Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity

Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity
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THE STABILITY OF THE FORESTS OF NORTH-WEST REGION OF RUSSIA
UNDER CONDITIONS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE WARMING
Chabounine D.A., Pelevina N.N., Nikolaeva M.A.
Saint-Petersburg Forestry Research Institute, Saint-Petersburg
E-mail: spb330@spb.sitek.net
Keywords: climate warming, population biodiversity, forest stability
There is a question: Which consequences can entail of a global climate warming in the forestry of north-west
region of Russia?
It is doubtless, that the local populations of trees have adapted during evolutionary development under rather
stable climatic conditions and now its correspond to local grow conditions in greatest degree. At slow enough
change of climatic conditions there will be evolutionary changes in a population of wood plants, therefore the
population will again correspond to new environmental conditions. If there is no time for evolutionary
processes, in this case the local population will be replaced with other population, which is more adapted to new
conditions. Thus the changes should occur not only at a population level, but also at a species level. The motley
picture will be observed. One species will be oppressed, the development of the others will be stimulated.
The technogenous increase of temperature occurs so quickly, that, the last scenario is more possible. It is clear,
that the climate warming will not have an negative effect on plants growth but rather positive. As the increase
of temperature occurs on a background of increase of CO 2 concentration. However, there are in a nature “an
extremely interested persons” which intense observe the correspondence of any population to their occupied
place. These “persons” are diseases and pests populations. They sensitively will react by their number to
slightest changes in balance of a tree and environment. Thus, at fast global climate warming it can be expected,
that the first consequences will be increase of number and scale of outbreaks of insects and diseases.
If to consider a modern condition of forests, it is quite probable, that the distribution in 80 years, so-called,
“new damages of forests” and mass decline of forests in 90 years XX century (for example, the prompt ruin of
pine forests in the south of the Pskovskaja region in Russia surveyed by us in 1998-99 years (Semakova T.A.,
Chabounine D.A., Maslakov E.L., 2000), and also sharp increase of coniferous forests decline in Byelorussia
(Fedorov N.I. et al., 1997), Poland (Sierota Z., 1998), Hungary (Koltay A., 1998), connected with root rot and
insects) are the consequences of a climate warming. If the assumption about stimulation of pest and disease
activity by a climate warming is correct, the forestry enters into a condition of instability.
To study the geographical variability of hereditary properties of forest species, to increase efficiency and
stability of forests, to improve the seed district division the large-scale program is carried out in Russia with
uniform technique (Study, 1972). A lot of forest plantations were established for test the seeds of main forest
species from various geographical areas. In north-west of Russia the spruce geographical cultures are
established in Leningradskaja (27,6 ha), Vologodskaja (20,8 ha), Yaroslavskaja (1,2 ha) regions; a pine
geographical cultures in Vologodskaja (23,3 ra), Leningradskaja (29,0 ha), Pskovskaja (33,0 ha), Yaroslavskaja
(1,5 ha) regions.
We investigated the geographical cultures in Leningradskaja region. The study of an opportunity of pine and
spruce seeds moving from other geographical areas for use in the Leningradskaja region has shown, that usually
the best growth have the climatic types from warmer areas. Thus, frequently southern climatic types surpass local
populations both in growth in height and in diameter. As it seems, it can also testify to reaction of coniferous trees
to climate warming. As on the data of inspections 15 and 20 years ago which have been carried out in the same
objects (geographical cultures) the so obvious superiority of southern climatic types were not marked. The
similar results are received by the researchers in geographical cultures of a pine in the Pskovskaja region.
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