The article presents the results of monitoring the area adjacent to the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve for the detection of unauthorized landfills and examines the ecological status of these soils. Four unauthorized landfills of solid waste in Pidhirna, Stanislav, Steryshora, and Feresok tracts with an area of 0.15 to 1.5 ha with a waste accumulation period of 12–22 years and different morphological composition which had a significant impact on the ecological status of the soil have been identified. Bioindication methods have shown changes in the soil microbial cenoses under the direct influence of unauthorized landfills of solid waste, namely increased the number of organotrophic bacteria and micromycetes and decreased number of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms. The highest number of bacteria using nitrogen of organic compounds (25.36–28.61 million CFU/g soil) and micromycetes (51.8–76.8 thousand CFU/g soil) was fixed in the soils in the tract PidhirnaandFeresok with advantage of 1.5–1.7 times and 2.5–3.8 times compared to the soil of the protected area. Increasing the number of pedotrophic and oligotrophic microorganisms and microorganisms that assimilate organic forms of nitrogen, on average, 2.70, 2.84 and 1.48 times has been affected the direction of the main soil-microbiological processes. The coefficient of oligotrophicity varied in the range of 0.21–0.30, mineralization-immobilization one — 1.22–1.38, pedotrophic one — 0.55–0.96 with a maximum in the soil of the landfill in the tracts of Feresok and Pidhirna, which indicates the strengthening of microbiological processes of mineralization and decomposition of soil organic matter, including humus compounds. A close relationship was established between the duration of solid waste storage in a certain area and the level of soil phytotoxicity (r = 0.92). In the soil of landfills in Pidhirna, Steryshora and Feresok tracts, the phytotoxicity index is significant (over 50%), which indicates a high level of soil ecosystem pollution and increased environmental risks in the area of unauthorized accumulation of solid waste.
The Primary Solid Waste Storage Gaps Experienced By Nairobi Households