Growth and Bioproductivity of Urban Forests

This paper provides information about the background, process and results of growth modeling, yield and bioproductivity of artificial (planted) pine stands in urban forests in the city of Kyiv. This topic is exceptionally important to ecological functions of urban forest ecosystems around Kyiv, like any other urban forests, in terms of maintaining sustainability of the internal environment of cities, improving the environmental situation and reducing harmful effects of industry, transport, etc. A characteristic feature of urban forests is a substantial anthropogenic pressure on forest ecosystems, which is much higher compared to production forests. As a rule, reference information, growth models, etc. for urban forests are either weak or completely absent. This work is designed to eliminate some of such shortcomings and problems for forests around the biggest city in Ukraine. As a major result of the study, models of growth and biological productivity dynamics of live biomass, Net Primary Production have been developed. We show specific features of growth and functioning of urban forests and therefore a need for the development of a special reference and normative base for inventory and management of this category of forests

Vulnerability of Ukrainian forests to climate change

Ukraine is a country of the Mid-Latitude ecotone – a transition zone between forest zone and forestless dry lands. Availability of water defines distribution of the country’s forests and decreasing their productivity towards the south. Climate change generates a particular threat for Ukrainian forests and stability of agroforestry landscapes. The paper considers the impacts of expected climate change on vulnerability of Ukrainian forests using ensembles of global and regional climatic models (RCM) based on IPCC Scenarios B1, A2, A1B, and a “dry and warm” scenario A1B+T-P (increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation). The spatially explicit assessment was provided by RCM for the WMO standard period (1961-1990), “recent” (1991-2010) and three future periods – 2011-2030, 2031-2050 and 2081-2100. Forest-climate model by Vorobjov and model of amplitude of flora’s tolerance to climate change by Didukh, as well as a number of specialized climatic indicators, were used in the assessment. Different approaches leads to rather consistent conclusions. Water stress is the major limitation factor of distribution and resilience of flatland Ukrainian forests. Within Scenario A1B, the area with unsuitable growth conditions for major forest forming species will substantially increase by end of the century occupying major part of Ukraine. Scenario A1B+T-P projects even a more dramatic decline of the country’s forests. It is expected that the boundary of conditions that are favorable for forests will shift to north and north-west, and forests of the xeric belt will be the most vulnerable. Consistent policies of adaptation and mitigation might reduce climate-induced risks for Ukrainian forests

Структура, породний склад та продуктивність лісів Черемського природного заповідника

The stands of the Cheremsky Nature Reserve are analyzed in terms of area, stock, composition, types of forest vegetation conditions, age groups, stand quality and completeness, which allows defining the current state of the forests of the reserve, determining the perspectives of conservation of forest groups and the dynamics of their biological productivity. It is revealed that the overwhelming area of ​​the forest fund of Cheremsky Nature Reserve is covered with forest vegetation making up to 97.9 %, including forest crops occupying 14.6 % of the area covered with forest vegetation of forest stands. Coniferous stands dominate; their share in the total stock is 75.4 %. They are presented mainly by silver pine. More than half of the area is made up of mixed coniferous forests (68 %), among which the third part is wet mixed coniferous forests. These conditions are optimal for the growth of silver pine. The second third consists of raw (18 %) and wet (15 %) mixed coniferous forests, where silver pine usually has a much lower productivity, but the conditions are quite favourable for black alder. There are also mixed deciduous forests in the reserve (12 %), which are quite fertile and favourable for the growth of black alder of high productivity. The reserve is characterised by dominating of the stand quality of II (30.9 %) and III (26.6 %) classes. The mid-aged stands are prevailing according to the age structure. Young growth occupies quite a small share (8.1 % of the area and 3.1 % of the stock). Mature stands occupy 5.6 % of the area and 5.3 % of the stock. There are no overlapping plantations and hardwood stands of hardwood species. Most of the stand area (73.9 %) has a stand stocking of 0.6-0.8. The share of low and high-level stands makes up only 6.8 % of the area covered with forest vegetation of forest areas of the reserve. The data obtained in the course of the research will determine the prospects for preservation of the forest communities of Cheremsky Nature Reserve, as well as assess their main ecological functions and simulate the environmental services that this nature reserve can provide.Проаналізовано деревостани Черемського природного заповідника за площею, запасом, складом, типами лісорослинних умов, групами віку, бонітетом і повнотою. З'ясовано, що переважна площа лісового фонду Черемського природного заповідника вкрита лісовою рослинністю і становить 97,9 %, зокрема лісові культури займають 14,6 % площі вкритих лісовою рослинністю лісових ділянок. Домінують хвойні деревостани, частка яких у загальному запасі становить 75,4 %. Представлені вони переважно сосною звичайною (98,5 %). Більшу половину площ становлять субори (68 %), серед яких третину складають вологі субори. Ці умови є оптимальними для росту сосни звичайної. Другу третину складають сирі (18 %) та мокрі (15 %) субори, в яких сосна звичайна має значно меншу продуктивність, зате добре почувається вільха клейка. Також у заповіднику трапляються сирі сугруди (12 %), які є досить родючими та сприятливими для росту вільхи клейкої високої продуктивності. У заповіднику переважають насадження ІІ (30,9 %) та ІІІ (26,6 %) класів бонітету. У віковій структурі домінують середньовікові насадження. Молодняки становлять незначну частину (8,1 % за площею і 3,1 % за запасом). Стиглі насадження займають 5,6 % за площею та 5,3 % за запасом. Більшість площі деревостанів (73,9 %) мають повноту 0,6-0,8. Отримані під час досліджень дані дають змогу визначити перспективи збереження лісових угруповань Черемського ПЗ, а також оцінити їхні основні екологічні функції та змоделювати екологічні послуги, які може надавати цей природно-заповідний об'єкт

