Forest fires remain a major problem for the country’s forestry sector, requiring an analysis and rethinking of the fire safety system in the Russian Federation’s forests. This article examines the early detection and suppression of forest fires. It identifies a number of measures necessary to improve the effectiveness of forest fire protection, and provides recommendations for emergency response to forest fires and the use of federal reserve funds, the formation of which is provided for in Article 53.9 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation.

Ground layer vegetation plays an important role in the biological cycle in forest ecosystems. However, the quantitative responses of this component to various disturbances, as well as its recovery after damage, remain poorly studied. This paper presents the results of a study of the response of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L., 1753) coenopopulations to different types of disturbances. Field experiments were carried out on sampling plots in a pine forest in the Moscow region, where V. myrtillus, Convallaria majalis L. (1753), and green mosses dominated the ground layer vegetation. The experiments included three types of impact: the removal of litter, the cutting of aboveground shoots, and the cutting of rhizomes. The results showed that the survival of partial formations depends on maintaining physiological integration with the clone if shoots or rhizomes are damaged. The main recovery mechanism is the development of dormant buds on rhizomes. Removal of litter results in orthotropic growth of rhizomes and formation of new shoots. These data were used to enhance the CAMPUS‑S model with an external effects module, which was then used to simulate fires, cuttings, and combinations of these disturbances, as well as shrub regeneration after such events. Simulation experiments showed that V. myrtillus coenopopulations were resistant to one-time damage, but repeated impacts led to their degradation. Surface fires of medium intensity (affecting up to 10% of the area) did not result in population mortality, whereas 15% damage made recovery impossible. Although selective harvesting, especially with the caterpillar machinery, slowed the recovery process, it did not result in the death of V. myrtillus coenopopulations. These results can be used to evaluate the sustainability of coenopopulations and allow planning the system of forest management that minimises damage to the ground layer vegetation.

The relevance of the study of the economic organization of forest nurseries is explained by the need to include this type of activity in the forest economy. The underdevelopment of the economic mechanism of state forest nurseries entails ineffective and irrational spending of financial resources, imperfect economic relations between producers of forest planting material and its consumers. Domestic forest legislation does not classify forest nurseries as an independent type of forestry activity, equating them to territories on which land, forest plots intended for growing forest planting material are located. This simplified approach underestimates the role of forest nurseries in forest reproduction, slows down the development of the nursery economy and is of little use for modern forest seed centers, which are a full-fledged property complex that includes all types of property intended for its activities, including land and forest plots, buildings, structures, equipment, inventory, etc. The purpose of the study is to justify the need to apply basic economic categories in the production of forest planting material in forest nurseries, presenting the latter as an independent type of economic activity in forestry. The source materials were regional industry reporting, reflecting both quantitative and qualitative indicators of forest nursery activities, scientific research in the field of design and organization of forest planting material production. The hypothesis of the study is that all economic categories inherent in industrial production are applicable to a forest nursery, taking into account the specifics of the organization of the nursery. Forest nurseries are a miniature model of forestry, where the main means of production is land, and the difference lies only in the terms of growing the finished product. To achieve the set goal, theoretical research methods were used in the work, which at the initial stage most fully correspond to the topic of the study and the tasks set. With the help of such methods, it is possible to generalize and systematize the collected material for its further detailed study. The analysis of the obtained quantitative data on forest nurseries of the country allowed them to be classified according to various characteristics: natural, economic and legal. Using the formalization method, the economic essence of forest nurseries was substantiated, similar in content to the basic economic categories with industrial activity. Research results: the characteristics of the production activity of a forest nursery were identified, which made it possible to apply basic economic categories in relation to this type of specific activity; the production of planting material in forest nurseries was considered from an economic point of view; forest nurseries are divided by organizational and legal forms, classification features of forest nurseries of various forms of ownership are indicated; basic economic categories that form the economy of a forest nursery are identified: products, cost price, prices, profitability, etc.

We must protect existing forests and take the necessary measures for afforestation for fight with global warming. That is why in this abstract we studied the variation of morphological and physiological parameters and adaptation ability of the holm oak species (Quercus ilex L.) in different ecological conditions, which introduced to Azerbaijan. Our goal is to determine the feasibility of introducing holm oak to the natural flora of Azerbaijan. Result of morphological polymorphism (CV(LA)=47.29%; CV(F)=38.63%; CV(LL)=24.52%) and indexes of foliar moisture (RWC=89.34±2.90%; LMA=11.74±1.34 mg cm2 (in Shaki); RWC=71.34±2.92%; LMA=9.23±0.97 mg cm2 ) allows us to say that it is possible to transfer holm oak to natural areas. In our study, holm oak showed tolerance to the drought of Baku, and cold weather of Sheki. These suggest that holm oak can be successfully used in afforestation and transferred to the natural flora in any region of Azerbaijan, including the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which has extremely hot summers and extremely cold winters.

