ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS OF UPLAND, TRANSITIONAL, AND LOWLAND BOGS OF THE URALS
I. V. Petrova1, V. A. Usoltsev2, N. I. Plyukha1,2, A. D. Demin1, V. A. Lebedev1
1Botanical Garden, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ural Branch, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation
2Ural State Forest Engineering University, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation
Keywords: swamp forest systems, functional groups of plants, biomass of the main and lower layers, gradient of distances to the reservoir
Abstract
Peat bogs occupy about 3-4 % of the Earth’s land area, they play a significant role in climate formation, river flow regulation, gas exchange with the atmosphere, and also make a significant contribution to the global carbon cycle. Therefore, the study of carbon accumulation in the biomass of various tiers of swamp forest systems is a priority aspect. Although much attention has been paid to assessing the biological productivity of swamp forest systems, there are significant problems with obtaining objective information about the organic carbon cycle in swamps. In particular, there is no data on the biomass of the main and lower tiers for the swamp forest systems of the Urals. In this study, for the first time for the Middle Urals, four sample plots were established in the gradient of distances 450, 200, 110 and 70 m from the Lake Iset (56.95°N, 60.39°E), on which the survey indicators of stands and the structure of the aboveground biomass of all functional plant groups were determined. The heights of the sample plots above sea level were 250-253 m, and the groundwater level varied from 0 to 5 cm from the surface. The average age in this gradient decreased from 163 to 37 years, the average tree height from 5.5 to 2.2 m, and the stem volume from 127 to 13 m3/ha. It was found that in this gradient, the biomass of the woody tier decreases from 77 to 8 t/ha, and the biomass of the lower tier increases from 1 to 4 t/ha. The comparison of the obtained results with data from other regions showed that the proposed indicators of the biomass structure of the woody and lower tiers have regional specifics.
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