A dataset of forest biomass structure for Eurasia

The most comprehensive dataset of in situ destructive sampling measurements of forest biomass in Eurasia have been compiled from a combination of experiments undertaken by the authors and from scientific publications. Biomass is reported as four components: live trees (stem, bark, branches, foliage, roots); understory (above- and below ground); green forest floor (above- and below ground); and coarse woody debris (snags, logs, dead branches of living trees and dead roots), consisting of 10,351 unique records of sample plots and 9,613 sample trees from ca 1,200 experiments for the period 1930–2014 where there is overlap between these two datasets. The dataset also contains other forest stand parameters such as tree species composition, average age, tree height, growing stock volume, etc., when available. Such a dataset can be used for the development of models of biomass structure, biomass extension factors, change detection in biomass structure, investigations into biodiversity and species distribution and the biodiversity-productivity relationship, as well as the assessment of the carbon pool and its dynamics, among many others

Impact of Disturbances on the Carbon Cycle of Forest Ecosystems in Ukrainian Polissya

Climate change continues to threaten forests and their ecosystem services while substantially altering natural disturbance regimes. Land cover changes and consequent management entail discrepancies in carbon sequestration provided by forest ecosystems and its accounting. Currently there is a lack of sufficient and harmonized data for Ukraine that can be used for the robust and spatially explicit assessment of forest provisioning and regulation of ecosystem services. In the frame of this research, we established an experimental polygon (area 45 km2) in Northern Ukraine aiming at estimating main forest carbon stocks and fluxes and determining the impact caused by natural disturbances and harvest for the study period of 2010–2015. Coupled field inventory and remote sensing data (RapidEye image for 2010 and SPOT 6 image for 2015) were used. Land cover classification and estimation of biomass and carbon pools were carried out using Random Forest and k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) method, respectively. Remote sensing data indicates a ca. 16% increase of carbon stock, while ground-based computations have shown only a ca. 1% increase. Net carbon fluxes for the study period are relatively even: 5.4 Gg C·year−1 and 5.6 Gg C C·year−1 for field and remote sensing data, respectively. Stand-replacing wildfires, as well as insect outbreaks and wind damage followed by salvage logging, and timber harvest have caused 21% of carbon emissions among all C sources within the experimental polygon during the study period. Hence, remote sensing data and non-parametric methods coupled with field data can serve as reliable tools for the precise estimation of forest carbon cycles on a regional spatial scale. However, featured land cover changes lead to unexpected biases in consistent assessment of forest biophysical parameters, while current management practices neglect natural forest dynamics and amplify negative impact of disturbances on ecosystem services

Лісова політика

У методичних рекомендаціях наведено теоретичні засади та основні поняття лісової політики; принципи, компоненти, цілі, задачі лісової політики; систему інструментів лісової політики; а також методику виконання практичних робіт.Методичні рекомендації упорядковані у співавторстві з колективом кафедри таксації лісу та лісового менеджменту Національного університету біоресурсів і природокористування України (П. Лакида, П. Кравець, О. Павліщук)

