Home – Home – Jornals – Siberian Journal of Forest Science 2024 number 4

Monitoring the distribution of tree and shrub vegetation at the upper forest limit in mountainous regions is one of the simplest and most effective methods for obtaining evidence of the effects of climate change on vegetation. One of the largest and most widespread shrub species on the Putorana plateau is the shrub alder ( Duschekia fruticosa (Rupr.) Pouzar). The study presents an analysis of the age and morphological structure of shrub alder thickets, which grow at different altitudes (200-600 m above sea level) within the forest - tundra ecotone in forest stands of different density on slopes with different exposures of the Putorana plateau. It has been established that the intensive expansion of shrub alder into mountain tundras, sparse and open forests on the slopes of all exposures of the Sukhie Gory massif occurred in the 20^th century, mainly in its second half. The influence of Gmelin larch ( Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Kuzen) stands on the distribution and morphological structure of shrub alder cenopopulations was revealed. The colonization and spread of shrub alder occurs in conjunction with larch stands. We established relationships between snow depth and the sum of projections of shrub crowns ( R² = 0.582). Shrub alder cannot survive in the absence of snow cover. There are significant differences in the distribution of shrub alder depending on the slope exposure. The distribution of shrub alder is higher on the slopes of southern and eastern exposures. The largest number of shrubs grow mainly in the lower part of the ecotone, where snow masses accumulate in greater quantities. The most likely explanation for the increase in density and advance to the mountains of alder shrub may be a general change in climatic conditions in the study area.