Pristova T., Kuznetsov M. Dynamics of ground vegetation in middle taiga deciduous stands over a 15-year period // Resources and Technology. 2026. №2, Vol. 23. P. 123‒136.

Dynamics of ground vegetation in middle taiga deciduous stands over a 15-year period

Pristova
Tatiana Alexandrovna

Biology Institute of the Komi Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, pristova@ib.komisc.ru

Kuznetsov
Michail Andreevich

Biology Institute of the Komi Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, kuznetsov_ma@ib.komisc.ru

Key words:
taiga; post-cutting forests; forest live cover
phytomass

Summary: The article presents the results of an assessment of the phytomass of plants and the structure of forest live cover over a 15-year period in the middle taiga deciduous ecosystems of different ages of the post-harvest origin of the Komi Republic. Geobotanical descriptions were conducted using standard methods, and the species composition and phytomass of ground vegetation were determined using mowing methods in 400 cm² plots in 10—20 replicates in birch-spruce and aspen-birch stands formed in spruce clearings. The aim of the study was to assess the dynamics of the phytomass reserves of ground vegetation in deciduous phytomass communities formed after spruce logging over a 15-year period. It was found that the total number of plant species growing in the studied forest was 47, including 38 plant species of ground vegetation, with a total projective coverage from 60 to 100 %. It was found that over 15 years in birch-spruce forest, the phytomass of ground vegetation ranged from 1956 to 2263 kg/ha, in aspen-birch — from 834 to 952 kg/ha. It has been shown that grasses and mosses dominated in the ground vegetation by weight. The phytomass of ground vegetation plants of both phytocenoses tended to decrease the proportion of mosses. In the aspen-birch forest, the proportion of grasses increased from 30 to 50 % over a 15-year period, shrubs — from 15 to 26 %, and mosses decreased from 55 to 24 % of the total mass. The dynamics of phytomass ground vegetation in birch-spruce forest was ambiguous. By the age of 20, the proportion of grasses decreased from 28 to 20 %, mosses increased from 57 to 66 %, shrubs remained virtually unchanged, over the next 5 years, as the crowns closed in the stand, the mass of herbaceous plants increased to 29 %, shrubs to 20, and mosses decreased to 52 %. The number of shrubs increased to 20, and the number of mosses decreased to 52 %. An assessment of the variability of this indicator within the studied phytocenoses showed a relatively uniform distribution of the phytomass of mosses and shrubs in birch-spruce young trees in 2005 and an increase in their variability after 15 years. During this period, a decrease in variability was observed in the aspen-birch forest. The research results might be used to assess the processes of restoring the natural structure of the forest live cover during post-harvest succession and carbon reserves in plants of the ground vegetation of the middle taiga deciduous forests.

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Dynamics of ground vegetation in middle taiga deciduous stands over a 15-year period