Structure and Dynamics of the Forest Reserves of the Republic of Karelia

• Published in: Izvestiâ vysših učebnyh zavedenij. Lesnoj žurnal no. 4; pp. 19 - 29
• Main Authors: V.A., Anan'ev, S.A., Moshnikov
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Lingala; Russian
• Published: 01.01.2016
• Subjects: forestry
• ISSN: 0536-1036
• DOI: 10.17238/issn0536-1036.2016.4.19

The distribution of the state forest reserves according to the land categories is analyzed. The long-term (60 years) dynamics of the forested area has been traced. The species composition of the Karelian forests is characterized. The pine forests dominate in the Republic (65 % of the state forest reserves) stands of the III and IV classes – for the vaccinium and myrtillus forest types. Up to 75 % of the area occupied by the deciduous species feature high productive growth conditions (II-III quality classes). The analysis of the long-term forest dynamics has demonstrated the de-crease of the proportion of pine stands over the period of the intensive forest use (1951–1983), whereas the area and share of deciduous stands have been constantly increasing. Ex-tensive harvested areas were left for the natural reforestation, and coniferous species have been replaced by deciduous species. As a result, the total area occupied by the latter in-creased 1.5-fold and their standing stock grew 2.9-fold. Studying the dynamics of planta-tions productivity over 60 years has shown a significant increase in the standing stock of young pine and spruce stands. But the average stock of pine and spruce stands in general dropped by 23 and 19 %, respectively. The active forestry measures are needed to improve the state forest reserves. They should raise the forest productivity, enhance the species composition and a uniform distribution according to the age groups, as well as to accelerate the ripening of the middle-aged forests by the targeted tending. spruce forests occupy 23 %, deciduous forests – 12 %. The analy-sis of the age structure demonstrates the uneven distribution of the conifer plantations ac-cording to the age classes. The share of the ripening stands is low (7 %), which complicates the long-term planning for the sustainable forest management in the Republic. The ecologi-cal spectrum of the Karelian forests is quite wide and represented by 16 major forest types,ranging from the poor Sphagnum types to the most productive sorrel types. The myrtillus-type predominates among the spruce stands (63 % of the area occupied by the species). Pine stands are represented by the vaccinium and myrtillus forest types (36 and 32 %, respective-ly). The intensive harvesting of productive coniferous plantations has resulted in the accu-mulation of the low-quality stands. Up to 40 % of coniferous stands fall into the V, Va-Vb quality classes, and feature the low standing crop. Stands of the V–Vа quality classes are most unique to the pine and spruce stands of the Sphagnum and haircap-moss types