Geology, geography and global energy

Scientific and Technical Journal

Influence of terrain on the vegetation structure in the caucasian biosphere reserve-based forest

2013. №1, pp. 189-199

Pogorelov Anatoliy V. - D.Sc. in Geography, Professor, Kuban State University, 149 Stavropolskaya st., Krasnodar, Russian Federation, 350075, pogorelov@nm.ru

Shevela Svetlana Yu. - Post-graduate student, Kuban State University, 149 Stavropolskaya st., Krasnodar, Russian Federation, 350075, svetla_gis@mail.ru

The article has based its description of terrain influences (particularly woody vegetation) in the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve’s (CBS) forest structure on geographic information system (GIS)-supplied data. The GIS environmental information appeared, in particular, on a set of maps covering the Reserve’s dominant and subdominant tree species. The altitude factor, the critique relates, has probably influenced differentiation of the CBS species’ stocking parameters at forest altitudes ranging from 600–3300 m (though this effect has yet to be quantificatively determined). Nevertheless, a GIS-based analysis of the dominant species’ height distribution has been implemented on the northern macro-slope of the Greater Caucasus within the boundaries of the reserve (an area of some 175 thousand hectares). The analysis indicated, the paper states, that the dominant woodland species is the Caucasian Fir (39 % of forest area), followed by the Eastern Beech (16 %), Eastern Spruce (Caucasian), Birch Litvinov, Scotch Pine and Maple Mountain. At this stage, the document turned its attention to rendering statistical calculations on landscape dimensions using mapping- and zonal-information from the ArcGIS program. The review says that the ArcGIS device provided calculations in 200-m altitude steps, revealing a regular decrease in tree species diversity as the altitude increased in all sections of the Reserve. Tree species, it noted, occupy the greatest areas at an altitude of up to 2,000 m (up to the timberline), with the Caucasian Fir dominating the horizon at all altitudes. Typically, a pure fir-containing forest is found up to the timberline, while hardwood types (such as the Eastern Beech) are the dominant species above the timberline. Beyond the formation factor (the composition and structure of forest vegetation), it would appear that altitude has a significant effect on the distribution of dominant and subdominant species. Furthermore, the blueprint has indicated that altitude changes are also related to alterations in the specific features of woodland-based vegetation in each of the CBS sections (tending to reflect specified regional trends).

Key words: height of terrain,factor,forest vegetation,woody species,Caucasian Biosphere Reserve

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