Features of Natural Birch Regeneration in Cutting

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UDС

UDC 630*21

DOI:

10.17238/issn0536-1036.2016.4.81

Abstract

Birch is one of the tree species-pioneers. This species is light-requing, mesophyte and meso-trophe. Despite the considerable spread of birch forests, the features of development and functioning of these formations remain studied poorly. The natural regeneration of birch is one of these elements in studies of birch forests. Primarily it concerns white birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) and silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.). The emergence of birch self-seeding in the cutting is quite active during the first 2…3 years after clear cutting of forest stands. The number of undergrowth mainly depends on the age of felling stands (“age” of deforestation): the amount of undergrowth decreases with the increase of the age of felling. The structure of undergrowth in height also changes: small and medium undergrowth domi-nate in the new cutting (2–3 years), large and medium – in the old cutting. The composition and abundance of undergrowth depend on the forest type and composition of the stand be-fore cutting. The greatest number of birch undergrowth is observed in cutting in a blueberry forest type. The larger the share of birch in the stand before cutting, the higher the number of birch undergrowth in felling. The percentage of viable undergrowth is higher in the myr-tillus type, the share of dead undergrowth is less than in the sorrel forest type. The occur-rence of undergrowth is higher at its comparable number. Representation of birch under-growth by types is determined by not only the share of white birch and silver birch in the stand composition before cutting. In most cases the undergrowth of white birch dominates in cutting, as the most stable to increased soil moisture after felling of a tree stand. The ratio of these species varies depending on the forest type. White birch dominates in the under-growth in cutting in the myrtillus type, and silver birch – in the sorrel and vaccinium forest types. The number of white birch undergrowth in cutting of various ages ranges from 1.2…30.8 thousand specimens / ha.

Authors

A.V. Gryaz'kin, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor M.A. Novikova, Postgraduate Student Ya.A. Novikov, Student

Affiliation

Saint Petersburg State Forest Technical University under name of S.M. Kirov, Institutskiy lane, 5, Saint Petersburg, 194021, Russian Federation; e-mail: lesovod@bk.ru; masch-novikova@yandex.ru, jaroslavnovikov@yandex.ru

Keywords

boreal forest, felling, natural regeneration, undergrowth, underbrush, field layer, silver birch, white birch.

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Received on December 08, 2015