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The aim of this work is to study some characteristics of the waybread (Plantago major L.) during its settlement on the anthropogenically disturbed territories of the highlands. The studied traits were: plant height, number of inflorescences per individual, number of seeds per inflorescence, seed mass, percentage germination and germination rate. The studies were conducted in 2013, 2014 and 2018 at altitudes of 200, 600, 2050 and 2700 m above sea level on the territory of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (Central Caucasus). It was revealed that on the territory of the National Park “Priel`brus`e” there is an invasion of P. major on the territories disturbed by the construction of cable cars, located at altitudes (2700 m). During this invasion a number of characteristics of this species have changed under the influence of extreme conditions of the highlands. The plants height decreases, the mass of seeds increases and their germination percentage increases according to altitude gradient.

Wastes and tailing ponds of Tyrnyauz tungsten and molybdenum factory are the main sources of heavy metal incoming into environment in Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. The factory was closed more than 10 years ago and the recultivation of it’s tailing ponds, where accumulated hundreds of millions tones of wastes, was completed. The aim of this investigation was an assessment of their possible influence on children residing in the vicinity of these tailing ponds (village Bylym). Village Verhny Baksan located about 30 km upstream of the valley of the Baksan River was chosen as reference (pure) locality. As a results of the performed investigations we revealed that in drinking water of Bylym and Verhny Baksan concentrations of molybdenum were 2.10±0.42 pg/l and 0.31±0.15 pg/l correspondingly, which is remarkably lower than maximum permitted concentrations. The concentrations of Mo, Cu and Pb in children’s hair in both villages were practically the same, which indicates to the absence of their accumulation in human organism. But the quantity of cells with cytogenetic disorders in buccal epithelial cells in children from Bylym was 4.1 times higher in comparison with the corresponding index of uncontaminated area. The obtained data demonstrate that genotoxic effect of remedied tailing ponds retains.