Drivers of tropical forest loss between 2008 and 2019

During December 2020, a crowdsourcing campaign to understand what has been driving tropical forest loss during the past decade was undertaken. For 2 weeks, 58 participants from several countries reviewed almost 115 K unique locations in the tropics, identifying drivers of forest loss (derived from the Global Forest Watch map) between 2008 and 2019. Previous studies have produced global maps of drivers of forest loss, but the current campaign increased the resolution and the sample size across the tropics to provide a more accurate mapping of crucial factors leading to forest loss. The data were collected using the Geo-Wiki platform (www.geo-wiki.org) where the participants were asked to select the predominant and secondary forest loss drivers amongst a list of potential factors indicating evidence of visible human impact such as roads, trails, or buildings. The data described here are openly available and can be employed to produce updated maps of tropical drivers of forest loss, which in turn can be used to support policy makers in their decision-making and inform the public

Energy intensity of wood biomass of Zhytomyr Polissia forests

The development of renewable energy is one of the principal areas of decarbonization of the energy sector of Ukraine, including in forestry. Improving the efficiency of using wood biomass for energy purposes, along with providing an appropriate level of technological processes and technical equipment, requires reliable information tools for managerial decision-making. An essential component of this toolkit is regional assessments of the energy function of forest phytocenoses. The information base of this study included information from the database of Industrial Association “Ukrderzhlisproekt”, which contains a specific inventory characteristic of tree stands of the region under study, as well as a system of mathematical models for quantitative assessment of phytomass and mortmass of forests. As a result, quantitative values of the total energy intensity of phytomass and mortmass of the forests of Zhytomyr Polissia were established. The total amount of energy accumulated in the plant biomass of the region’s forests is 3,035.7 PJ, which is equivalent to 100.2 million tonnes of conventional fuel. At the same time, the share of the total energy intensity of mortmass is 11.1%. The structure of the energy intensity of plant biomass in the region is dominated by pine stands, which accumulate over 60% of the energy of the forests of Zhytomyr Oblast, namely 70.8% – in the phytomass of tree trunks. Over 40% of the energy is accumulated in the plant biomass of stands of the site index class I, which mainly grow in relatively poor forest conditions (subors). In the overall structure of the energy intensity of the mortmass (336.2 PJ), more than 60% belongs to the forest floor (212.8 PJ), but it is not considered as a source of renewable energy, dry matter – 12.3% (41.3 PJ), dry branches – 17 .8% (almost 60 PJ). The results obtained in this study will serve as an information basis to devise a strategy for the development of forest bioenergy in the Zhytomyr regio

Organic carbon in the plant biomass of forests in Kyiv region

The carbon capacity of forest phytocenoses serves as one of the basic criteria for potential opportunities to ensure low-carbon development of the country and fulfil international obligations in the context of the Paris climate agreement. The information base of the study was information from the database of the Ukrainian State Forest Management Planning Association, which contains a specific tax characteristic of stands in the Kyiv region, and a system of mathematical models for quantitative assessment of phytomass and mortmass of forests. As a result, quantitative values of organic carbon volumes in phytomass and mortmass of forests of the Kyiv region and Kyiv city are established. The total amount of carbon accumulated in the plant biomass of the region’s forests is 61.8 million tonnes, of which 60% is accounted for by pine stands. The share of carbon accumulated in the mortar of forests of the Kyiv region is 10.5%. The highest density of deposited carbon per unit area is characterised by ash and oak stands with indicators of 10,08 and 9,921 kg*(m2)-1 accordingly. More than 40% of organic carbon is accumulated in the plant biomass of bonitet class I stands, which mainly grow in relatively poor forest conditions (barrens). Recreational-protective forests of the region have the highest organic carbon densities per unit area – 10.53 and 10.49 kg*(m2)-1 accordingly. Among the objects of the nature reserve fund, the dominant positions in terms of the volume of the indicator under study belong to nature reserves – 82.7% and about 8% is accounted for by national nature parks. In the total carbon structure of mortmass (6.5 million tonnes), more than 60% is forest litter. Therewith, the carbon content of mortmass plantings of coniferous tree species is 4.1 million tonnes or 62.9%. The results obtained in the course of the study will serve as an information basis for forming a strategy for regional low-carbon developmen

ЛЕСОВОДСТВЕННО-ТАКСАЦИОННАЯ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА ДУБОВЫХ ДРЕВОСТОЕВ ПРИДНЕПРОВСКОЙ ПРАВОБЕРЕЖНОЙ ЛЕСОСТЕПИ

