Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2003 number 6

On average, the forest land of Russia served as a net carbon sink of 0,430,07 Pg

The most complete up-to-date database on the biomass of forest-forming trees is compiled for the territory from Great Britain and France to China and Japan. The database includes about 5100 determinations; it is distributed over 50 regions. By using special mathematic procedures, the data are transformed to the comparable form. For the resources of biomass of the major part of tree plants, the existence of productivity profile over the latitudinal gradient is confirmed. A decrease in the surface and subterranean biomass is established for the first time at the statistically reliable level with the correlation tightness of 0.65 to 0.98 for species of a broad ecological amplitude (larch, spruce, abies, pine, cedar, birch, aspen and lime-tree) while advancing from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the pole of continentality in Yakutia.

The technology of evaluation and short-term forecast of fire risk on the basis of weather conditions, developed in V. N. Sukachev Forest Institute, is described. The factor of fire risk in each pixel of the screen is calculated on the basis of information presented as multispectral digital images obtained distantly from satellites of the NOAA POES (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Polar Operational Environmental Satellites, USA) series. The map depicting the distribution of fire risk classes over the territory of East Siberia is published daily.

Changes in areal coverage of vegetation zones across Central Siberia and ofLarix sibirica Ledeb. and Pinus sylvestris L. climat types in southern Krasnoyarsk Territory and Tuva in a warming climate were estimated from bioclimatic models connecting the characteristics of vegetation with climate. Predictions by the models for the end of the century suggest a complete redistribution of both vegetation zones over plains and tablelands of Siberia, and climatypes of pine and larch over southern mountains and foothills. Northern vegetation types - tundra, forest-tundra and northern taiga, which are dominant in current climate, will be replaced by southern types such as the southern taiga and sub taiga, as well as forest-steppe and steppe, both of which do not currently exist north of 56

The results of biodiversity researches of the basic forest-forming tree species (Pinus sylvestris, P. sibirica, Larix sibirica, L. gmelinii, Picea obovata, Abies sibirica) in the Yenisei basin are presented. The data on variability of morphological, karyological and biochemical features and polymorphism of these species are reported. Investigation of biodiversity of these species is important for genetic-selection and forestry research. The data obtained will be involved in the works aimed at conservation and efficient use of the gene pool of these valuable forest-forming tree species.

The structure of phyto-mass of the larch stands near tundra and in the taiga region of the Yenisei meridian is calculated for forest growing regions, provinces, subzones and zones on the basis of statistical and literature data on registered forest resources. This structure changes, depending on tree growing conditions, from 26

Resources, elemental composition of the organic matter and ash composition of litters in fir-greens of forest tundra, larch forests of northern taiga and pine forests of southern taiga are considered. The largest resources of litter (78 t/hectare) were found for sphagnum fir wood, because of slow decomposition of its organic substance. The organic substance of all types of litter is characterized by high-degree reduced status, which increases from north to south. The heating value of litters is lower than the heating value of litter fall and humic acids, but higher than that of fulvic acids, which points to a shift in litter humification toward the formation of fulvic acids. Oxidation and humification of organic substances of litter are accompanied by permanent arrival of new litter fall portions containing highly reduced compounds. As a result, the organic substance of litter is characterized by higher concentration of hydrogen and lower concentration of nitrogen than humic acids.

The optimization of diversity forest ecosystems monitoring requires new formalized methods of reference-points planning. One of the possible decision this problem is employment of cartographical methods in studies. The block-scheme is developed which provides consecutive analysis of thematic nature maps having the available biological information. An assessment of maps reflecting ecosystems diversity (landscape and geobotanic), is the base block. Other blocks of the thematic maps contain the various information which need for minimization of the reference-point network. For this purpose maps of the unique natural phenomena, maps of the natural influences changing forest condition as well as maps of anthropogenic influences etc are used. A final block of the system is a cartographical project of the reference-point network which generalizes the whole information. For example, on a model territory

The results of the study of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in surface waters of permafrost region of Central Evenkia are in the focus of the presented article. It is shown that in comparison to temperate zone and island permafrost, continuous permafrost exerts higher DOC concentrations in streams and rivers. Most important factors controlling DOC export are rainfalls and forest fires disturbing watersheds. The data obtained are discussed from the viewpoint of prognosis of DOC concentrations in surface waters under global climate change.

This paper reports on the multielement composition of forest fuel materials and soils of the ecosystem of the boreal pine forests of the Central Siberia. The results are given for a change in the element composition of forest soils after the control burning of the experimental plots of the pine stand. The multielement composition of samples is determined using the X-ray fluorescen e method of synchrotron radiation (SRXRF). The element concentrations were found: K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, Hg, Pb, Bi, Th. The results obtained can be used to estimate changes in the element composition of soil of forest biocenosis subjected to a forest fire.

The first results of the experiment to reveal the effect of the fires of different intensities in pine forests on the animal population are reported. The initial seral process of the forest ecosystem after the action of fire of different intensities is traced. Unique data on the changes in animal population at the plots of control burning in comparison with the background status are obtained.

The possibilities to compensate the informational deficit by modelling and using GIS technologies in forest hydrological investigations are evaluated. The urgency of this problem in the mountainous regions is due to substantial spatial differentiation of weather and climate conditions, sparse network of meteorological stations and limited possibilities of distant methods. Methodological aspects of the development of geoinformation systems and the experience of realizing the proposed approach for a specific GIS as an example, with the description of its structure and organization principles, are considered in terms of the formulated problem.

The investigation is based on the analysis of alterations in the needles elemental composition of common pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), growing in Prebaikalia at the background territories and those polluted by industrial emissions. The disbalance in elemental composition was assessed by a number of parameters including transformations of element accumulation and disturbance of proportions between biophil elements. Key elements were identified which define the level of tree defoliation under the influence of difference types of prevailing atmospheric pollutants

The results of the joint processing of radar images and on-land information in the centimetre range on the basis of ERS1/2 & JERS data for the Baikal Region are presented. The synthesis of images of different ranges and those obtained in different moment of time allowed us to identify and classify most characteristic natural objects with confidence.

A method of monitoring the consequences of climate changes and status of environment on regional and global scales is presented. This approach supplements the dendrochronological method applied for historical monitoring of tree growth, which is reasonable and popular but has some restrictions. The subject of investigation was pine underwood (Pinus sylvestris L.), the monitored parameter was annual linear growth of trees (growth of trunk in height, branches in length). We called the proposed type of biometric investigations orpexometry ( is sprout in Greek); the corresponding element of the programme of monitoring is called orpexometric recording. An original procedure and results of its approbation in the Kandalaksha State Natural Preserve in 2000 and in the Pechora-Iluch State Natural Preserve in 2001 are presented, along with the algorithm of statistical processing of data, with the help of which a satisfactory accuracy of parameter estimation was obtained.

The performed experiments demonstrated that the needles of pine, under the conditions existing in Kemerovo, accumulates sulphur, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, lead, copper, zinc, manganese, nickel, cobalt, iron. This causes an increase in the activity of peroxidase, cell membrane permeability, decrease in ascorbate level, appearance of visual indices of damage, which leads to a decrease in lifetime and in dry mass of the needles. An interconnection is revealed between the extent of deviation of the indicated parameters and the level of pollution in the regions of the city. A principal possibility to use the investigated characteristics of functional status of the assimilation system of pine in evaluating the quality of urban environment is demonstrated.