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This paper studies issues of the rise in the standards of living and improvement of the quality of life of the population in the frame of intermunicipal disparities. Simulation and modelling are examined in relation to research of standards of living and quality of life. Tools of cognitive modelling and simulation are used to acquire new knowledge on the regional social and economic, ecological, and political system which determines the standards of living and quality of life. A cognitive model studying the quality of life was designed and its structural properties were analyzed. Scenarios were created to model possible developments of the situation under the influence of various factors. The novelty of the work is in applying a new informational technology of cognitive modelling to studying the improvement of the quality of life in the frame of intermunicipal disparities.

Materials on the natural features and present-day status of forests on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga are presented. The study area covers some 700 km along the shore – from the Svir River mouth to the R. Kokkolanjoki – L. Veyalanjarvi – R. Asilanjoki system (the Asilanjoki empties into Lake Ladoga at the border between Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Region). The material was gathered through analysis of archival data,satellite and aerial images, surveys of the shore along pre-defined routes, and descriptions of the forest cover along landscape profiles. Within a coastal strip of up to 10 kmwide, 9 profiles (41 km long in total) have been established at different times in the past, 6 of them (28 km) starting from the shoreline. This part of the shore is occupied almostentirely by the following geographical landscape types: a) lacustrine and glaciolacustrine heavily paludified flatland with pine habitats prevailing; b) lacustrine and glaciolacustrinemoderately paludified flatland with pine habitats prevailing; c) rocky, slightly paludified landscape with pine habitats prevailing. In the middle taiga subzone of Karelia, these typesoccupy 8, 4.5 and 1 % of its area, respectively. General characteristics of the landscapes (geological-geomorphological, degree of paludification, soil cover) are briefly described.The range, ratio and spatial arrangement of forest types were identified (with examples of the most characteristic fragments of landscape profiles). The distinctive features of forestin some locations on the shore are reported. The transformations of the forest cover as a result of human activities are evaluated (through comparison with archival, nearly 150‑year-old, forest inventory data). The present-day situation is described in terms of designation of protected areas of various categories and protective forests.

80-year-old Siberian larch plantations situated on the border of southern and middle taiga subzones in Eastern Fennoscandia were studied. Total surveyed 6 forest sites located in the landscape with respect to the same environmental conditions. After the larch plantations had been planted in 1935 by Finnish foresters, studied forest communities developed without noticeable human interventions. Species composition of larch communities was defined within the boundaries of a permanent plot, on the others the forest sites within the borders of the natural forest associations, which are comparable in size to the size of permanent plots larch communities. Analysis of the forest stand characteristics of the studied forest sites showed that the Siberian larch plantations are well adapted and have a high competition ability compared with spruce and pine stands. The conditions generated by Siberian larch proved to be quite favorable for many species of ground cover: the number of vascular plant species was by two times higher in the larch forest stands than in the neighboring zonal spruce stands of the wood sorrel and bilberry types. The structures of ground cover in the larch forest stands are more complex: first layer was comprised by plant species that prefer low canopy density and fertile soils; the second layer was presented by shade tolerant plant species.At the same time, the projective cover of mosses decreased although the number of moss species and their patchiness were increased. In spite of the markedly different number of species, of the ecological and ecological-coenotic structures of the studied forest communities were differed marginally. The number of species in the larch forest stands increased by both shade-tolerant and light-demanding species. Improved soil fertility in the larch forest resulted in an increase of the number of meso-eutrophic species that are typical for southern taiga zone. Generally speaking, the introduction of larch into zonal communities of spruce forests influences on the structure of ground cover structure more significantly than the variation of biotope factors within the study area.

The White Sea coastline within the Republic of Karelia stretches for ca. 380 km. All of the adjacent area belongs to the White Sea Lowland, and the coastline is the eastern fringe of Fennoscandia. The Karelian part of the White Sea coast falls into two parts termed Karelian Coast (from the border with the Murmansk Region to the Kem River) and Pomor Coast (from the Kem River to the border with the Arkhangelsk Region). The Pomor Coast partially extends into the Arkhangelsk Region. The land is generally quite uniform, only with a differentiation into three types of the north-taiga landscape, which differ in landforms, their genesis, Quaternary sediments, spatial coverage of mires, and prevalent types of forest habitats. The paper offers short multi-sided descriptions of the landscape types roughly structured as follows: 1) geographic position and distribution; 2) specific traits of: а) genetic landforms and Quaternary sediments; b) soil cover and paludification; c) forest cover and forest plant communities; 3) representativenessfor coenotic diversity and forest cover integrity; 4) vulnerability of natural ecosystems to human impact. Vulnerability assessments took into account potential logging-relatedchanges in the soil cover condition, alteration of the paludification rate due to removal of the tree cover or the probability of this process being accelerated or reversed; potential detrimental effects of logging on microclimate (wind and temperature conditions); 5) distinctive features compared to the rest of Karelia; 6) presence of operating protectedareas. In addition, the specific features of plant communities on islands in the western part of the White Sea are described.