitative indicators of ecosystem status are analyzed on the basis of the statistics of types of works for studying the abiotic spheres of the Earth (lithosphere, pedosphere, atmosphere, and surface hydrosphere) as a component of engineering-ecological surveying. Achievements concerning the regulation of indicators of the status of abiotic spheres of ecosystem are described. Methods for further improvement of the regulatory and technical base are outlined, using the doctrine of ecological functions of the lithosphere as a fundamental integral characteristic of the abiotic spheres of ecosystems and the systematization of individual indicators by introducing four categories of integral indicators (resource, geochemical, geophysical, and geodynamic). Attention is drawn to the need to elaborate the integral indicators of all abiotic spheres of ecosystems on the basis of development of ecological geology. Various approaches for assessing such integral indicators are considered. A variant of their determination on the basis of the summary indicators method is proposed.