Forest litter plays a significant role in the functioning of forest ecosystems. As a product of forest and soil interaction, forest litter participates actively in the processes of soil formation and plant nutrition. We measured the total stock and analyzed difference in structure of forest litter formed in permafrost larch forests growing in the different climatic zones: in northern taiga of Central Siberia and in the mountain taiga of the Eastern Baikal region. The forest-forming species in both regions is Gmelin larch (Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr.), but climatic conditions and soil cover in these regions differ. It was found that average stock of forest litter is higher in mountain larch forests of the Eastern Baikal region in comparison with northern boreal forests. The litter composition in these larch forests is characterized by a relatively larger contribution of soft fractions (needles and leaves) in contrast to the larch forests in the northern taiga, where a higher contribution of hardly decomposable components (branches, cones, bark, semi-decomposed wood, thick roots, and moss residues) was observed. Higher stock of fermented plant residues in comparison with humified ones indicated the accumulation of incompletely decomposed plant residues on the soil surface of these northern forests.

No abstract

We measured biomass of living ground cover and analyzed specificity of carbon accumulation in the litter in different types of larch forests in northern boreal subzone of Middle Siberia.

The main types of forest plant communities in the southern part of the Central Siberian Plateau (the lower reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River Basin) were separated. Basic ecological gradients crucial for formation and functioning of these types of plant communities were identified using the methods of ordination.

No abstract