Many problems of modern forest ecology require analysis of the conjugated dynamics of processes occurring at different spatio-temporal scales of the functioning of plant communities and soils resulted from their interaction under the influence of all edaphic and anthropogenic factors. Mathematical models can be an effective tool for such analysis. The aim of this study is to present the implementation of new model system that makes it possible to reproduce in simulation experiments the spatial structure of forest phytocenoses formed by tree and grass-shrub layers, as well as associated heterogeneity of soil conditions and the diversity of ecological niches at different hierarchical levels. To determine the required level of detail of the spatial heterogeneity of forest biogeocenoses related to the processes of their multi-scale functioning, experimental studies were carried out on permanent sampling plots in the Prioksko-Terrasny State Natural Biosphere Reserve and in the «Kaluzhskie Zaseki» State Nature Reserve. The spatial structure of communities and related heterogeneity of ecological conditions were studied using traditional soil and geobotanical, as well as modern instrumental methods. The obtained data were used to construct the algorithms and to estimate the parameters of different blocks of the new system of models. The implementation of a spatially-explicit process-based system of models has shown its ability to reproduce the dynamics of forest ecosystems, taking into account the species composition and spatial structure of different layers of vegetation and the associated patchiness of soil conditions. Due to a wide range of interrelated ecosystem characteristics implemented in the system of models it is possible to simulate productivity, biological turnover of C and N, and the dynamics of forest ecosystems, taking into account their typical spatial structure at different scales. This improves understanding of ecosystem processes and their contribution to maintaining the sustainable functioning of forests, which can be used for predictive assessments of the efficiency of forest management techniques and in solving other forestry and environmental problems.

Исследовались взаимосвязи между показателями флуктуирующей асимметрии (ПФА) листьев дуба черешчатого и санитарным состоянием деревьев, концентрацией Mg, P, K, Ca, Fe, Zn в листьях; Mg, P, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb – в ветвях и Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb – в почве под кронами деревьев. Обследовано 28 деревьев, произрастающих в условиях с разным уровнем загрязнения (10–30 м от МКАД и лесопарк Узкое, г. Москва). В полной выборке деревьев обнаружены значимые положительные корреляции между ПФА листьев и концентрацией в них Са, Zn, S, Fe, а также между ПФА листьев и концентрацией Ca, Cu, Na, Fe, Zn в почвах. Отрицательные зависимости выявлены между ПФА листьев, концентрацией Р в ветвях и жизненным состоянием деревьев. В случае небольших выборок (n = 10) наличие корреляционных связей между ПФА листьев и жизненным состоянием деревьев отмечено только в группе деревьев ослабленного жизненного состояния.

Based on the Earth remote sensing data, the authors assessed the dynamics of forest vegetation area destructed under the impact of uncontrolled underspoil runoff from the Northern copper zinc mine in the northern Sverdlovsk Region. Interpretation of a series of satellite images for the period from 2009 to 2022 revealed an exponential increase in the destroyed forest vegetation area. The researchers designed a runoff digital model, which confirmed the correlation of vegetation destruction foci with specific landforms.

Relevance and goals. In the context of global climate change, the climate-regulating function of forests deserves special attention. There is still no functional classification of forests according to the effectiveness of carbon accumulation function. The aim of this paper is to discuss an approach to such classification based on the assessment of tree litter quality. Objects and methods. To test the approach to the identification of functional types of forests based on the quality of tree litter, taking into account the location in the geochemically linked landscape and the mechanical composition of soil-forming rocks, data on soils and vegetation obtained at 23 testing sites in the subzone of coniferous-broadleaf forests of the European part of Russia on the territory of Bryansk Polesie and Moskvoretsko-Okskaya plain were used. For indirect (Landolt’s ecological scales using the SpeDiv program) assessment of differences in the soil richness in forests belonging to different functional types, the species composition at 160 geobotanical plots in forest sites in the Moscow, Bryansk, Smolensk, Kostroma Regions, Krasnodar Territory, and the Republic of Adygea (Northwestern Caucasus) were analyzed. Results. Examples of functional forest types for coniferous — broad-leaved forests of the European part of Russia are given. The differences in soil carbon stock between forests belonging to different functional types were found, and a preliminary assessment of the influence of the location in the geochemically linked landscape and the mechanical composition of soils on the accumulation of carbon in soils in the same functional forest types is given. Conclusion. Based on the quality of the tree litter, 15 functional forest types were identified, which are confirmed by examples of forests in the subzone of coniferous-broad-leaved forests of the European part of Russia and in the belt of coniferous-broad-leaved forests of the Northwestern Caucasus. The validity of identification of functional forest types for the efficiency of carbon accumulation in soils based on the quality of tree litter, taking into account the influence of “external factors” (the location of forests in the geochemically linked landscape and the mechanical composition of soil-forming rocks), was confirmed by data obtained at 23 sites. Using this approach allowed us to reveal differences in the soil carbon stock and related characteristics of soil fertility estimated on an ecological scale between the functional forest types, identified on the base of tree litter in the mixed, coniferous-broad-leaved forests at the same location in the geochemically linked landscape. Differences in soil carbon stocks in forest ecosystems of the same functional forest types formed on clay loam and sandy loam soil-forming rocks were also revealed. Differences in soil carbon stocks in forests belonging to the same functional type, but formed at different locations in the geochemically linked landscape, have been confirmed: soil carbon stocks were higher in forests at the transit landscapes compared to those in autonomous ones.

The development and operation of oil fields in Western Siberia has a significant impact on various components of the environment. In particular, natural complexes of existing specially protected natural areas and promising areas that are significant for the conservation of biological diversity and landscapes are affected. In connection with the projected development of a system of specially protected natural areas in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the aim of the work is to assess the likely pollution of municipalities in the region by emissions from the combustion of associated petroleum gas to provide decision support when choosing locations for promising protected areas. The paper presents a general description of chronic thermal and gas-chemical pollution of the atmosphere by products of associated petroleum gas combustion, zones of probable atmospheric pollution as a result of gas combustion are modeled, an assessment is made of the dynamics of the state of vegetation for the territories of municipalities, within the boundaries of which it is planned to create protected natural areas, and recommendations are given for designing such territories.