Digression of the roadside spruce forests of south Karelia under the influence of anthropogenic factors

Experimental data on the composition of vegetation in forest areas subject to the complex influence of anthropogenic factors are presented. The object of the study is degrading spruce forests, the average age of which is about 80 years. Spruce forests grow on the southwestern outskirts of Petrozavodsk. It has been established that spruce forests growing along the federal highway Murmansk-St. Petersburg on the territory of the Republic of Karelia are destroyed with the formation of windows of different sizes in the place of decaying forest stands. The degradation of roadside spruce forests is aggravated under the influence of intense recreational load. The diameter of the windows varies from 10 to 80 m. It is shown that the windows are quickly overgrown with deciduous trees, represented mainly by birch, aspen, gray alder, rowan, and goat willow. The density of young growth reaches 2800 ind./ha. It is shown that the average height of young stands depends on the composition of tree species, the average age of the trees, the diameter of the window and ranges from 4 to 7 m. At the same time, under the canopy of the formed deciduous young stands, spruce regrowth appears. The total number of undergrowth can be 3100 ind./ha. Teenagers of the “viable” category predominate – from 62 to 94% of the total number. The average height of spruce undergrowth varies from 0.5 to 1.7 m. 22 species of vascular plants and at least 6 species of mosses were identified as part of the living ground cover. Eight species were identified as part of the undergrowth: red elderberry, common honeysuckle, goat willow, long-eared willow, brittle buckthorn, common rowan, red currant, and needle hips. The total number of undergrowth species reaches 1500 ind./ha. Of the herbaceous plants, the maximum coverage is Calamagrostis arundinacea (L.) Roth, – up to 13%, Oxalis acetosella L. – up to 31%, Vaccinium myrtillus L., – up to 36% and Dryopteris carthusiana (Vill.) H.P.Fuchs – up to 14%. In general, up to 32% of the area is covered with green mosses. The projected coverage with Polytrichum commune Hedw. on individual accounting sites is 62%.

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