Area Reduction of Intact Forest Landscapes on the Example of the Dvina-Pinega Interfluve

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UDС

634*

DOI:

10.17238/issn0536-1036.2019.3.152

Abstract

Area reduction of intact forest landscapes (IFL) is one of the worldʼs problems. Disappearing of pristine forests endangers endemic species of animals that are not able to survive on the lands transformed and fragmented by human. The pristine forest site located in the European North of Russia in the Dvina-Pinega interfluve is a clear example of the forest area changed over the last 17 years. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the survival of the reindeer, which is listed in the Red Book of Russia, in Arkhangelsk region directly depends on this territory. Borders determination of IFLs is carried out by the procedures developed by environmental organizations. Medium-resolution satellite images are used to define the borders, which can be used for recognition of cuttings, burnings, and forest roads. Hereafter, the selected items are excluded from the boders of this territory. In the research, we had used layers with the previously defined (in 2000 and 2013) borders of the IFL; data on the IFL borders in 2017 were obtained through the decoding satellite images and updating the previous border in 2013. The territory of the Dvina-Pinega IFL decreased by 375 520 ha from 2000 to 2017. The reduction of this territory was directly caused by human activity, namely the ongoing logging and development of a forest road network. As the data analysis of the last 17 years has shown, the main factor negatively influencing this process is development of the road network in the region.

Authors

A.A. Karpov, Postgraduate Student; ResearcherID: H-1915-2019, ORCID: 0000-0002-9087-8399

Affiliation

Northern Research Institute of Forestry, ul. Nikitova, 13, Arkhangelsk, 163062, Russian Federation; e-mail: xxstpatrickxx@gmail.com

Keywords

intact forest landscapes, voluntary forest certification, Earth’s remote sensing, forest monitoring, Dvina-Pinega interfluve

For citation

Karpov A.A. Area Reduction of Intact Forest Landscapes on the Example of the Dvina-Pinega Interfluve. Lesnoy Zhurnal [Forestry Journal], 2019, no. 3, pp. 152–158. DOI: 10.17238/issn0536-1036.2019.3.152

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Received on January 18, 2019