State of Split Birch Woods of the Southern Trans-Urals in the Zone of High Anthropogenic Load on Natural Ecosystems

Abstract

The paper presents the results of our study of ecosystem diversity and the state of split-forest areas located in the Shchuchansky district of the Kurgan region. The species composition of forest stands, the productivity of tree species, the composition of underwood, brushwood and ground cover in plantations were analyzed. Data on the distribution of forest stands of various ages, composition, types of underwood and brushwood, as well as the main dominants of the ground cover are presented. Our studies have shown that forest communities are quite distinctly different in the nature of all storeys. A preliminary assessment of the economic impact on the territory of the site made it possible to identify significant changes in all the components of forest ecosystems, namely, ground cover, the composition and productivity of forest stands. The diversity of forest ecosystems in the study area is due to the ability of many plant species to inhabit a wide range of ecological conditions, as well as the composition, age and crowncontact, which, in turn, determines the nature of the storey of shrubs and ground cover. The volume of the forest type was taken quite large, it combined plantations of all age stages of forest stands development. Features of forest vegetation, typical for split forests of the Southern Trans-Urals, were revealed, namely: mosaic vegetation cover, low crown-contact and the presence of open spaces species in the lower storeys. The materials obtained showed that, despite the significant anthropogenic transformation, the forest ecosystems of the study area retained the main features characteristic of the peculiar vegetation of the forest-steppe of southern Siberia. The research results will make it possible to assess the diversity of forest ecosystems, to give a preliminary forecast of the dynamics of the site's vegetation and can be used in the development of a scientifically grounded strategy for forest management in the region under the conditions of the joint action of many natural and anthropogenic factors.