THE ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTING TECHNIQUES OF THE ECOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE REGIONS OF RUSSIA.

The modern historical geography plays an important part in the complex historical and geographical study of a region and creation of the techniques of the ecological and geographical assessment of its landscapes. The retrospective analysis of the evolution of the definition of the concept of the "ecological and geographical assessment" in the works of the leading Russian geographers showed the dependence of its treatment on the applied approaches, i.e. historical-landscape, comprehensive physical-geographical, socio-geoecological, etc. The distinction between the approaches to the ecological-geographical assessment of various Russian scientific schools is shown through practical examples. The analysis of the structure of the criteria and the set of the indicators of the ecological-geographical assessment is carried out in the paper. The potential of the stability of the landscapes, included by many authors along with the ecological and resource potentials into the structure of the ecological-geographical assessment, is important. The landscape potential assessment (ecological, natural- resource) is carried out within natural and administrative boarders. The paper considers the approaches to the integral assessment of the landscape potential based on the analysis of the duration and intensity of the territory's development at a regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]