Typological and Floristic Diversity of Fir Stands in the Teberda National Park. С. 110-129

Complete text of the article:

Download article (pdf, 0.6MB )

UDС

630*187

DOI:

10.37482/0536-1036-2025-4-110-129

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a study of the floristic and typological diversity of forests with the participation of Abies nordmanniana in the Teberda National Park (North-West Caucasus). Geobotanical descriptions have been carried out on visually homogeneous sample plots measuring 30×30 m using standard methods adopted in geobotany and forest inventory. When classifying forest vegetation, an ecological and phytocenotic approach has been used. Based on the data from the survey of forest areas of the Teberda National Park, a typological scheme of forests with the participation of Nodmann fir has been compiled, and their geobotanical and inventory characteristics have been carried out. The forests under study are represented by 6 groups of forest types, including 11 forest types. 120 species of vascular plants have been identified, belonging to 98 genera and 50 families. The families with the largest number of species are Asteraceae – 13, Rosaceae – 8, Apiaceae – 7, Lamiaceae and Poaceae – 6 each. The distribution of fir stands, in which Betula litwinowii and Populus tremula are significantly involved, has been revealed – fir forests of the wood sorrel, alchemilla-fern and woodruff-fern types, which is due to both the economic load on the indigenous forests of the Teberda National Park and the proximity of the communities to the upper altitudinal boundary of the forest. The presence of reed-green moss and hazel-forb pine forests in the forest cover, which include a significant participation of fir, confirms that the forests of Karachay-Cherkessia represent a zone in which the coniferous forests of the Western Caucasus smoothly merge into the coniferous forests of the Central Caucasus, characterized by a more continental climate. A comparison of the typological diversity of fir forests in the Teberda National Park and other regions of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia indicates a decrease in variability with a shift in the “spectrum” towards mixed forests in the Teberda National Park. An assessment of the floristic diversity of the living ground cover of the identified forest types has been carried out using the dominance, Shannon, Simpson, Margalef and Menkhinik indices. The floristic diversity of the ground cover in the communities is high, with the exception of medium- and highly closed areas of woodruff-sorrel and wood sorrel fir forests, where insufficient insolation results in low species richness. In reed-green moss pine forests and reed fir forests, the indices of species diversity take on lower values, which is caused by the dominance of one species (Calamagrostis arundinacea) in the ground cover.

Authors

Yuliya M. Sablirova*, Candidate of Engineering; ResearcherID: HTT-1220-2023,
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4139-0335
Fatimat A. Tembotova, Doctor of Biology; ResearcherID: AAO-1493-2020,
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8068-7647
Rustam Kh. Pshegusov, Candidate of Biology; ResearcherID: I-8766-2012,
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6204-2690
Nelli L. Tsepkova, Candidate of Biology; ResearcherID: IQS-3690-2023,
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6904-9705

Affiliation

Tembotov Institute of Ecology of Mountain Territories of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. I. Armand, 37a, Nalchik, 360051, Russian Federation; sablirova@mail.ru*, tembotova_f@mail.ru, p_rustem@inbox.ru, cenelli@yandex.ru

Keywords

Abies nordmanniana, typological diversity, floristic diversity, diversity indices, the Teberda National Park

For citation

Sablirova Yu.M., Tembotova F.A., Pshegusov R.Kh., Tsepkova N.L. Typological and Floristic Diversity of Fir Stands in the Teberda National Park. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2025, no. 4, pp. 110–129. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2025-4-110-129