На основі повидільної бази даних ВО "Укрдержліспроект" проаналізовано лісівничо-таксаційні особливості розподілу площ дубових деревостанів Придніпровського Правобережного лісостепу за віком, типами лісорослинних умов, повнотою, бонітетом та походженням. Розраховано середні таксаційні показники дубняків цього регіону: вік, відносну повноту, запас, зміну запасу, бонітет, висоту, діаметр, частку участі в запасі дуба. Загальна площа регіону досліджень становить 217,6 тис. га, площа укритих лісовою рослинністю ділянок – 60,2 тис. га, середня лісистість досліджуваної території – близько 27,7 %. У Придніпровському Правобережному лісостепу склалися оптимальні кліматичні, ґрунтові та гідрологічні умови для росту та розвитку дуба звичайного (Quercus robur L.). Насадження дуба займають площу 40,4 тис. га (67,1 %), з них штучних насаджень – близько 61,7 %. Основним типом лісу тут є свіжа грабова діброва. Дубняки мають близький до оптимального розподіл за віком, високий середній вік – 73 роки, досить високий середній запас – 263 м3·га-1, середню відносну повноту – 0,76 та середній бонітет – І,5. Частка пристиглих, стиглих та перестиглих деревостанів становить 27,9 % за площею. Наведені дані буде використано для проведення подальших досліджень сортиментно-сортної структури дубових деревостанів Придніпровського Правобережного лісостепу, розробки та впровадження регіональних нормативів для обліку деревних ресурсів.One of the priorities for improving the accounting of wood resources is the development and implementation of regional standards and new methods of inventory felled for determining of the assortment sorted timber structure. Based on database of PA "Ukrderzhlisproekt" (production association of Ukrainian government project of forest management) forestry inventory features of the distribution of oak (Quercus robur L.) stands were analyzed in the Pridneprovsk Right-Bank forest-steppe according the age, the types of the forest vegetation conditions, the completeness, the growth class and the origin. The average inventory indexes of oak forests were calculated in this region. The total area of the researching region is 217600 ha, the area covered with forest vegetation is 60200 ha. The average forest covering of researching area is about 27.7 %. In the region of studies optimal climatic, soil and hydrological conditions for the growth and development of oak have developed. The oak plantations cover an area of 40400 ha (67.1 %). The most common type of forest vegetation conditions in the region of oak stands is a fresh wood (D2) – 94.3 % of the area. The main type of forest is fresh hornbeam trees. The distribution of oak forest according the age is relatively uniform: the young-age trees are 9.1 %, the middle-age trees are 63.0 %, almost ripe trees are 22.9 %, ripe and over-ripe trees are 5.0 %. The average age of oak stands is higher than a half of the age of main felling and it reaches 73 years old indicating a positive trend of the age structure. The oak forest stands with growth class II and > occupy 93.6 % of the area and have an average margin of 263 m3·ha-1. The Stands with the relative completeness of 0.7 and > have 93.6 % of the area with the average value of 0.76. According to the origin 97.6 % of the areas are seed plants in the region, but the indigenous forests of natural origin are only 35.9 %. These data will be used for further research of the assortment-sorted structure of the oak stands in the Pridneprovsk Right-bank forest-steppe, development and implementation of regional standards for the accounting of wood resources.На основе повыдельной базы данных ПО "Укргослеспроект" проанализированы лесоводственно-таксационные особенности распределения площадей дубовых древостоев Приднепровской Правобережной лесостепи по возрасту, типу лесорастительных условий, полноте, бонитету и происхождению.Рассчитаны средние таксационные показатели дубняков этого региона: возраст, относительная полнота, запас, изменение запаса, бонитет, высота, диаметр, долевое участие в запасе дуба.Общая площадь региона исследований составляет 217,6 тыс. га, площадь покрытых лесной растительностью участков – 60,2 тыс. га, средняя лесистость исследуемой территории – около 27,7 %. В Приднепровской Правобережной лесостепи сложились оптимальные климатические, почвенные и гидрологические условия для роста и развития дуба обыкновенного (Quercus robur L.).Насаждения дуба занимают площадь 40,4 тыс. га (67,1 %), из них искусственных насаждений около 61,7 %.Основной тип леса – свежая грабовая дубрава.Дубняки имеют близкое к оптимальному распределение по возрасту, высокий средний возраст – 73 года, достаточно высокий средний запас – 263 м3·га-1, среднюю относительную полноту – 0,76 и средний бонитет – І,5.Долевое участие приспевающих, спелых и перестойных древостоев составляет 27,9 % по площади. Приведенные данные будут использованы для проведения дальнейших исследований сортиментно-сортной структуры дубовых древостоев Приднепровской Правобережной лесостепи, разработки и внедрения региональных нормативов для учета древесных ресурсов