The role of ecological resources of boreal and nemoral forests of the Volga River basin in the attenuation of global warming
E.G. KOLOMYTS
Pushchino Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Basic Biological Problems, Pushchino, Russia
Keywords: forest ecosystems, indigenous and derivative forests, biological cycle, climate change, carbon balance, ecological resources of forest cover
Abstract
A forecast landscape-ecological analysis is made of the forest cover of the Volga River basin, with a focus on the problem of absorption of greenhouse gases by ecosystems and their adaptation to global warming, the solution of which is in line with the goals set in the Paris (2015) Agreement. Empirically substantiated are the well-known conceptual provisions on the capacity of the ecological resources of forest cover to additionally absorb greenhouse gases using the mechanisms of regulating the carbon cycle under climate change. The absorption potential of indigenous and derivatives of boreal and nemoral forests has been established, and their ability to mitigate climate changes, including reducing anthropogenic warming, has been evaluated. A quantitative assessment is made of the loss of environmental resources by the forests of the Volga River basin since the beginning of intensive forest and land use in it. Contrasting changes in the ecological resources of boreal and nemoral forests in the process of their structure transformation due to global warming were revealed. A verification of the forecast calculations of the carbon balance, carried out on the basis of remote sensing and ground-based measurements in the boreal forests of Central Canada, gave positive results only in the first decades of current warming.
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