Home – Home – Jornals – Siberian Journal of Forest Science 2014 number 1

The causes for protracted crisis at the system of forest management and development of forest sector in Russia are discussed in the paper and recommendations for recovery from recession have been done based on transition from extensive to the intensive model of development.

In order to organize sustainable forest use in Russia, suggestions and recommendations have been developed on the basis of the up-to-day paradigm of nature management and stability of progress. It is proposed to revise the method of calculating annual allowable cuts by introduction of «economical allowable cut» concept. The methods of ecological and economical accessibility of forest resources have been devised. The certain paths of reconstructing and developing forest inventory as well as direction for future research have been proposed.

As a result of quantitative «microecosystem» analysis of structural and functional relationships between biogeocenosis components in coniferous forests, the leading role of stand-edificator's root competition factor has been identified in determining the undergrowth and lower layer plant’s growth, compared with its «light» competition. Considering the dominant role of a tree stand root competition in the formation of other forest biogeocenosis components, new definition of «forest» as «underground-closed dendrocenoecosystem» have been proposed.

Structuring forest communities is considered as a pre-studying procedure. The paper defines the fundamental structuring terms and describes the theory behind it. Factors hampering forest typology development are discussed. The areas of forest typology promising regarding sustainable and multi-purposed forest management are outlined.

The definition of woodland is discussed. The structure and dynamics of forestland are considered on the example of the Tankhoisky forestry district in the South Baikal region.

Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance (NECB) of Russian forests for 2007–2009 is presented based on consistent application of applied systems analysis and modern information technologies. Use of landscape-ecosystem approach resulted in the NECB at 546±120 Tg C year^–1, or 66±15 g C m^–2 year^–1. There is a substantial difference between the NECB of European and Asian parts, as well as the clear zonal gradients within these geographical regions. While the total carbon sink is high, large forest areas, particularly on permafrost, serve as a carbon source. The ratio between net primary production and soil heterotrophic respiration, together with natural and human-induced disturbances are major drivers of the magnitude and spatial distribution of the NECB of forest ecosystems. Using the Bayesian approach, mutual constraints of results that are obtained by independent methods enable to decrease uncertainties of the final result.

Investigations of the processes of differentiation of five main forest-forming species of the Pinaceae family, growing in various types of wetlands and dry lands of Western Siberia, based on the analysis of population structure and morpho-physiological characteristics of the reproductive sphere, the number and morphology of chromosomes, features of nucleolar loci of chromosomes, chromosomal mutations, and abnormalities of mitosis are carried out. Divergence and isolation of wetland and dryland populations of Pinaceae species established on reproductive and cytogenetic traits are due to the different trends of natural selection in contrasting conditions of stands growth.

The new method of restoration of coniferous stands on large felling areas on burnt lands that lack seed trees is discussed. It involves limited planting of big grafted seedlings of quality wood, that have a high level of seed production, with the purpose of the subsequent natural sowing on these territories. Results of two-year-old research on approbation of the method on cuttings on large felling areas on burnt lands in conditions of the mid-Ob' river pine forests are stated. A good viability of «seed cultures» is noted. There is damage of the grafting pines by elk. Therefore there is a problem of protecting plantations against elk. For preservation of a high level of genetic variability of pine stands it is desirable to use in «seed cultures» the best trees from local plantings.

In the paper disturbance of Angara river region forests were estimated and peculiarities of forest regeneration after logging and wild fires were analyzed. According to the landscape classification of the regional study, three groups of landscapes differencing on types of forest successions were developed. It was shown that water protective and water regulate functions of the Angara river region forests change under commercial forest harvesting. Comparisons of the inventory and hydrological data detected that hydrological consequences of commercial forest harvesting are dependent on climatic parameters and forest regeneration peculiarities. In the continental climate conditions, when forest regeneration is delayed, snow storms are more active, snow evaporation increases and runoff reduces. In the process of logging sites overgrown with secondary small-leaved forest, snow accumulation increases and runoff increases, exceeding the value of annual runoff at undisturbed watersheds.