References

1. Bebiya S.M. Fir Forests of the Caucasus. Moscow, Moscow State University Publ., 2002. 237 p. (In Russ.).
2. Belonovskaya E.A., Morozova O.V. Typification and Correction of Forest Vegetation Syntaxa of the Western Caucasus. Raznoobrazie rastitel’nogo mira = Diversity of Plant World, 2021, no. 3 (10), pp. 28–36. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.22281/2686-9713-2021-3-28-36
3. Galushko A.I. Flora of the North Caucasus. Indicator: in 3 vols. Rostov-on-Don, 1978, vol. 1. 320 p. 1980, vol. 2. 359 p. 1980, vol. 3. 328 p. (In Russ.).
4. Geras’kina A.P., Shevchenko N.E. Biotopic Association of Earthworms in Intact Forests of Teberda Nature Reserve. Lesovedenie = Russian Journal of Forest Science, 2018, no. 6, pp. 464–478. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0024114818060037
5. Golgofskaya K.Yu. Essay on Vegetation of the Forest Belt and its Classification. Trudy Kavkazskogo gosudarstvennogo prirodnogo biosfernogo zapovednika, 2003, iss. 17, pp. 173–194. (In Russ.).
6. Ipatov V.S. Description of Phytocenosis. Methodological Recommendations. St. Petersburg, 1998. 93 p. (In Russ.).
7. Kononov V.N. Vegetation of the Teberda Nature Reserve. Trudy Teberdinskogo gosudarstvennogo zapovednika. Stavropol, 1957, vol. 1, pp. 85–112. (In Russ.).
8. Lebedeva N.V., Krivolutskij D.A., Puzachenko Yu.G., D’yakonov K.N., Aleshchenko G.M., Smurov A.V., Maksimov V.N., Tikunov V.S., Ogureeva G.N., Kotova T.V. Geography and Monitoring of Biodiversity. Moscow, Scientific and Educational Center Publ., 2002. 432 p. (In Russ.).
9. Onishchenko V.V. Dynamics of tree canopy of fir phytocoenoses of Teberda Biosphere Reserve. Izvestiya vuzov. Severo-Kavkazskij region. Estestvennye nauki = Bulletin of Higher Education Insitutes. North Caucasus Region. Natural Sciences, 2005, no. 2, pp. 83–89. (In Russ.).
10. Onishchenko V.V., Baychorova E.M. Influence of Air Quality on the Coniferous Forests of Teberdinskiy Reserve. Izvestiya Dagestanskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Estestvennye i tochnye nauki = Dagestan State Pedagogical University. Journal. Natural and Exact Sciences, 2018, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 69–78. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31161/1995-0675-2018-12-4-69-78
11. Onishchenko V.V., Dega N.S., Bostanova F.H. The Current State of Mountain Climate of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Mezhdunarodnyj zhurnal gumanitarnykh i estestvennykh nauk = International Journal of Humanities and Natural Sciences, 2019, no. 1, pp. 29–35. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.24411/2500-1000-2018-10414
12. Orlov A.Ya. Dark Coniferous Forests of the North Caucasus. USSR Academy of Sciences Publ., 1954. 256 p. (In Russ.).
13. Pukinskaya M.Yu. Regeneration of Dark Coniferous Species in the Groups of Picea orientalis (Pinaceae) Drying in the Teberda Nature Reserve (Western Caucasus). Botanicheskij zhurnal, 2021, vol. 106, no. 12, pp. 1167–1179. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31857/S0006813621120073
14. Пукинская М.Ю., Кессель Д.С., Щукина К.В. Усыхание пихто-ельников Тебердинского заповедника // Ботан. журн. 2019. Т. 104, No 3. С. 3–28. Pukinskaya M.Yu., Kessel D.S., Shchukina K.V. Drying of Fir-Spruce Forests of the Teberda Nature Reserve. Botanicheskij zhurnal, 2019, vol. 104, no. 3, pp. 3–28. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006813619030062
15. Semkin B.I. Graph-Theoretic Methods in Comparative Floristics. Teoreticheskie i metodicheskie problemy sravnitel’noj floristiki. Leningrad, 1987, pp. 149–163. (In Russ.).
16. Sukachev V.N., Zonn S.V. Methodological Guidelines for Studying Forest Types. Moscow, USSR Academy of Sceinces Publ., 1961. 144 p. (In Russ.).
17. Tumadzhanov I.I. Forest Vegetation of the Teberda Valley in View of the Postglacial History of Phytolandscape Development. Trudy Tbilisskogo botanicheskogo instituta, 1947, vol. 11, pp. 1–106. (In Russ.).
18. Frantsuzov A.A. Floristic Classification of Forests with Fagus orientalis Lypsky and Abies nordmanniana (Stev.) Spach in the Belaya River Basin (Western Caucasus). Rastitel’nost’ Rossii = Vegetation of Russia, 2006, no. 9, pp. 76–85. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31111/vegrus/2006.09.76
19. Çoban S., Bonari G. Numerical Classification and Syntaxonomy of Turkish Fir Forests. Abies 2019: Prospects for Fir Management in a Changeable Environment. Poland, Kraków, 2019, p. 12.
20. Ermakov N.B., Plugatar Yu.V., Leiba V.D. Abies nordmanniana and Picea orientalis Forests from the Сolchic Region (Western Caucasus) and New Concept of Euxine Dark Coniferous Forests Classification in the Braun-Blanquet System. Botanica Pacifica: A Journal of Plant Science and Conservation, 2022, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 45–55. https://doi.org/10.17581/bp.2022.11210
21. Ewald J., Jehl H., Braun L., Lohberger E. Die Vegetation des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald als Ausdruck von Standort und Walddynamik. Tuexenia, 2011, vol. 31, pp. 9–38. (In Germ.).
22. Garces J.J.C., Bayron Z.N.J., Español J.M.J., Marfa A.C.R., Picardal J.P. Floral Distribution and Diversity of Alien and Native Plants in Cebu Memorial Park, Cebu City, Philippines. Biosaintifika: Journal of Biology & Biology Education, 2022, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 308–320. http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/biosaintifika.v14i3.38860
23. Kara F. Climate-Growth Relationships in Managed and Unmanaged Kazdağı Fir Forests. Forestist, 2022, vol. 72, iss. 1, pp. 81–87. https://doi.org/10.5152/forestist.2021.20050
24. Masayi N., Mugatsia T., Omondi P. Land Use Changes and Floral Diversity in Kenya’s Mt. Elgon Forest Ecosystem. Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems, 2021, vol. 24, no 3, art. no. 89. https://doi.org/10.56369/tsaes.3452
25. Peet R.K. The Measurement of Species Diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 1974, no. 5 (1), pp. 285–307.
26. Pshegusov R., Tembotova F., Chadaeva V., Sablirova Y., Mollaeva M., Akhomgotov A. Ecological Niche Modeling of the Main Forest-Forming Species in the Caucasus. Forest Ecosystems, 2022, vol. 9, art. no. 100019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fecs.2022.100019
27. Sablirova Yu., Tembotova F., Pshegusov R. Characteristics of Coniferous and Mixed Forest Types in the Basins of Belaya and Malaya Laba Rivers (North-Western Caucasus). BIO Web of Conferences, 2021, vol. 35, art. no. 00020. https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/20213500020
28. Seliger A., Ammer C., Kreft H., Zerbe S. Changes of Vegetation in Coniferous Monocultures in the Context of Conversion to Mixed Forests in 30 Years – Implications for Biodiversity Restoration. Journal of Environmental Management, 2023, vol. 343, art. no. 118199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118199
29. The World Flora Online. Available at: http://www.worldfloraonline.org (accessed 25.05.23).
30. Zhang Y., Chen H.Y.H., Reich P.B. Forest Productivity Increases with Evenness, Species Richness and Trait Variation: A Global Meta-Analysis. Journal of Ecology, 2012, vol. 100, iss. 3, pp. 742–749. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01944.x