Search

Heritage is commonly understood as denoting sites, objects and traditions that are selected and protected for their uniqueness, monumentality, beauty and/or historical and cultural significance. Heritage, thus, is almost by definition something unquestionably valuable and good, and of outmost importance for our wellbeing and identity. This paper takes a different position and asks what happens if we question heritage's status as a selected reserve of desired things and traditions. Based on fieldwork conducted in contemporary settlements in the Russian North, it explores how the role and significance we ascribe heritage may come out radically altered upon facing the unruly legacies of the Soviet past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of nine herbaceous species collected around five polluters in northwestern Russia (nickel–copper smelters at Monchegorsk and Nikel, ore-roasting factory at Zapolyarnyy, aluminium smelter in Kandalaksha, and iron pellet plant at Kostomuksha) demonstrated that effects of pollution on plant growth were rarely significant in individual analyses. However, meta-analysis revealed decrease in plant size, in terms of height and leaf length; simultaneous increase in the number of leaves and flowers/inflorescences may compensate for this decline, thus the biomass of aboveground plant parts did not change. This result contrasts numerous experimental studies that generally demonstrate adverse effects of various pollutants on growth and reproduction of herbaceous plants, hinting that the effects detected in short-term experiments are of limited value for predicting performance of plant individuals surviving in polluted ecosystems. Changes in growth and reproduction of plants persisting under chronic pollution are minor presumably due to development of pollution tolerance and adaptation to altered environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]